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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..5750878 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62516 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62516) diff --git a/old/62516-8.txt b/old/62516-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 5922421..0000000 --- a/old/62516-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8297 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Agatha's Aunt, by Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) -Smith - - -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: Agatha's Aunt - - -Author: Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) Smith - - - -Release Date: June 28, 2020 [eBook #62516] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGATHA'S AUNT*** - - -E-text prepared by MFR, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/agathasaunt00smitiala - - - - - -AGATHA'S AUNT - -by - -HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH - -Author of -Other People's Business - - -[Illustration] - - - - - - -Indianapolis -The Bobbs-Merrill Company -Publishers - -Copyright 1920 -The Bobbs-Merrill Company - -Printed in the United States of America - -Press of -Braunworth & Co. -Book Manufacturers -Brooklyn, N. Y. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I Boarders Wanted 1 - - II The Curtain Rises 18 - - III A Social Secretary 29 - - IV Complications 42 - - V Company Manners 57 - - VI Hephzibah Comes to Life 78 - - VII Day Dreams 94 - - VIII The Rescue 109 - - IX An Embarrassment of Riches 124 - - X A Confession 140 - - XI A Wilful Man Must Have His Way 155 - - XII Hephzibah Turns the Tables 170 - - XIII Congratulations Are in Order 184 - - XIV Confidences 196 - - XV Underneath the Bough 210 - - XVI Miss Finch Follows a Classic Example 221 - - XVII The Day of Judgment 235 - - XVIII Warren Gets a Tip 249 - - XIX The Worm Turns 264 - - XX The Day After 276 - - XXI Enlightenment 292 - - XXII Fellow Travelers 305 - - XXIII An Introduction 324 - - - - -AGATHA'S AUNT - - - - -AGATHA'S AUNT - - - - -CHAPTER I - -BOARDERS WANTED - - -It was too early in the season for lowered shades or closed shutters. -The spring sunshine had taken possession of the big, many-windowed -room, repaying the hospitality as other uninvited guests have been -known to do, by its indiscreet revelations. In rooms much lived in, a -rather endearing shabbiness is a familiar characteristic, suggestive, -like a thumbed book, of homely comfort. The room in question had passed -this stage and reached the shabbiness eloquent of poverty. - -The paper on the walls was faded, and stained from a leak in the -roof. The original carpet had been transformed into a rug that shrank -annually and now showed threadbare areas, prophetic of gaping holes -in the near future. The furniture, too, though of expensive make, -had arrived at a point where a series of surgical operations seemed -imperative. Yet with it all, a certain plucky defiance was evident -in the shabby room. Pictures or calendars hung over the discolored -spots on the wall, furniture arranged to conceal the weak spots of the -carpet, a crocheted shawl thrown carelessly over the exposed entrails -of a veteran armchair, a general air of putting the best foot foremost -inevitably suggested that the dilapidated building sheltered youth, -ardent and unconquered. - -In the smallest chair the room contained, a rocking chair that creaked -protestingly under its light burden, sat Miss Zaida Finch, darning a -pink silk stocking. Miss Finch's print dress modestly concealed her -diminutive lower limbs, her extremely small shoes scarcely peeping -from beneath its hem. For all that the eye discerned, her anatomical -structure might have been modeled after that of Mrs. Shem in a Noah's -ark. Yet with no evidence to substantiate his certainty, any observer -would have vowed that Miss Finch's painstaking toil was wholly -disinterested. It was impossible to believe that the much-mended pink -silk hosiery formed part of her wardrobe. - -The industry of Miss Finch was spasmodic. One moment she plied her -needle with an intentness indicating that her task absorbed her. -And again she let the stocking drop into her lap, and lost herself -listening to sounds overhead, footsteps, doors opening and closing, the -murmur of voices. Once, rising, she tiptoed to the window and gazed -for a long breathless moment at the touring car before the gate, the -chauffeur puffing a cigarette with an arrogance characteristic of the -driver of a seven-passenger Packard, who knows that at any moment a -Ford roadster may round the curve ahead. - -Despite occasional lapses Miss Finch was darning industriously when -the voices overhead sharpened noticeably. A light staccato of high -heels tapping the uncarpeted staircase was followed by the slamming -of a door violently enough to shake the building. Miss Finch, groping -vainly for the interpretation of these sounds, found her gaze drawn to -the window as the Packard swept along the highway, its horn bleating an -impassioned farewell. - -The door at the rear of Miss Finch's chair opened emphatically, with -such emphasis indeed, that the door-knobs parted company, one falling -into the hall, the other projecting itself in the direction of Miss -Finch as if with hostile intent. And close upon this demonstration -a girl entered the room and flung herself into one of the ragged -armchairs. - -The owner of the pink silk stocking was revealed. It was all in keeping -with her audacious color scheme. Her hair was obviously red, and -instead of modestly disguising the fact, it used every known artifice -to attract attention to itself, curling and crinkling and brazenly -thrusting out tendril-like locks to catch the beholder's gaze. Her -eyes should have been blue, according to all precedent, but instead -they matched her hair, a daring reddish-brown, with yellow flecks like -floating gold-leaf. Ordinarily her skin was creamy till the multiplying -freckles of summer temporarily disguised its fairness, but at this -moment some intense emotion dyed her crimson from her throat to the -roots of her hair. Over a blue house dress she wore a sweater of vivid -green, assumed, if the truth be told, not for the sake of warmth but to -conceal her patched elbows. Her entrance into the room accentuated its -faded dinginess and bleached Miss Finch to the color of ashes. Even the -spring sunshine paled before her rainbow effect. - -"Well, Fritz!" The girl used the incongruous nickname with the -carelessness of long custom. "It's all over." - -"All over!" Miss Finch echoed in alarm. The darning egg dropped from -her lap and spun dizzily upon the floor, while its owner blinked -rapidly as if the radiant presence in the armchair dazzled her eyes. - -"Yes. That was Mrs. Leavett, the one who saw my advertisement in the -_Onlooker_, and wrote and engaged board for herself and two children." - -Miss Finch rolled her eyes heavenward. Under the matter-of-fact -statement she scented calamity. - -"It occurred to her that she'd like to see the place before she came. -And now she's seen it, she's not coming. She says my ad was misleading." - -"It was a very good advertisement, I'm sure," protested Miss Finch. "I -didn't know myself how pleasant the place was till you read me what -you'd written." - -The girl laughed out. The naive defense had the effect of partly -dissipating her anger and bringing an evasive dimple into view. - -"I leave it to you, Fritz, if I told a single whopper. I said the rooms -were large and airy, and I didn't state that the paper was peeling off -the walls. I mentioned the lawn and the shade trees, and failed to add -that the house needed painting. It is not the business of the seller, -Fritzie dear, to call attention to any little defects in the article -he is trying to dispose of. Mrs. Leavett overlooked that point. Not a -business woman, evidently." - -"The vines cover a good bit of the house anyway," commented Miss Finch -resentfully. "What does a little paint more or less matter to a summer -boarder?" - -"Mrs. Leavett seemed under the impression that it mattered to her. -She was so very snippy that at last I asked her if she didn't think -that to be _un_painted in these days was rather a mark of distinction. -Since you didn't see the lady, Fritz, you can hardly appreciate the -insinuating cleverness of that inquiry. The red, red rose has nothing -on her. Such a lovely, fast-color carmine, warranted to go through a -fainting fit without fading." - -"If you're going to have boarders, Agatha," Miss Finch remonstrated, -"you've got to keep a tight rein on your temper." - -"I did, Fritz; I was preternaturally amiable till I saw that the game -was up. Then I thought I might as well relieve my feelings. The woman -seemed to take it as an affront that I wasn't my own grandmother. She -said for a girl of my age to advertise for boarders was a piece of -presumption, and she wanted to know if I didn't have a guardian--as if -I were weak-minded." - -Miss Finch's contemptuous sniff breathed sympathetic scorn. - -"I'm not ashamed of being only nineteen. Everybody has to be nineteen -some time, except the people who die in infancy. As I said to Mrs. -Leavett, if you're too young, time will mend it. But being too old -isn't so easily remedied." - -"Was _she_ old?" inquired Miss Finch suspiciously. - -"Older than she wants any one to think, Fritz. She's the sort of woman -who talks about her little son when he's a sophomore in college, -smoking an enormous meerschaum." Agatha's angry color had subsided to -a becoming pink, and her eyes were luminous with mischief. "I'm going -to try the frank, open style in ads, since the other doesn't seem to -work. I shall want your opinion on it, Fritz, so prepare to give me -your undivided attention." She flitted to the writing desk and began -scribbling on the back of a convenient envelope and Miss Finch utilized -the pause to recover her elusive darning egg, dropping her thimble in -the process. Before she could capture the latter runaway, Agatha was -ready for her services as critic. - - "Boarders wanted. A spinster aged nineteen, of uncertain temper, - will accommodate a limited number of boarders at her country place, - Oak Knoll. Rooms large and airy, special ventilation secured through - openings in the roof. In case of rain, guests will be furnished with - tubs to catch the drippings, without extra charge. Fine lawn kept in - excellent order by the untiring efforts of two horses and a cow. View - unsurpassed. Meals excellent provided the cook is kept in good humor - by considerate treatment." - -She nipped the handle of her pen reflectively. "Do you think it -necessary to mention that the cook and the proprietor are one and the -same?" - -"Agatha," cried Miss Finch with the agonized earnestness of a literal -mind, "you mustn't think of sending that to the paper. Taking boarders -is a good deal like getting married. There's a whole lot you've got to -keep dark, or you might as well give up first as last." - -Her outburst terminated in a sniff. Immediately the tip of her pale, -seemingly bloodless little nose became as red as a cherry, the -instantaneous sequel of tears, with Miss Finch. - -"You're so smart, Agatha," she quavered. "If only you'd sell this house -and wash your hands of Howard and me, who haven't the least claim on -you, you could go to the city and look around and like enough find a -husband. There's plenty of men who don't mind red hair." - -Agatha ignored the encouragement. "Howard is my brother." - -"Just like children pretend in play. He's your stepma's son. There's -not a drop of Kent blood in him, and not a mite of Sheldon in you. But -instead of giving your mind to getting married like a girl needs to do -in these days, you're all the time worrying about educating that boy." - -"I'm going to send Howard to college if I live, I'd rather do that than -have twenty husbands." - -"Then if that wasn't enough," lamented Miss Finch tearfully, "here I -am, a good-for-nothing cumberer of the ground, for you to fuss and plan -for. Don't tell me! All the reason you keep this place is to have a -home for me and Howard. And it ain't right or fair." - -Agatha crumpled the advertisement inspired by the visit of Mrs. Leavett -into an inky wad, and took aim at the spider-like blotch on the -ceiling. Then crossing the room swiftly, she hugged the limp little -woman to her heart. - -"You'll make me cry myself if you're not careful. You want to deprive -me of my family and my chaperon at one swoop, and turn me out into the -world a solitary orphan, you heartless creature." She silenced Miss -Finch's gurgled protests with a kiss. "Hush!" she said authoritatively. -"There comes Howard on the pony. He mustn't know anything about this." - -The beat of hoofs ceased abruptly and a boy's swinging step sounded -on the porch. To save the trouble of walking ten feet to the door, -Howard raised the nearest window of the living-room, and made an -unconventional entry. He was a handsome lad of sixteen, and Agatha's -idol. She had been as ready as most young girls to resent her father's -second marriage, but all her childish hostility vanished at the -sequel, the chubby little boy who was her stepmother's contribution to -the family circle. She had longed for a brother with the passionate -yearning of a lonely child, and just when she had given up hope, a -brother was hers. Agatha's sense of proprietorship had grown with the -years. Nothing irritated her more than the suggestion that the tie -between Howard and herself was less binding than that of blood. - -The boy drew three letters from his pocket, slapping them down on the -table. - -"You're getting to be pretty popular, Aggie. Every time I go to the -village there's mail for you. Two letters yesterday and three to-day." - -"How warm you look, Howard." Agatha pushed the boy's heavy hair back -from his moist forehead. "You mustn't get overheated and take cold." -She was deliciously maternal in her solicitude for the sturdy youngster -who already topped her by an inch or two. - -"I'll look warmer before the day's over. I'm going to tackle the garden -now. If you'd ever seen summer boarders eat new green peas you'd know -'twas time to get busy." - -Howard departed as he had come, and his sister, her face overcast, gave -her attention to her mail. The first letter opened was flung petulantly -to the floor. - -"Woman wants to know how many bathrooms we have, and will I please send -her the names of several former patrons as references. Worse than Mrs. -Leavett." - -"They're an unreasonable lot, summer boarders," acquiesced Miss Finch. - -The second letter was as unsatisfactory, judging from the impetuosity -of its flight across the room. - -"She's the widow of a missionary and wants board at half rates, and the -younger children not to count." - -"I don't believe you've got the temper for running a boarding-house," -commented Miss Finch. "You're as fiery as red pepper and next to the -married state, keeping boarders calls for a saintly disposition." - -Agatha prying open the third communication with a hairpin, vouchsafed -no reply. But her perturbed air changed magically to breathless -attention. Her eyes moved slowly down the typewritten page, her air -of stupefaction increasingly in evidence. Checking herself with an -impatient gesture, she started again at the beginning and read the -letter aloud: - - "'My Dear Miss Kent: - - "'My attention has just been called to your advertisement in the - current _Onlooker_. I can hardly hope that you remember me, for it is - over twenty years since our last meeting, and at that time I was an - insignificant urchin of twelve--'" - -"Over twenty years," Miss Finch interjected, "and you nineteen last -week." - - "'I remember you distinctly, however, and your beautiful old place - with its fine grounds and noble trees. When I explain that I am the - son of John Forbes you will understand that my visit with my father - was a memorable occasion. He died soon after, as you remember, but he - often spoke of our week at Oak Knoll and his affectionate admiration - for yourself.'" - -A flicker of understanding illumined Miss Finch's blank face. - -"I'm beginning to see daylight," she interrupted. "The man's fooled -by the likeness of names. He thinks he's writing to your great-aunt, -Agatha Kent. She'd be between sixty and seventy if she were living." - -Agatha had already solved the puzzle. She nodded and read on, too -interested to pause for discussion: - - "'I have played in rather hard luck recently. I contracted a severe - form of malaria in my South American trip last year which has - resulted, strangely enough, in a loss of eyesight, only temporary, - the doctors hope. For six months I have gone about with my eyes - bandaged. At present the building up of my general health seems the - most important step in my recovery and I wish to secure board in some - retired country place with a bracing climate, like that of Bridgewater. - - "'In case you were willing to burden yourself with a blind boarder, - I should, of course, insist on paying more than the moderate rates - mentioned in your ad. I should also wish to engage the services of - some youth in the neighborhood who could serve as valet and companion. - I could bring an attendant from the city but would prefer a country - boy, who would not be continually pining for roof gardens and like - diversions. His work will be exacting, of course, for no child is as - helpless as I, but I will pay well in addition to his board and will - try to make his labors as agreeable as possible. - - "'I have written at length because I wish you to understand just - what you are letting yourself in for, if you admit me to Oak Knoll. - The remembrance of your benevolent face which even to my unobservant - boy self seemed to express your kindly nature, is my only reason for - thinking that possibly your answer will be favorable. - - "'Yours very truly, - - "'Burton Forbes.'" - -Mechanically Agatha folded the letter and returned it to its envelope. -She spoke in a rapturous half whisper. "A blind man. If it had been -planned on purpose, it couldn't have been more perfect. Please don't -tell me I'm dreaming, Fritz." - -Miss Finch rubbed her nose fretfully, a sign of perturbation. "Have you -thought--" - -"He can't see that the paper is peeling off the wall," Agatha continued -ecstatically. "But he'll appreciate the rooms being large and airy. He -won't worry because the house needs painting, but he can enjoy sitting -under the shade of the trees. I can even feed him fried chicken while -the rest of us are eating cod-fish gravy. It's an interposition of -Providence." - -Miss Finch was hectoring her nose again. "But how are you going to -manage--" - -"He wants a boy as an attendant," persisted Agatha jubilantly. "Howard -is the boy. He'll pay him well, and pay me for his board. If only I'm -not delirious. Oh, I want to jump and scream. Howard's next year in -school is all provided for. And if Mr. What's-his-name would only stay -blind till--" - -"I guess you're forgetting one thing." Miss Finch raised her voice -challengingly. "You ain't your great-aunt." - -Agatha regarded the interruption with irritation. "Well!" - -"It's her he wants to board with. He imagines she's a nice, motherly -old soul, who'll pet him up and feed him up. It ain't likely he'd think -of engaging board with a flighty young girl. I don't say you're not as -competent as though you were sixty. But he wouldn't believe it." - -The glow illuminating the girl's face flickered defiantly under this -chilling blast of common sense, and went out, like a candle in the -wind. She drew her arched brows into a meditative pucker and sat -musing while Miss Finch, humanly complacent over having suggested a -difficulty, gave her whole attention to her darning, leaving Agatha to -wrestle with the solution. - -"Fritz," the girl breathed at last, "do you believe in reincarnation?" - -Miss Finch tried to look as if she understood the meaning of the word. -With an adroitness for which few would have given her credit, she -replied, "I won't say I do, and I won't say I don't." - -"Well, it's true, Fritz. I am my own great-aunt." - -"Land alive!" cried Miss Finch, startled into close attention. - -"Mr. Burton Forbes wants to engage board for the summer with Miss -Agatha Kent. Well, I'm Agatha Kent. He imagines that I'm a nice -comfortable old lady with white hair and a double chin. Very well. -It would be a hard heart that would disappoint a blind man in such a -trifle." - -"You mean," gasped Miss Finch, "that you're going to deceive him?" - -"Heaven forbid. But I'm not going to _un_deceive him, Fritz. He assumed -certain things about me. Let him keep his illusions, poor soul. He'll -spend a happy summer with his father's old friend, and then go away and -recover, I hope." - -No trace of Agatha's shadowing perplexity remained. Her eyes had the -mischievous brightness of a naughty child's. Miss Finch gazed aghast. - -"He's bound to find out sooner or later. And no good comes of cheating -anybody, least of all a blind man." - -"You're not the stuff for a conspirator, I can see that," Agatha -laughed. "You look positively frightened. But Howard will be delighted. -He'll feel like the hero of a detective story." - -The window by which her brother had made his exit was still open and -Agatha took her departure in the same informal fashion. But little Miss -Finch sat bowed in her chair, as if the responsibility for this newly -hatched plot rested upon her narrow shoulders, and crushed her under -its weight. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE CURTAIN RISES - - -The composition of a suitable reply to Burton Forbes' request proved -unexpectedly difficult. Agatha did not lack appreciation of the -histrionic demands of her rôle. She suspected the late John Forbes of -something more than a platonic admiration for her imaginary self and -it was out of the question to write his son the matter-of-fact letter -which would have sufficed for another blind man, desiring board in the -country. As she composed laborious missives only to destroy them on the -second reading, Agatha thanked heaven that the hardships of her lot had -not included the adoption of a literary career. - -The completed letter, however, so far met her exacting requirements -that in satisfied contemplation of her intellectual offspring, she -forgot the pangs attending its birth. With a naive complacency not -unfamiliar among the craft, she read the masterpiece to Miss Finch: - - "My Dear Mr. Forbes: - - "Your letter, just received, both surprised and touched me. Your - memory must, indeed, be tenacious if you recall me, for in the twenty - years which have passed since your visit to Oak Knoll you have, I am - sure, seen much better worth remembering than a quiet, old country - woman the best of whose life is now its golden memories. - - "I hardly need tell you that my door would be open to your father's - son under any circumstances, and the fact of your blindness--which I - sincerely trust will prove temporary--only makes you doubly welcome. - Fortunately I know exactly the person for your attendant, a young - friend of mine named Howard Sheldon. He is thoroughly reliable and - the salary will be a great help to him, as he is ambitious for an - education. - - "Please let me know when to expect you. I am looking forward to - renewing the friendship begun so long ago that it almost seems as if - it must have been in another state of existence. - - "Very truly yours, - - "Agatha Kent." - -Miss Finch did not share Agatha's enthusiasm. Her pinched little face -was wan and worried as she conscientiously did her best to dampen the -satisfaction of the proud author. - -"That letter gives me a dreadful upset feeling, Agatha. I don't know as -I could put my finger on a downright lie, but it certainly ain't true." - -"It is the truth and nothing but the truth, Fritzie. It is ridiculous -for a little four-page letter to claim to be the whole truth. Take, for -instance, the fact about his being doubly welcome because he is blind. -That's truer than he has any idea of." - -"'Golden memories,'" quoted Miss Finch with severity. "A young girl -like you!" - -"That's the best thing in the letter," cried Agatha, enraptured. "I -don't know how I ever came to think of anything so clever. 'Golden -memories,'" she repeated with the sentimental inflection she deemed -appropriate. "Do you know, Fritz, I don't believe it's as hard to write -books as the authors make out." - -Disappointing as Miss Finch proved in the rôle of conspirator, Howard's -enthusiasm largely compensated for her deficiencies. Howard was in -his element. To share in a plot of this character was rapture beyond -words. The only drawback to his happiness was the fact that Agatha had -described him to his prospective employer as a reliable boy, ambitious -for an education. Howard felt that to live up to such a character -promised an insipid summer. It would have added a tang to existence had -he been cast for a refugee or a cowboy. It was with difficulty that -Agatha brought him to relinquish his determination to play some sort of -part. - -"I could pretend to be an awfully ignorant cuss, don't you know, Aggie. -I could say 'betcher life' instead of 'yes,' and, 'not on your tintype' -for 'no.'" - -Yielding to his sister's eloquent representations, Howard reluctantly -consented to confine himself to his normal mode of expression during -Mr. Forbes' stay and bend all his energy toward furthering his sister's -success in the impersonation fate demanded of her. His suggestions -proved an almost startling range of ingenuity. Agatha was to complain -frequently of rheumatic pains in her knees, and keep a cane handy for -strolling about the grounds. Another point on which Howard placed great -emphasis was the necessity of frequently mislaying her supposedly -indispensable spectacles. - -"He'll be sure to suspect something," insisted Howard, "if you don't -keep losing your spectacles. Old folks always do. And when I find them -and bring them to you, you must always say that they are the ones you -use for looking far off and you want your reading glasses." - -The exchange of several letters between Burton Forbes and his -prospective hostess resulted in an arrangement entirely satisfactory -from Agatha's standpoint. Her boarder was to make the trip from the -city without an attendant. Howard would meet him at the station with -the carryall and convey him to Oak Knoll, where Agatha would make -him welcome as the son of a friend long dead. The possibility of Mr. -Forbes' enlightenment through the interference of neighbors she had -met with characteristic decision by disseminating the information -that her home was to serve as temporary asylum for a blind gentleman, -broken in health and with an unconquerable aversion to society. Without -definitely reflecting on Mr. Forbes' mental condition, Agatha succeeded -in conveying the impression that any one attempting to interview her -blind boarder would do so at his own risk. - -Youthful audacity, together with a daring peculiar to herself, carried -Agatha triumphantly through the successive stages of preparation. It -was not until Howard had actually driven to the station to meet the -expected arrival that she began to appreciate her own temerity in -committing herself to so reckless a scheme. To be an old lady for an -entire summer, to be discreet and dignified--sufficiently so at least -to deceive a blind man--began to seem to her a contract impossible to -carry out. Her knees weakened under her. An abnormal acceleration of -her pulses convinced her that she was more frightened than she was -willing to admit. As the time approached for Howard's return, she was -almost on the point of offering a prayer that Mr. Forbes had suddenly -decided on a summer in Canada. - -The carryall drawn by the leisurely bays came in sight just when -apprehension was reaching the point of panic. Agatha strained her eyes. -Howard occupied the driver's place and in the comparative obscurity -of the back seat the outlines of a masculine figure were visible. Her -throat dry and her forehead unpleasantly moist, Agatha went out upon -the piazza to receive her guest. - -Under ordinary circumstances Howard's passenger would not have seemed -a formidable personage. In spite of the disfiguring blue goggles, his -clear-cut features were distinctly prepossessing. Moreover, his air -of helplessness would have appealed to the maternal instinct of any -female five years old, and led her to constitute herself his protector. -Only a guilty conscience accounted for the shrinking with which Agatha -advanced to welcome him. - -"How do you do, Mr. Forbes." She spoke in the repressed tones she -imagined befitting age, and her fluttering heart imparted a suitable -_tremolo_ to the greeting. - -Forbes snatched off his hat and put out a groping hand. His abundant -brown hair, cut severely close, showed a well-shaped head. His voice, -too, was in his favor. - -"Have I the pleasure--" - -"I am Miss Kent." Agatha took his hand and quickly released it. "Bring -Mr. Forbes' suit-case, Howard. I suppose you'd like to go to your room, -Mr. Forbes. Shall I help you?" - -She put her hand through his arm to guide him, her face aflame. Yet -her youthful zest for adventure was asserting itself and there was -something contagious in Howard's delight over actually embarking on -the anticipated conspiracy. Agatha's breathing steadied. She caught -Howard's eye and flashed a smile at him. The experience was like a -plunge into a mountain stream, exhilarating after the first shock was -over. - -"This is very good of you, Miss Kent," Forbes was saying as they -ascended the wide staircase, side by side. "I shan't be quite so -helpless as this when I've once got my bearings." His voice took on an -interrogative note. "I hardly suppose you would have known me?" - -Agatha threw him an appreciative glance. "I think it would be out of -the question for any one who had known you to forget you." - -"Really?" He seemed pleased. "But surely I have changed." - -"In twenty years? Certainly. Even I"--she smiled in enjoyment of her -own daring--"even I have changed since your last visit." - -Howard, on the stairs behind them, coughed loudly by way of applause, -but Agatha's complacency was destined to be jarred. "Don't make rash -claims," the new arrival said severely, "I feel you're nothing but a -girl." - -"I--I--" - -"At least that is how you impressed me the first time I saw you--the -only time I've seen you," Forbes corrected, "as if you would never grow -old." - -Agatha made a quick recovery. "I try to keep a young heart," she -replied demurely. "Now, Mr. Forbes, remember that when you get to the -top of the stairs you turn toward the front of the house, and the door -of your room is the first on your right." - -The big front room for all its appalling shabbiness, was deliciously -airy. Forbes stood between the open windows and drew deep breaths. -"This is what I've been pining for without knowing it," he burst out. -"I have a presentiment that this air is going to be just the tonic I -need, and that I'll be seeing again in a week or two." - -"I hope--so," lied Agatha with the jerkiness of one unused to -falsehood. "Howard, get Mr. Forbes everything he needs and bring him -down to the porch when he is ready, unless he would like to lie down." -She withdrew sedately and then atoned for her unnatural repression by -galloping down the stairs and falling upon Miss Finch, who, having -viewed the arrival from a convenient window, had withdrawn to her own -little rocking chair, a prey to lugubrious forebodings. - -The panting Agatha revealed no traces of her late misgivings. "It's -ridiculously easy, Fritz, and the greatest fun. I believe I'd have made -a star actress. I honestly felt as old as the hills, exactly as if he -were a young fellow I'd known years ago, when he was a little boy. I -was almost tempted to smooth back his hair from his forehead--he has -such a nice thoughtful forehead, Fritz--and imprint a benevolent kiss -above his nose." - -"Yes, I saw he was nice-looking," sighed Miss Finch. "Such a pity he -can't see. I've often thought I wouldn't mind marrying a blind man or -a cripple and sacrificing my entire life to making him happy. But I'm -afraid you'd tire of it, Agatha." - -"I'm sure I should. It makes me tired even to think of such a thing," -admitted Agatha shamelessly. "But you don't get my point of view, -Fritz. The kiss was to have been maternal or even grandmotherly. He -thinks I am an old lady and in spite of everything, I regard myself -from his standpoint. I never looked forward to a summer so much in all -my life. It'll be like going to a play morning, noon and night." - -Voices sounded on the stairs, a man's deep notes blending pleasantly -with the fresh tones of a growing lad. Agatha seized Miss Finch's arm. - -"Come out and meet him, Fritz. And I believe I'll begin calling you -Zaida. You're considerably younger than I, you know. Why, what's the -matter?" - -Terror in her eyes, Miss Finch was resisting the friendly propulsion. -"I'm afraid to go near him. I'll be letting the cat out of the bag, and -I'm not going to have lies on my conscience even for you, Agatha." - -With a laugh the girl released her. "Poor old Fritz, you never were -intended for a diplomatic career. But you'll get used to it. Train -yourself to think of me as some one venerable and stately, long, long -past the follies of youth." She advanced to the door with a dancing -step borrowed from Mrs. Vernon Castle as depicted on the screen, turned -to kiss her hand to the crushed Miss Finch, and disappeared in the -direction of the kitchen. And presently, mingling with the composite -fragrance of the garden and distant hay-fields, the appreciative -nostrils of Mr. Burton Forbes differentiated the less esthetic but -equally delectable odor of frying chicken. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A SOCIAL SECRETARY - - -In nineteen observant years Agatha had noted a business man's -invariable interest in the local telegraph service, and the tendency of -lovers to be dissatisfied with the mail facilities of the neighborhood. -The concern manifested by Burton Forbes on learning that the Rural Free -Delivery called at Oak Knoll but once a day, classified him definitely, -in Agatha's estimation. - -"You can always send Howard to the village for the afternoon mail," she -suggested, the new warmth in her voice an unconscious demonstration of -the truth that all the world loves a lover. - -"Thanks, that's fine!" The brightening of Forbes' face quite offset -his immediate conscientious warning that she was not to spoil him just -because she was sorry for him. - -As the Rural Free Delivery brought nothing of consequence on the -morning following Forbes' arrival, Howard was despatched to the village -after the mid-day meal, leaving Forbes in Agatha's care. Agatha -conducted her charge to a creaking rocking chair, in the shadiest angle -of the porch, and shoved a foot-stool near. "Now I'll get my knitting," -she said blithely, "and we'll talk." - -Forbes seemed delighted. "It's too good to be true," he murmured. "I -thought they were extinct, the old ladies who sat knitting. It's like -stepping into the heart of an old-fashioned story." - -Agatha smiled tolerantly. "It's clear you're just back from South -America. Up here everybody's knitting, young and old." - -"But not like you," he insisted. "I am sure you have an air about it -that differentiates your knitting from all this kittenish frolicking -with balls of yarn." He turned his wistful face toward her as if it -helped to visualize the picture, and then added, "Just the hour for -confidences, isn't it?" - -Agatha smiled at the dun colored wool in her lap. "A warm day, a cool -porch, an old lady knitting, and a young man in love. Of course it's -ideal for confidences." - -He did not seem in any hurry to take advantage of the opening he had -asked for. "I'm afraid I'm going to impose on you," he said, after -so long a pause that she wondered whether he were planning to deny -her charge. "Howard is a bright kid, and I'm sure he'll prove a -satisfactory secretary, but there are a few letters I'd hate to dictate -to a boy." He laughed with rather an engaging air of shyness as he -added, "I imagine it won't be particularly easy to dictate them even to -you." - -"Of course not," agreed Agatha, with ready sympathy. "Love-letters seem -one's own business more than almost anything in the world." His artless -confidences had brought a lovely color to her cheeks. Practical as -Agatha believed herself, she was romance-hungry, and it did not matter -in the least that in this particular love-affair she was cast for a -minor rôle. "And I'll read you her letters, too," she offered joyously. -"It will save Howard some trying experiences. Howard's just at the age -when he's horribly embarrassed by anything in the shape of sentiment." - -"Thank you. I'd any amount rather you read them," returned Forbes -gratefully. "But they won't be sentimental letters, at all. Howard -could read them without finding a word that would bring a blush to his -maiden cheek." - -"Oh!" observed Agatha blankly, and knitted to the end of her needle -without speaking. Apparently the path that had seemed so plain led -nowhere, after all. - -Forbes, too, seemed in no haste to speak. "Of course," he explained at -last, "I'm very hopeful. If I make a complete recovery as the doctors -tell me I'm likely to do, there's no reason why things shouldn't be as -they were before." - -Agatha laid down her knitting and regarded him fixedly, an upright -crease between her brows. The tranquillity of his unconscious face gave -the impression that she must have misunderstood him. "How were they -before?" she asked bluntly. - -Apparently he did not question her right to a categorical answer. "We -had planned to be married in January till this came up. But of course I -couldn't hold a girl like Julia when there's a possibility of my having -to grope my way through life." - -"No, of course not," agreed Agatha, with misleading calm. "But if she -were enough in love with you to plan to marry you in January, I should -suppose something would hold her, something you had nothing to do with." - -There was a moment of rather tense silence. Then Forbes laughed out -boyishly: - -"You dear old soul," he cried, "you don't know how mid-Victorian that -sounds. When you were a girl, women took all that sentimental stuff -seriously; about sacrificing themselves for love, I mean. But you don't -understand the modern girl. She's beyond that." - -"I don't pretend to understand your Julia," agreed Agatha, her eyes -aflame, "I don't want to." - -Forbes laughed again, this time with a reservation in his mirth. "Look -here," he said, "you mustn't criticize Julia, for then I can't talk -to you about her, and that would be a deuced bore. And she's a queen. -A girl of that sort is bound to know her value. Julia was really fond -of me, not desperately in love as I was--as I am--that wasn't to be -expected, but really fond of me and inclined to exaggerate ridiculously -my small achievements. But of course it's out of the question for her -to marry me if the rest of my life is to be a game of Blind Man's Buff." - -"Per--perhaps so," Agatha stammered. One of her ready rages was coming -on. She felt it distinctly. One familiar symptom was that her blood -seemed boiling in her veins, and her ears felt hot and swollen. She had -seen them before when she was angry, flaming like two danger signals, -and tempering the redness of her hair. Her shaking hands made knitting -quite impossible. "Of course people can't marry if they haven't the -money to marry on," she succeeded in saying finally, in an unsteady -voice, "but there's nothing to keep them from loving each other till -they die, and having that comfort, anyway." - -She had succeeded in making him very uncomfortable. She would have -known that by the way the rocking chair was creaking as he squirmed, -even if his astonished face had not borne witness to the facts in the -case. - -"It--it is not a question of money," he explained stiffly. "I have -plenty, and so has she. We're not extravagant in our tastes, either of -us. The thing that's out of the question--" He seemed to find a little -difficulty in making it clear, after all, and floundered at this point. -"You can't think of it," he protested angrily, "tying a girl like -Julia, a beautiful, queenly creature, to a man who has to be led around -like a poodle dog. God! I couldn't be coward enough to accept such a -sacrifice." - -"Oh, I understand, now." Agatha's anger was past the inarticulate -stage. She pulled a needle from her knitting, and brandished it -dangerously as she talked. "You mean that you wouldn't _let_ her -be engaged to you." The affected innocence of her voice was flatly -contradicted by the bitterness of her eyes. "You just insisted that -there shouldn't be anything more between you two till you were sure -that your eyes were going to be all right again. Well, I tell you -frankly that I think you've treated Julia brutally, and that she has a -right to detest you." - -Apparently Mr. Forbes was losing confidence in his ability to make the -matter clear. He sighed patiently as he tried again. - -"No, that isn't it. We were agreed perfectly on the subject. Love -isn't quite so reckless a passion as it was when you were young, Miss -Kent. Julia and I belong to a reasonable generation, tremendously -matter-of-fact. She was really cut up over the whole affair, but she -felt she owed it to herself to break the engagement since my future was -so uncertain, and I felt I owed it to her to release her. So we were -perfectly agreed, you see." - -"Yes, I see." Agatha was glaring at him with the expression of a -vixen. "Just as businesslike as if you had been planning to go into -partnership to raise chickens, weren't you? And so that's what the -modern girl is like. Dear me!" - -The edge to her voice made her irritation sufficiently plain, and -Forbes, with a gentle deference that touched her, changed the topic -to one unlikely to combat her old-fashioned prejudices. They were -discussing Thackeray and George Eliot when Howard returned. Swinging -himself from his pony, the boy came clattering along the porch, and -deposited a package of mail on his employer's knees. - -"It's lucky I went over," Howard declared. "You've got a regular -windfall, five or six letters beside the things with one-cent stamps." - -In spite of Mr. Forbes' assumption of ultra-modern reasonableness, his -countenance betrayed a boyish ardor that added to Agatha's resentment -against the recreant Julia. She took possession of the letters, saying -to her brother, "You'd better put the pony up, hadn't you, Howard? I'll -attend to Mr. Forbes' mail." - -Her boarder only waited for the beat of the pony's hoofs to tell that -Howard was out of hearing, before he leaned toward her, his face -pathetically eager. "Is there one from her?" - -"What's the post-mark?" - -"She's probably at the Briercliff Manor, this week. She writes a -striking hand, not the old-time idea of feminine, but full of -character and strength. You'll always recognize it after you've seen it -once." - -Unfortunately it appeared that Agatha's education in this important -branch of knowledge was not to begin immediately. There was no letter -from Julia. This fact established, the light went out of Forbes' face, -and it remained blank during the reading of several communications of -varying degrees of interest. For the first time he seemed an embodiment -of all the pitiful helplessness of the blind. - -"I suppose," he ventured hesitatingly, when she had finished, "that -you're too busy to take a letter for me to-day. Got to go on with that -knitting, haven't you?" - -Agatha longed to say yes. In her present mood, to transcribe an -impassioned letter to the object of Forbes' regard, seemed well-nigh -intolerable. Inexorably she forced herself to reply that she was not in -the least busy. "I'll get Howard out of the way by sending him to the -garden," she added. "He'll be perfectly willing to change jobs with me." - -Howard, who had the average boy's aversion to the use of a pen, bore -out her statement and joyfully agreed to picking peas in place of -acting as an amanuensis. He went his way, favoring her with an almost -ribald wink, a natural reaction from the profound respect he was now -required to show her. With an expression that would have befitted Queen -Elizabeth, when signing the death-warrant of Lady Jane Grey, Agatha -began her task. - -Forbes' mood, though disappointed, was not reproachful. His pale face -flushing slightly at the novel experience of giving voice to such -tender sentiments in the presence of a third person, he dictated the -letter with only those pauses necessary to enable Agatha to keep pace -with him. - - "My Dearest Girl. - - "The afternoon mail has just been brought from the village, and I was - disappointed at not receiving a letter from you. Disappointed I am, - but not surprised, for I am sure that wherever you are, you will have - little time to yourself unless you take it by main force, so to speak. - That is the penalty I pay for being in love with one so charming. - - "I wish you could look in on me here, at the home of my father's old - friend, Miss Agatha Kent. Oak Knoll is a fine old place. The house is - spacious, comfortable and homelike, the last characteristic doubtless - due to the personality of the owner. As Miss Kent is good enough to - write this for me, I must wait some other opportunity to tell you how - delightful I find her. Her type is disappearing, unluckily, which - makes me all the more ready to congratulate myself on this chance of - renewing a friendship which might almost be regarded as an inheritance. - - "The troublesome eyes pained me a little last night, but lying awake - was not altogether fruitless, as in the stillness I could bring your - dear face before me almost as vividly as if I saw it in the flesh. - To-day I feel much better. I am convinced that this wonderful air is - going to make me over, and then in a few weeks I shall again have a - right to indulge myself in the dreaming of those dreams which need no - Daniel to interpret them." - -Forbes' deep voice came to a halt at this point. He turned his face -toward Agatha, the involuntary movement showing that his blindness was -not of long duration, and smiled with that winsome boyishness which -made it impossible to believe him past thirty. - -"I believe I'll take my pen in hand for the wind-up, if you please, -Miss Kent. I think I can manage a line or two, without making it -illegible." - -She brought the sheet to him, put the pen in his hand, and indicated -where he was to begin to write. And then suddenly as she watched him, -the outline of his fine profile was blurred by angry tears. Something -in his expression gave her an inkling of the tenderness compressed in -those few straggling lines, and all for the girl who had "owed it to -herself" to break her engagement because of his misfortune. - -"She owes it to herself to break with him," reflected Agatha, "but she -doesn't owe it to him to make it final, and give him a chance to get -over it Oh, no! He can go on to the end of his life dreaming about -her, and making love to her, and feeding her vanity by his devotion. -And then he calls that deliberate heartlessness reasonable, and makes -himself believe that she's the type of the modern girl. The cat!" - -Agatha's righteous indignation was getting the best of her. She said -the last two words aloud. - -"Beg pardon!" Forbes turned, showing a puzzled face. - -"The cat is rather near the chickens," Agatha explained. "If you'll -excuse me, I'll run down and drive her away." She started at a pace -which would have been reckless for rheumatic knees, recalled herself, -and slowed down till beyond his hearing. Then she stood quite still and -stamped her foot upon the gravel like a restive horse, till she felt -better. - -When she returned, flushed but calm, the letter was completed and -folded. "Haven't any asbestos envelopes, have you?" questioned Forbes, -trying to make a joke out of his bit of sentiment. "I've made it -hot stuff, I assure you." And then he acknowledged that an ordinary -envelope would probably retain his ardent effusion without bursting -into flame, and Agatha wrote the name she already hated, eying each -letter malevolently, as she set it down: - - Miss Julia Studley - Briercliff Manor - Briercliff, New York - -Howard took her aside that night to thank her for relieving him of an -obnoxious task. "It's the only part of the work I mind, writing those -darned letters. Does he make 'em long?" - -"A great deal too long," said Agatha, "and I don't blame you for hating -that job. It's rotten." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -COMPLICATIONS - - -For a week Forbes' spirits were fitful. Morning after morning, the -Rural Free Delivery brought a variety of offerings, and disappointment -along with the rest. Each afternoon Howard rode to the village, and -though he never returned empty-handed, he might as well have done so, -since he failed to bring the right letter. Had it not been for Agatha, -Forbes' depression might easily have become serious. She spent with him -all the time she could spare, even shelling peas and whipping cream -upon the porch within arm's length of his chair. Whatever opinion he -expressed, she promptly disagreed. She railed at modern institutions. -She professed unbounded contempt for the modern girl. She was as -prickly as a chestnut burr, as puckery as an unripe persimmon, as -ruffling as a January gale. But she gained her point. Forbes did not -mope. - -In that week of waiting, she wrote at his dictation three letters to -Julia, all of them ardently tender, and quite uncomplaining. Though he -confessed to disappointment over not hearing from her, he did not seem -to question that it was her privilege to keep him waiting her pleasure. -His humility aroused Agatha to a fury of protest. She dotted her "i's" -as if she were stabbing the paper, and crossed her "t's" with a sweep, -like the slash of a knife. Her valorous instinct to champion the cause -of the under dog had never been so constantly in evidence. - -The table at Oak Knoll was extremely good that week. In addition to -distracting Forbes' thoughts by continually opposing him, Agatha -concentrated her attention on making him eat. The fundamental common -sense, underlying like granite her girlish caprices and audacity, -assured her that an aching heart was in some mysterious fashion -relieved by a full stomach. The price Forbes had insisted on paying -for his board had seemed to her excessive, and now it justified her in -trying her choicest recipes. And while Forbes' mood would have made it -easy for him to be quite indifferent to what was set before him, thanks -to these tactics he ate with a rather shamefaced relish, and assured -Agatha that cooks of her sort had all been born before the Civil War. - -At the end of a trying week, the looked-for letter arrived. Agatha -herself took it from the mail box at the end of the long drive, and she -eyed it as if it had been a new species of noxious insect. Though she -had never seen Julia's chirography, she instantly recognized it, even -without the aid of the post-mark. The letter was a long one, evidently, -for it had called for double postage. - -Agatha walked rapidly back to the house, congratulating herself that -her duties would be less onerous, at least till the stimulating effect -of this letter had worn away. She beckoned to Howard, who was escorting -Forbes about the grounds on his morning constitutional, and despatched -him on some unnecessary errand, while she took his place at Forbes' -side. "It's come," she said briefly. - -Though terse, the statement was quite intelligible. Forbes put out his -hand eagerly, and she saw it was trembling. She gave him the letter, -conscious of a pity that had a mixture of contempt. "Shall I read it to -you?" she asked. - -"Why, of course. What am I thinking of! Shall we go to the porch? It -seems like a fat fellow, and I don't want to keep you standing." - -Agatha put her hand through his arm and steered him in the direction -of the house. She noticed the shadow on his face had lifted. A little -color had come to his cheeks, and his sensitive mouth seemed on the -point of smiling. She felt that she despised his weakness in letting -himself be played upon by the caprices of a heartless girl, but at the -same time, she wanted to cry. And Forbes, as if suspecting her mood, -entertained her as they walked, by making fun of himself and of the -rapture he could not hide. - -"What do you think, Miss Kent? Will you be equal to reading this to me -every day till the next one comes?" - -"I suppose," said Agatha with resignation, "that I can stand it if you -can." - -"Oh, there won't be any difficulty as far as I'm concerned. In fact, -if my eyes were normal, I should probably read it several times a day, -whenever I had a minute to spare. But I haven't the nerve to impose on -you to that extent." - -"Heaven forbid!" cried Agatha devoutly, and he broke into hilarious -laughter. Agatha reflected that if this was the result of falling in -love, the longer that catastrophe was postponed, the better. - -Forbes had been quite correct in saying that Julia's letter would -not be sentimental. Howard could have read it without the slightest -embarrassment. She apologized casually for not having written earlier, -and by way of explanation gave a list of her engagements for the past -two weeks, a device which lent her letter the effect of the society -column in a Sunday newspaper, and accounted for the double postage. -The names of several men appeared frequently in her record, and it -was evident that Forbes was not the only one of his sex to recognize -her charm. She even quoted one or two compliments she had received, -as if certain of his sympathetic pleasure in her popularity, and his -expression as he listened seemed to justify her confidence. - -On the last page of the fifteen, Julia detached herself from this -fascinating theme, and touched on his affairs. She was glad he was -better and she was sure he must enjoy Oak Knoll. She thought those old -colonial houses simply lovely and from his description, Miss Kent was a -perfect dear. It was good of him to write so often for she was always -glad to hear, and she was very cordially his friend, Julia. - -Agatha laid down the letter, hardly able to keep back the scornful -comment that rushed to her lips like a hemorrhage. She was rather in -hopes Forbes would say it himself. The shallowness of the missive, its -unabashed vanity, its colossal selfishness were so apparent to her -intelligence that she half expected to have Forbes break the silence by -congratulating himself on his escape from marrying Julia in January. -With this thought in her mind, the fatuous complacency indicated by -Forbes' tone came in the nature of a shock. - -"She's a bit irregular as a correspondent, but when she does write, you -see it's some letter." - -Agatha digested this in silence. - -"You can gather from this," continued the unconscious Mr. Forbes, "how -popular she is. Wherever she goes, she's the center of attention." - -Since it gave him pleasure to continue in this strain, and Agatha was -not really hard-hearted, she composed herself to listen till Howard's -return. But the sight of her brother's slender figure in the distance -was peculiarly welcome. By dint of vehement gestures, she induced him -to exchange his sauntering gait for a run, and so shortened her ordeal -perceptibly. - -Howard looked from the frowning girl to the smiling young man with -perplexity. For several days Forbes' depression had weighed on the -boy's spirits. And now Mr. Forbes was grinning like a chessy cat, -and Aggie looked mad enough to bite a nail in two. Howard continued -to stare till by a sweeping gesture Agatha indicated her wish to be -left to herself. For some time Forbes had gone through the program -of exercise his physician had outlined with a listlessness which -proved his lack of interest. Now as Howard suggested continuing their -interrupted walk, he clapped the boy on the shoulder, seized his arm -and the two went off laughing. And Agatha, recalling his boast that he -was a representative of a generation remarkable for its reasonableness, -smiled sourly and significantly after his departing figure, and asked -herself whether all men were fools, or only the nice ones. - -In her valiant effort to sustain Forbes' spirits, Agatha had for some -days neglected her household duties, and she profited by his temporary -accession of cheerfulness to despatch a number of pressing duties, -aided by Phemie Tidd, the daughter of a neighboring farmer. The most -notable characteristic of Phemie was her stupidity, and though Agatha -had sometimes found this trying, in the present emergency she derived -satisfaction from the certainty that nature had rendered it impossible -for Phemie to find out anything on her own initiative. Whether she was -positively weak-minded or not was a question on which the community did -not agree, but under careful supervision she accomplished rather more -work than would have seemed possible, considering her mental equipment. - -As there was no immediate prospect of another letter from Julia, -Howard was excused from his afternoon trips to the village, and left -to discharge his secretarial duties unassisted. For this reason Agatha -was several hours late in learning an important bit of news. It was -approaching noon on Friday when she came out upon the porch flushed and -weary, after a strenuous morning, and dropped into a chair near that -which Forbes was occupying. Though the young man was alone, his mood -was evidently cheerful. As she approached him, his smile challenged her -attention, and she pondered with frank amazement on the extraordinary -effect of Julia's inane letter. - -"It's Miss Kent, isn't it?" Forbes looked boyishly pleased over having -guessed correctly. "I am beginning to enjoy some of the perquisites of -blindness. I can recognize the footsteps of all of you. Do you know -you walk with wonderful lightness for a woman of your age?" - -Agatha immediately resolved to begin wearing a pair of Howard's -slippers, which could be kept on only by dragging her feet. - -"I've been wanting to see you all the morning," continued Forbes -light-heartedly. "I've great news for you. We're going to have company." - -"Company!" Had Forbes' sense of hearing reached the stage of acuteness -he fondly imagined, he would have recognized instantly a note of -wildness in Agatha's exclamation. - -"Had a letter this morning from a pal of mine, fellow I knew in -college. He's coming to-morrow to spend Sunday with me." - -"To spend Sunday!" Even though Forbes was unable to perceive the frozen -horror of Agatha's countenance, her appalled tone convinced him that -something was wrong. His smile gave way to an expression of anxiety. - -"It won't inconvenience you to put him up, will it, Miss Kent?" - -Agatha found herself unable to reply. Her castle in the air was about -to topple. A friend of Forbes was coming, and his would be as eyes to -the blind. Through him Forbes would learn that the house was in need -of painting and shingling and papering, that the furniture was in all -stages of dilapidation, and that she herself was not an elderly lady -with a motherly interest in youth, but a mere girl with a surprising -facility in falsehood. And while these agonized forebodings flitted -through her brain, Forbes was offering dismayed apologies. - -"I beg your pardon a thousand times. I should have realized--Of course, -this isn't a boarding-house, but the fact that you advertised for -boarders, misled me, don't you see? If Warren's coming is going to put -you out at all, I'll have Howard telegraph him at once." - -Agatha came to herself. There was risk, of course, in granting -permission for his friend's visit, yet anything was better, even -discovery, than that she should appear inhospitable. Her cheeks grew -hot as she recalled his generosity and saw him confused and apologetic -over having asked a friend to solace his loneliness for a week-end. - -"Indeed you shall do nothing of the kind," she said with authority. -"You didn't understand me. I'm only sorry not to meet your friend. I -expect to be away over Sunday." - -"Oh, but that's bad. I particularly wanted Warren to see you. We might -telegraph him to make it Sunday week." - -Agatha vetoed the suggestion. It was better that Mr. Warren should come -as he had planned. "And besides," she added with swift return of her -normal audacity, "if he is here you won't miss me so much." - -"I shall miss you under any and all circumstances, dear lady." Forbes' -air of animation had returned, and it was so great a relief to see him -smiling again, that she resolutely shut her eyes to the pitfalls ahead. - -"I shall get a girl from the neighborhood to do the cooking," explained -Agatha. "And Miss Finch will mother you all in my place." - -"But not in your way." Forbes had a confused but unflattering -impression of Miss Finch, due to the fact that she never dared trust -herself to converse with him for more than a minute at a time, for -fear of making some unfortunate revelation. "And I'm sorry," he ended -regretfully, "that Warren's not to taste your cooking." - -"Oh, Hephzibah is exactly as good. I trained her." - -"Good Heavens! You don't mean there's a living woman with a name like -that." - -"Oh, do you think Hephzibah an odd name? It wasn't uncommon when I was -a girl." Agatha felt that she had taken leave of reason as well as of -principle. "Hephzibah Diggs," she repeated thoughtfully. "I suppose it -would have rather a quaint sound to any one not used to it." - -"It's a name for the vaudeville stage," said Mr. Forbes with -conviction. He returned to the subject of Agatha's other substitute. "I -suppose Warren will have a chance to get more of an impression of Miss -Finch than I have succeeded in doing, for he'll have his eyes to help -him out. All I have been able to discover is that she never finishes -her sentences." - -"She's shy with men, poor girl," said Agatha, and then as he looked -puzzled, "Of course she seems quite elderly to you, but to me she's -only a girl." - -Forbes whistled softly, shaking his head. "A blind man would credit you -with immortal youth, and convict her of never having been less than -middle-aged. I begin to believe that eyesight is misleading." - -Agatha broke away from him before her mood of reprehensible -recklessness should have implicated her still further. Then in the -seclusion of her own room, she wept. "It's bad enough to stretch the -truth when I positively can't help it," she told herself, "but this -morning I simply wallowed in falsehood. And now I must live up to -Hephzibah Diggs. Why couldn't I have called her Mamie Thompson? It's -all the fault of that atrocious Warren person, and I wish something -would happen to him on the way down. I suppose it's too much to hope -for a railway accident, with only one passenger killed, but that would -serve him exactly right." - -Agatha's courage did not revive until she undertook to prepare Miss -Finch for the responsibilities which would devolve upon her in the -absence of the mistress of the house. Her pale eyes became unnaturally -prominent as Agatha explained. - -"Agatha, I can't. I'd go through fire and water for you, but I can't -have a lie on my conscience. At my age I've got to prepare for death, -any day, and I can't be loading my soul down with mortal sin." - -"Oh, Fritz, don't be so foolish. It's not necessary to lie." Agatha's -conscience gave a twinge like an uneasy tooth, as she recalled her -entirely gratuitous inventions of the morning. "All you have to do is -to keep from telling the truth." - -"You can do it all right, you're so quick-witted, but I have to have -time." - -Agatha had an inspiration. "If he says anything you don't know how to -answer, pretend you're hard of hearing. And make him keep repeating it -over till he gets tired, or you've thought of something to say." - -Miss Finch showed no inclination to rejoice over this simple solution -of her difficulty. Her thin nose reddened as abruptly as if it had been -pinched, and her eyes filled. - -"I know I'm going to make a mess of things. I've felt from the start -that no good could come of cheating a blind man. And after you go -to-morrow--" - -"But I'm not really going, Fritz. Somebody must do the cooking. I shall -be in the kitchen, and my name will be Hephzibah Diggs." - -"Hephzibah Diggs!" Miss Finch repeated, appalled. "You're going to be -somebody else?" - -"Only till Mr. Warren gets out of the house." - -"And you picked out that name yourself, just for the fun of it?" - -Agatha reddened under her old friend's accusing gaze. "I had to have -some name," she protested weakly. - -"You didn't have to have that. It almost looks to me as if you were -getting where you took pleasure in deception." - -As this only echoed Agatha's self-accusation, she exclaimed, "The -idea!" with an air of indignant protest. - -"It keeps me awake nights," Miss Finch continued mournfully, "the way -things are in this house. It seems as if there might be an explosion -any minute. You're young and light-hearted, Agatha, and you can't -understand my feelings." - -"Can't I, though," mused Agatha, as her old friend tottered toward the -house. "And what's more, I shouldn't wonder if the explosion came off -in just about twenty-four hours." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -COMPANY MANNERS - - -Agatha took leave of Forbes about two hours before Warren's train -was due. She had worked valiantly most of the morning to render the -room he was to occupy approximately presentable. She had patched -the worst places in the carpet, provided two chairs with seats of -cretonne, and brought all the pictures from her own quarters to help -disguise the defaced condition of the guest-room walls. Her feeling of -dissatisfaction with the result, rather than her labors, had tired her, -and she had no heart for making the most of the dramatic possibilities -of the farewell. In her faded print dress, with a dusting cap drooping -limply over one ear, she presented herself on the porch, hastily -drawing on a kid glove, her sole make-up for her rôle. - -"Well, good-by, Mr. Forbes. I'm going now." - -Forbes took her gloved hand in both his. "I hope you'll have a -delightful week-end," he said cordially. "Nobody deserves it more." - -"I'm not anxious to get my deserts," Agatha assured him with truth, and -then to head off inconvenient questionings, "Give my apologies to Mr. -Warren, and say that if it had been possible I would have been here to -receive him myself. But I am sure that Miss Finch and Hephzibah between -them will make you perfectly comfortable." - -She released her hand and pulling off her glove as she went, betook -herself to the kitchen, where Phemie was still washing the dishes from -the mid-day meal. Left to herself, Phemie could be trusted to stretch -that uninspiring task over the better part of the afternoon. Thanks to -Agatha's presence, the splashing at once became animated. - -Deprived of the stimulating companionship of his elderly hostess, -Forbes decided to accompany Howard to the station. From the kitchen -window Agatha watched the carryall pass and recalled the sensations -with which she had first seen Forbes approaching in the same shabby -vehicle. Perhaps her present apprehensions would prove as groundless -as those. Agatha whistled a martial tune, as she beat up her cake, -and sought diversion in addressing Phemie with that disregard of -grammatical precedent to be expected from a girl named Hephzibah Diggs. - - * * * * * - -The usual number of loungers was in evidence at the Bridgewater -station, and the approach of Howard and his passenger was the signal -for animated comment. The rumors Agatha had been at such pains to -disseminate had taken on new and startling details as the village -gossips rolled them under their tongues. It was stated on indisputable -authority that Forbes had been the victim of sunstroke during his South -American sojourn, and that this had left him blind and with his mind -permanently affected. Another equally authoritative version pictured -him the slave of an appetite for liquor and accounted for his presence -at Oak Knoll by the fact that the village was "bone dry." All the -rumors agreed, however, in emphasizing Forbes' aversion to society, -and though Howard was surrounded and questioned as soon as he stepped -on the platform, it was not till the train was in sight that any one -ventured to approach the vehicle where Forbes sat alone. - -Howard, absorbed in the responsibilities connected with the -recognition of Mr. Warren, failed to notice the intrusion on Forbes' -privacy, but a number of other people were more observant. For once the -arrival of the four o'clock express had a rival in the public interest. -The unconscious Forbes was the target for a dozen pair of curious eyes, -as Jim Doolittle slouched toward him. - -Jim paused by the carryall and looked Forbes over with the agreeable -certainty that he could make his scrutiny as prolonged and insolent as -he pleased, without being called to account. Then as the noise of the -approaching train warned him to make the most of his conversational -opportunities, he ventured a remark: "How do you find yourself to-day?" - -Forbes' face showed no change of expression. Though Jim's nasal tones -reached him distinctly, it did not occur to him that he was the object -of solicitude. Jim waited vainly for a reply, and then, spurred to -persistence by his grinning audience, he tried again, this time lifting -his voice to a bellow, as if Forbes were deaf as well as blind. "Air -they treatin' you right out to Kent's?" - -Forbes turned with a start. "Beg pardon! I didn't know you were -speaking to me." - -"You're stayin' out to Kent's ain't you, for the summer? Folks say you -came for your health." - -"Yes." Forbes spoke stiffly, sharing the impression of most men who -have always been robust, that illness is a disgrace. "The doctors -advised a change of air." - -"And does Aggie Kent take good care of you?" - -The formality of Mr. Forbes' manner became more pronounced. "Miss -Kent," he replied, with marked emphasis on the prefix, "has made me -most comfortable." - -"Glad to hear it, glad to hear it," Mr. Doolittle assured him affably. -"Seems as if takin' boarders was pretty risky for anybody of her age." - -Forbes' irritation deepened. "Miss Kent is perfectly capable and -extremely vigorous. I believe she could tire me out." - -"Yes, I shouldn't wonder," Jim agreed, rather to Forbes' annoyance. -"And I guess Zaida Finch steadies her down when there's a chance of her -doin' something flighty." - -As this suggested to Forbes the weakening of his hostess' intellect -through age, necessitating the guardianship of Miss Finch, he contented -himself by a disdainful silence. The approach of Howard with a -stranger in tow checked further conversational angling on Jim's part -He tore himself away with a genial, "See you later," to which Forbes -responded by a non-committal grunt. But he forgot his annoyance as -Warren shouted his name, coupled with those abusive epithets with which -his sex are wont to disguise sentiment toward one another. - -Mr. Ridgeley Warren took an unaffected pleasure in his own society, -which as a rule proved contagious. He was an inveterate talker, noisy, -slangy, in every way Forbes' antithesis. Warren admired Forbes' -dignity, and Forbes found diversion in Warren's flow of spirits. And -beneath this mutual admiration was one of those steadfast affections -which springing up between two men is more lasting, in nine cases out -of ten, than the love between men and women. - -It was fortunate that the staid bays knew the way home, for though -Howard sat with the lines in his hands, he left to the horses all -responsibility for keeping to the road, and turning at the right -crossing. Warren told stories steadily all the way, and roared his -appreciation of each. Howard laughed too, and Forbes shared their -amusement, though less boisterously. Though the horses moved with -deliberation, the five-mile drive seemed short. - -As they turned up the driveway at Oak Knoll, Forbes said with the pride -of a proprietor, "Fine old place, isn't it?" - -"You bet," agreed Warren, his eyes upon one of the splendid oaks which -had given the place its name. Then beyond, he caught sight of the -house, and he leaned forward for a better look. "House been standing -for some time, from appearances." - -"Built by Miss Kent's grandfather," Forbes replied boastfully, "and -she's well on to seventy. I imagine the house is a hundred years old." - -Warren, staring at the sagging roof of the old building, looked as if -he could easily believe it, but unaware of his lack of enthusiasm, -Forbes continued: "I'm sorry you're not going to see Miss Kent, as -she's away for over Sunday. You'd fall in love with her on sight." - -Warren shrugged his shoulders. "Seventeen is nearer my style than -seventy. Can't you trot out some pretty girls for me to fall in love -with?" - -"I'm afraid Miss Finch is all we can offer you in the way of feminine -society, old man, and I've found her 'uncertain, coy and hard to -please.' But you always had a way with the ladies. You might do better." - -The carriage stopped at the door. Howard alighted and possessed himself -of the visitor's suit-case. Miss Finch, who from the window of the -living-room had watched their leisurely progress along the driveway, -appeared on the porch, prepared to do her duty as hostess if it killed -her. Miss Finch's nose was red and her lips were blue. Despite the -warmth of the mild summer day, her teeth chattered. - -Warren's hilarious air had disappeared with his first view of the -dilapidated country house where his friend was spending the summer. -His introduction to Miss Finch completed his undoing. He stared at -the tremulous little figure in silent stupefaction. What on earth -was Forbes doing in this tumbledown building with two old women for -company? And the extraordinary part was that Forbes seemed contented -with his quarters. Warren ascended the stairs to his room, trying to -make up his mind how to handle the situation. He had an uneasy feeling -that his friend was being imposed on. - -The appearance of his quarters confirmed his worst apprehensions. -Warren looked around him, shook his head, and rejoined Forbes on the -porch, feeling the necessity of immediate action. But Forbes' air of -tranquillity made him hesitate. After all, if Forbes himself were -satisfied, that was the main thing. - -He broached the topic cautiously. "I judge your friend, Miss Kent, -isn't what you'd call opulent." - -"Hardly, or I shouldn't be here. She advertised for boarders. Some one -was reading me a few of the promising ads from the _Onlooker_, and I -recognized her name. You see I visited her once when I was a boy, and -I've always remembered the beauty of the place." - -"Trees are fine," agreed Warren with reserve. "But the buildings all -seem rather seedy. Need paint badly." - -"Do they?" Forbes spoke indifferently. "Paint is the least of my -troubles." - -"I suppose so. But say, Forbes, are you sure it's a good thing for you -to be cooped up here all summer with two old hens?" - -He had fancied he was being tactful, but to his surprise Forbes seemed -irritated. - -"You haven't seen Miss Kent. If you had, you'd know that she's a -regular beef, iron and wine combination." - -"If she's like Miss Finch," Warren was beginning, when Forbes -interrupted him with such spontaneous laughter that he dropped his -sentence unfinished. - -"She's about as much like Miss Finch as a collie pup is like those -Teddy bears the kids lug around. She's an old lady in years, but -otherwise she's as young as you or I. She's so full of vitality that -you can't be near her ten minutes without feeling braced up. She's like -a mountain breeze." - -"Pity a woman of that sort didn't marry," commented Warren dryly. - -"That's what my old dad thought. Miss Kent was his first love, and he -stayed single on her account till he was well on to forty." - -"Maybe that's why you're ace high with the old lady. She's trying to -make up to the son for turning down the father." - -"Can't say, I'm sure. I imagine it's her disposition to be kind to the -crippled and disabled and generally good-for-nothing." - -His tone was suddenly bitter, and Warren's look sharpened. "How's -Julia?" he asked with seeming irrelevance. - -"Julia's well and enjoying herself." Forbes' manner seemed to defy his -friend to criticize, and Warren, who would have enjoyed nothing better -than expressing his opinion of Julia, changed the subject abruptly. -If Forbes liked this gone-to-seed place and the society of old women -it was no concern of his. Queer how differently men were affected -when their love-affairs went wrong. Some took to drink and some were -women-haters. With Forbes it had developed a craving for the atmosphere -of an Old Ladies' Home. Every man to his taste. - -Supper partly dissipated Warren's concern. The dining-room was as rusty -as the rest of the house. Miss Finch at the head of the table looked -tinier and more frightened than ever. The girl who waited on the table -was, without exception, Warren decided, the most unattractive specimen -of youthful femininity he had ever come across. But the supper was -unique. As Warren ate, his high spirits returned. Old Forbes knew what -he was about, after all. A homely waitress need not trouble a blind -man. Warren was almost inclined to believe that he himself could put up -with the sight of Phemie's vacant face for the rest of his life, if he -could be sure of three such meals every day. - -In the relief from his anxiety regarding Forbes, Warren turned his -attention to Miss Finch. She looked so helpless over all his jokes, -that he realized the necessity of strict literalness in dealing with -her. "I suppose you've known Miss Kent for a long time," he said by way -of beginning. - -Miss Finch paled over the shock of being addressed, but answered with -unusual promptness, "Yes, ever since she was a teething baby." - -In an instant she knew what she had done even before Forbes, turning a -perplexed face in her direction, asked, "But you're the younger of the -two, are you not?" - -Miss Finch opened her mouth like a newly-landed fish, and closed it -again without speaking. The device Agatha had suggested and which -she had mentally dismissed as "acting a lie," thrust itself upon her -recollection, and she clutched it with the avidity of the desperate. -Putting her hand to her ear with the immemorial gesture of the deaf, -she quavered, "What did you say?" - -"I asked if you weren't the younger of the two. Miss Kent said to me -the other day that she thought of you as a mere girl." - -"I didn't quite catch what you said," faltered Miss Finch, but before -Forbes could again repeat his inquiry, Phemie created a diversion. -She had taken the water pitcher to refill it, and as she advanced -to the kitchen door, her tray extended before her, she looked back. -It was characteristic of Phemie to walk in one direction and look -in another. Agatha was beginning to congratulate herself on having -at last eradicated this tendency, but she had not reckoned on the -effect of a handsome and lively young man on Phemie's susceptible -temperament. As she turned for another look at Warren, Phemie's tray -came into collision with the door and the pitcher, overturning, broke -in fragments. - -As was inevitable, every one turned to look. Warren, who was in range -of the door, saw it open, apparently of its own accord. A figure stood -in the passageway, fairly dazzling in its effect after the gray tints -of Miss Finch, the subdued tan and tow of Phemie. His eyes drank in the -colorful apparition for some ten seconds and then a rounded arm closed -the door. Phemie picked up the fragments of the broken pitcher, and -tearfully withdrew. - -Miss Finch sat through the remainder of the meal without tasting a -morsel, waiting in an agony of apprehension for Forbes to ask her again -whether she was older or younger than Miss Kent. She might have spared -her anxiety, for Warren's flow of conversation gave no chance for -settling such minor perplexities. Warren was one of the men to whom the -propinquity of a pretty woman is as stimulating as champagne. He did -not think it probable that the apparition in the kitchen could hear his -witticisms, but he assumed that she must realize who was responsible -for the hilarity at the supper table. And even without this confidence, -he would probably have talked and jested in the same breezy fashion, -this form of responsiveness to beauty being instinctive with him rather -than deliberate. - -The moment he was alone with Forbes, Warren broached the subject -engrossing his thoughts. "Burton, you have my sympathy. You don't know -what you're missing. Under this roof there's as pretty a bit of flesh -and blood as ever wore petticoats. Take it from me, she's a peach." - -"Phemie?" exclaimed Forbes. "The waitress?" - -Warren's derisive yell effectually settled Phemie's claims. "Gosh, no! -That girl would stop a clock. This one was out in the kitchen, but I -could see her peeking through after the smash-up." - -"Oh, yes," exclaimed Forbes, recollecting. "I know. That's Hephzibah." - -Warren positively staggered. "Lord, forbid," he ejaculated piously, -"she can't be." - -"She is, though, Hephzibah Diggs." - -Again Warren's stentorian tones shattered the peace of the night. -He used his first spare breath in announcing his intention to get a -nearer view and see if a girl named Hephzibah Diggs could possibly be -the beauty she had seemed. The announcement of this intention rendered -Forbes uneasy. - -"You let Hephzibah alone," he warned his friend. "These self-respecting -country girls think themselves as good as anybody--they _are_ as good -as anybody. And I'm responsible to Miss Kent for your behavior." - -"I don't want anything of the girl except to see her by daylight. She's -not too self-respecting for that, is she?" And then seeing that Forbes -was really annoyed, Warren dropped the subject of Hephzibah, though -without the least alteration in his intentions. - -It did not prove so easy as he had anticipated to get a satisfactory -view of the girl whose face, glimpsed in the half-light of the -previous evening, had seemed so alluring. At breakfast time Phemie met -with no accident, and though Warren watched the swinging door that led -to the kitchen with the alertness of a cat at a rat hole, it swung open -and shut without revealing anything more seductive than a corner of the -kitchen table. The day was warm, but the outside kitchen door remained -obstinately closed, and on the rare occasions when it opened, it was -Phemie who emerged. - -Warren was not a man who readily surrendered. Indeed, difficulties -were likely to stiffen a careless desire into adamantine resolution. -When his watch showed noon and Hephzibah Diggs continued invisible, he -decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He rose from -his chair on the porch stretching his sinewy length lazily. "I believe -I'll walk about a bit," he said, "and work up an appetite for dinner. -With meals like these, a man wants to be able to do himself full -justice every time he sits down to the table." - -"You ought to try Miss Kent's cooking," boasted Forbes. "She trained -this girl, and she does well, but she's not a patch on her teacher." - -Warren's stroll took him no farther than the kitchen door. He ascended -the steps jauntily and knocked. After waiting vainly for an invitation -to enter, he decided to assume that it had been spoken, and pushing the -door ajar, he walked in. - -Over in the corner Phemie was chopping something in a wooden bowl, but -in spite of the insistent tapping of the knife upon the wood, he was -hardly conscious of her existence. A girl stood at the table rolling -out biscuit, and her sleeve turned back almost to the shoulders, -revealed a faultless arm, white and rounded and tapering to the -finger-tips. She turned her head at his step and he thrilled with -amazed pleasure. His glimpse of the previous evening had not been -misleading. Indeed his impression had fallen short of the actuality. He -was looking at the handsomest young woman he had ever seen. - -Mr. Ridgeley Warren did not lack self-confidence. His momentary silence -was due to wondering admiration, not to any doubt of his power to -please. With smiling self-possession he advanced into the room. In her -corner Phemie chopped on steadily, without removing her fascinated -eyes from his face. Hephzibah--it was preposterous that this radiant -creature should be encumbered with such a name--continued to roll -biscuit. - -"You seem busy here," remarked Warren in his most ingratiating manner. -"Don't you want an assistant?" - -He was sorry to discover that the voice of Hephzibah Diggs was not in -accord with her bodily perfection. She talked through her nose and that -fact impressed him so painfully he almost lost the force of her reply, -"Guess me and Phemie kin manage." - -"I'm quite a little cook myself," continued Warren, saddened but not -discouraged. "In my last place they said my parboiled cauliflower beat -anything they had ever tasted. And my string-bean _parfait_ has become -popular in the best New York restaurants." - -Phemie's delighted gasp was his sole applause. Hephzibah Diggs gave her -attention to her biscuits. - -Warren seated himself on one corner of the immaculate table and began -to talk with his customary volubility. His remarks took the form -he imagined would please a country farmer's daughter, lacking the -rudiments of education. He soon realized, and with some irritation, -that he was making an impression on the wrong girl. Phemie chortled -joyfully over her chopping. Hephzibah Diggs listened as if it were -against her principles to smile. - -She brought three eggs from the pantry presently and broke them in a -workmanlike manner, whites in one bowl, and yolks in another. "Got to -have three more," she said to Phemie in that unpleasant nasal voice -which helped to reconcile Warren to her continued silence. - -A little flicker of triumph crossed Warren's face. Her sending Phemie -for eggs was obviously a ruse to be alone with him. When Phemie had -departed on her errand, with obvious reluctance, he leaned toward -Hephzibah, his smile so confident that it was almost a smirk. She -looked up with a directness rather disconcerting and he reflected that -her eyes even in a face like Phemie's, would have given her a certain -claim to beauty. - -"I don't like men folks hangin' 'round when I'm busy." Her speech, it -appeared, was as direct as the gaze of those adorable, reddish brown -eyes. - -"Then what do you say to a little walk when you've finished your work?" - -"I ain't got the time." - -"You mean you've got another fellow up your sleeve, don't you? Say, -let's give him the slip. You ought to be nice to me after I've come so -far to see you." - -She turned her attention again to the cooking, drawing her arched brows -into a frown. He noticed with approval that her beauty lost nothing of -its distinction by her look of ill temper. But perhaps that was because -the ill temper was a make-believe. - -He leaned toward her persuasively, losing his head a little in her -proximity. His pulses quickened. He thought he had never seen anything -prettier than the way her hair crinkled away from her creamy neck. -It occurred to him that he would like to kiss the cheek whose vivid -freshness seemed an invitation to such temerity. Country people were -primitive and direct. With a girl of the type of Hephzibah Diggs, a -kiss was simply a natural expression of admiration. - -As his lips brushed that blooming cheek, she reached for the bowl -containing the egg yolks. She did not look in his direction as she -flung the contents in his face, but her aim was true. He sprang to his -feet with a gasp and a sputter. There was an incredible quantity of -that sticky yellow stuff, matting his hair, dripping from his eyebrows, -trickling in sickening streams down his neck. - -"You little vixen. Does this stuff spot?" - -Hephzibah ignored his inquiry. Warren backed away, laughing nervously, -his mood divided between anger with her and shame for himself. Then -panic seized him at the thought of encountering Phemie and he took a -hasty departure, mopping himself with his handkerchief as he ran. - -Howard had driven Miss Finch to church and Forbes was alone on the -porch. "You didn't walk far," he said, recognizing his friend's step. - -"No--o. Had an encounter with a wasp. I'll be down in a minute when I -repair damages." - -He hoped Hephzibah would not tell Miss Kent of the episode, but he -decided to take the chance, and suggested to Forbes his coming up again -in two or three weeks. To his surprise Forbes was not enthusiastic. - -"It was awfully good of Miss Kent to take me in," he explained, -apparently forgetful of the advertisement which was responsible for -his presence at Oak Knoll. "And I don't want to bother her with too -much company. I think she finds it upsetting to have strangers around, -and it's not singular when you come to think of it. For all she's so -wonderful, she's really getting to be an old lady." - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -HEPHZIBAH COMES TO LIFE - - -Miss Kent's company at breakfast Monday morning was an agreeable -surprise to Forbes, his pleasure chastened only by his regret that -Warren had left on the late train the previous evening. "I particularly -wanted you to meet him," Forbes complained. "If I'd known you were to -be back so early I should have insisted on his staying over." - -"It's only the young who can make a good impression at breakfast," -Agatha responded. "Old people need twilight and candles." She raised -her eyebrows in the direction of Howard, who was indicating his -approval of her answer by a soundless show of spirited applause. - -"I'd risk the impression you'd make any hour in the twenty-four," -rejoined Forbes gallantly. "But it is too late now. Serves Warren right -for being in such a rush to get back to his confounded business. Tell -us all about your good time, Miss Kent." - -"I didn't have one." Agatha felt the statement to be indiscreet, but -her imagination was not equal to lending any glamour to her nightmare -of a Sunday. - -"You didn't enjoy yourself?" Forbes' voice indicated sympathetic -surprise. "Why, what was wrong?" - -"I didn't say I was going away to enjoy myself. I didn't expect to. You -took that for granted." - -"I see. One of those formal visits that are even more deadly than -formal calls, because they're longer." - -"And it turned out worse than I expected." Agatha was finding a certain -melancholy pleasure in speaking her real sentiments. "Because I had -a disagreeable encounter with a perfectly obnoxious person. But it's -over, thank heaven, and I don't want to talk about it." - -This topic being tabooed by mutual consent, it was natural that Forbes -should begin to talk about Julia, as a theme eminently calculated to -cheer the despondent, and lend interest to the most tedious hour. -Agatha, listening, realized that her week was to be a hard one. It was -time for Forbes to expect another letter from Julia, and of course -Julia would not write so promptly as he expected, and it would be -increasingly difficult to keep him in good spirits. Over her coffee -Agatha laid plans for distracting her boarder's thoughts from his -elusive correspondent. - -Her apprehension proved correct. That afternoon Howard was sent to -the village to do one or two little errands for his employer, and -incidentally to get the mail. The next day the same program was -followed and the third brought no change. And meanwhile the arrival of -the Rural Free Delivery wagon was daily awaited with an anticipation -not justified by results. - -Agatha starting down the long driveway one morning, as the fateful hour -approached, saw Forbes and Howard on ahead, evidently bound on the same -errand. Before she could turn back, Howard caught sight of her and -abandoning his charge, he came toward her on the run. - -"You were starting for the mail, weren't you, Aggie? Would you mind -taking him along while I see if I've got a rat in my trap?" Then -dropping his voice to a scornful undertone, "He's got to go himself -because he's expecting a letter from his girl, and can't wait for it to -be brought up. See?" - -Agatha accepted the commission without comment. She joined Forbes, -and taking his arm, guided him the length of the shaded drive. Neither -had much to say. Forbes was evidently bracing himself for possible -disappointment and Agatha was not in a talkative mood. They had hardly -reached the main road before Agatha's observant eyes detected in the -distance a significant cloud of dust. "He's coming," she said with -a reservation in her tone intended to warn her companion not to be -over-sanguine. "We won't have long to wait." - -The wagon approached and halted. The driver produced a miscellaneous -assortment of letters and one good-sized package, the latter he -scrutinized as if reluctant to part with it. "Do you know anybody -around here," he brought out with irritating deliberation, "by the name -of Diggs--Hep--Hephzibah Diggs? Ain't that a name for your life?" - -Agatha gazed at him wild-eyed, incapable for the moment of speech. - -"It's addressed to Oak Knoll," the speaker continued. "But I thought -mebbe there was some mistake. I never knew any Diggses in these parts." - -Agatha recovered herself and extended her hand. "Yes," she said -hurriedly. "It's all right. I'll take it." - -The mail-carrier surrendered the collection. "You're getting to have -quite a raft of boarders," he commented affably. "Feller has to have -his wits about him to keep track of so many new names." He clucked to -his horses and the wagon rattled on. - -Oblivious to her responsibilities as temporary post-mistress, Agatha -stood quaking. To her guilty conscience the significance of the -mail-carrier's inquiry was unmistakable. He had never heard of a -family in the vicinity named Diggs. He assumed that Hephzibah was -a summer boarder. Agatha did not doubt that Forbes was pondering -these extraordinary facts, and that his first words would demand -an explanation. With hanging head she waited for him to begin his -cross-examination, but his voice when he spoke was anxious rather than -peremptory. "Well?" - -Agatha gasped. "I--why--you see--" - -"You know her handwriting, don't you?" asked the lover. "I'm not sure -where this letter will be posted." - -Agatha reflected that love is sometimes deaf as well as blind. So -engrossed was Forbes in his own anticipations that the compromising -conversation with the mail-carrier had made no impression on his -consciousness. After a hasty survey of the handful of letters, Agatha -announced in a stifled voice that there were two letters for Forbes, -but neither seemed to be from Julia. Her face betrayed an emotion due -not to the tragedy of Forbes' disappointment, but to the discovery that -there was a letter as well as a package, addressed to Hephzibah Diggs. -That young woman, the fantasy of a day, had taken on a terrifying -vitality. There was no way of estimating her possible activities. -Agatha's emotions were those of Frankenstein when he discovered that -his monster was alive. - -They made their way back to the house, Forbes valiantly explaining why -it was foolish to have expected a letter before afternoon, and Agatha -making irrelevant replies. She turned her companion over to Howard -and escaped to her room with the mail addressed to Hephzibah Diggs. -An absurd scruple regarding the opening of other people's letters -temporarily paralyzed her efficient right arm, and she stood staring at -the address of the communication without coming any nearer a knowledge -of its contents. It was impossible to rid herself of the feeling that -she was on the point of attempting something dishonorable. - -"What a fool I am," she groaned in exasperation. "Hephzibah Diggs -isn't anybody, but if she were anybody, she'd be me." She tore open -the letter without giving herself a chance to evade the inevitable -conclusion of this bit of logic. - -It was from Warren, of course. She had been prepared for that, -even without the testimony of his bold signature. With a curiosity -that momentarily made her oblivious to the menacing aspects of the -situation, Agatha read the brief communication: - - "My Dear Miss Diggs: - - "I am writing you a line to apologize for my conduct Sunday. You were - all right, and I was all wrong. At the same time, you'll have to take - a little share of the blame for being so distractingly pretty that a - man's likely to lose his head when he comes near you. - - "I am sending you by this mail a package which I hope you will accept - as indicating my regret for having offended you, and my sincere wish - to be - - "Your friend, - - "Ridgeley Warren." - -Agatha turned her thoughtful attention to the package which bore -Hephzibah's name. She proceeded to strip off the wrapping paper with -a haste indicating that her scruples were finally set at rest. Then -as she took the cover from the five-pound box of chocolates, and gazed -enraptured at the triumph of the confectioner's art, she temporarily -laid aside the feeling of age due to the faithful impersonation of her -great-aunt, and became nineteen or a trifle less. - -"Chocolates," murmured Agatha. "And millions of them. In the person of -Hephzibah Diggs I accept the apology." - -When she reappeared upon the porch, her manner was cheerful, and a -number of yawning cavities marred the symmetrical arrangement of the -topmost layer of chocolates in the box up-stairs. Forbes greeted her -with more animation than she had looked for, considering his recent -crushing disappointment. - -"That's you, isn't it, Miss Kent?" - -"Yes." - -"Here's a letter Howard has just read me. I want you to look it over -and tell me what you think of it." - -"Very well." Agatha seated herself comfortably and took the letter from -his extended hand. But Forbes was evidently desirous of preparing her -for its contents. - -"It will be a surprise to you, I imagine, Miss Kent. What is your -opinion of Hephzibah? Is she really such a stunning beauty?" - -"I suppose she would be considered fairly good-looking if anyone -liked the type." Agatha flattered herself that she had spoken with a -creditable lack of prejudice. - -"According to Warren she's considerably more than that. The fact is, -he--but you'd better read the letter. That makes it plain enough." - -With a return of her previous misgivings, Agatha followed his -suggestion. - - "My Dear Forbes: - - "If you had shown a little more enthusiasm over my suggestion of - dropping in on you again soon, I should have run down at the end of - the week, and had a good talk with you. Owing to your inhospitable - reluctance I'm obliged to trust to writing, which I sometimes think - was invented, as somebody said about speech, for the purpose of - concealing thought. - - "To come straight to the point, I must confess that I had a short and - not wholly satisfactory interview with the fair Hephzibah on Sunday, - in the course of which my earlier impression of her beauty was more - than confirmed. By jove, Burton, she positively is a dream. And the - idea that a creature of that sort should spend her days amid pots - and kettles is obnoxious to any right-thinking man. We've got to do - something about it, Forbes. What do you think of sending her to - school somewhere, and having her educated? It would be virgin soil, - I imagine, for the poor girl can't open her mouth without taking a - bite out of the king's English, and her voice is like a guinea hen's. - But that could be trained out of her. For all her ignorance, she's - nobody's fool. You can see that by looking at her. - - "Now I'm putting the thing up to you because I suppose it would be - better to have Miss Kent act for us in the matter. Judging from my - brief experience Hephzibah--can't we find some euphonic substitute - for that name?--is as self-respecting as the devil. Explain to Miss - Kent that I'm a respectable man of philanthropic tendencies--hitherto - unrecognized--and ask her what would be the best way to go about - taking the girl in hand, and giving her an education, or enough of one - so she can make a reasonably good appearance. And then we can decide - on the next step. A few hundred a year will be enough to do the job - properly, and if you feel like going into it with me, it might help to - reassure Miss Kent as to the impeccability of my motives. - - "Lord! What a letter! I haven't written so much with my own fist since - I was in college, and at the same time I feel as if fifteen minutes of - chinning would have made the matter a heap clearer. If the girl should - prove to have enough head for the legitimate stage she ought to make a - hit as Katharine, in _Taming the Shrew_. She's exactly the type, red - hair and all. - - "Regards to the voluble Miss Finch, to Howard, and of course to Miss - Kent. - - Yours, - - "R.W." - -Agatha was glad the letter was a long one, as this gave her time to -think. And yet the result of her thinking was but a confused jumble -of varying apprehensions. Her recollection of Warren's face as he -leaned toward her, was that of a man not easily turned aside from a -purpose. But somehow or other he must be forced to surrender his absurd -philanthropic intentions in behalf of Hephzibah Diggs. - -Forbes was waiting for her verdict. "Well?" he said at last, when she -showed no inclination to speak. "What do you think of it?" - -Agatha cleared her throat. "It's out of the question," she shot at him -so violently that he looked startled. - -"I'm ready to vouch for Warren," he hastened to say. "I don't mean -that he would be as ready to help a plain girl as a pretty one, but I -assure you that your protégée would be perfectly safe as far as he's -concerned. And I suppose he's right in thinking that beauty is one of -the talents, and it's hardly fair to keep it wrapped in a napkin." - -"But she doesn't want to be educated," Agatha protested. "She's -perfectly satisfied just as she is." - -Again Forbes seemed to find her vehemence perplexing. "Perhaps her -ignorance explains her indifference," he suggested. "Do you think -she's capable of learning?" - -"I suppose she's capable enough." - -"If she's really a strikingly handsome young woman with a fair mind, -and Warren is sufficiently interested in her to give her an education, -doesn't it seem that she should be encouraged to accept his offer? -Surely if she is what he thinks, she is capable of something better -than the work she is doing at present. Unless you have some good reason -for feeling that it would not do--" - -"But I have," flashed Agatha. "I have." - -"Oh, indeed!" He seemed to be waiting for her to explain, and she -floundered on with a horrible sensation of being caught in a quicksand. - -"She doesn't wish to be educated. She doesn't wish any notice taken of -her; she only asks to be let alone." - -"To be let alone." He said the words over as if they had a hidden, -mysterious meaning. "Oh, I think I begin to see." - -Agatha sighed her satisfaction. She had no idea what explanation had -presented itself to the perspicacious Mr. Forbes, but she perceived -that at length her protests had taken effect and he was prepared to -relinquish the argument. So great was her relief that the processes of -his mind failed to interest her. - -Unluckily Forbes was one of the people who insist on certainty. "I -suppose," he said, a note of sympathy in his deep voice, "that the poor -girl has been unfortunate." - -Agatha blanched. He waited for her avowal, then tried again: "You -mean, I suppose, there's some unhappy episode in her past life and she -doesn't want to attract attention for fear of its bobbing up again." - -Agatha stared at him aghast. Her first impulse to defend the character -of Hephzibah Diggs at any cost yielded to a less worthy caution. If -she gave Hephzibah a clean bill of health, figuratively speaking, -what other reason could she invent for her invincible repugnance -to attracting attention? With fascinated horror she realized that -Forbes' conjecture exactly filled the requirements of the case. There -was no help for it. The fair name of the blameless Hephzibah must be -sacrificed to that most merciless of the divinities, the exigency of -the moment. - -"You have expressed it," faltered Agatha with an unnerving sense of -rank injustice, "as well as I could have myself." - -"Poor girl!" Forbes repeated, "and so young, too. At least I suppose -she's young, from Warren's idea of educating her." - -Again he waited for an answer, and Agatha stammered, "Ni-nineteen." - -"And all this happened some time ago, I suppose." - -"Oh, a long time." Agatha was crimson to her ears. - -"It seems a shame," mused Forbes aloud. "Her whole life to be -sacrificed for one step aside from the straight and narrow path. You -and I know the world, Miss Kent. And we know--" - -"Oh, please," protested Agatha faintly, "I don't know anything about -it." - -He leaned toward her quickly, touched by the appeal in her voice. - -"Excuse me, Miss Kent. I know you belong to a generation whose women -were trained to shut their eyes to a great many things. I don't believe -in that theory of life, but I haven't any intention of violating your -prejudices. All I wanted to say was that you and I have lived long -enough to know that thousands of our respected citizens, prominent -socially and otherwise, are every bit as guilty as that poor girl. And -since this is the case, isn't it a pity that her morbid sensitiveness -should shut her out of making something of herself?" - -It was unbelievable. Hephzibah's reputation had been blackened in -vain. Even now he was unwilling to leave her in the seclusion her -sensitiveness craved. He was determined to drag her into a garish -publicity. Iphigenia had been sacrificed and still the winds were -unfavorable. - -"Oh, I wish you would not talk of this any more," cried Agatha, the -intensity of her feeling showing in her moved voice. "I understand -Hephzibah's case a great deal better than you do, better than you ever -can. And I know that the thing you're talking about is out of the -question." - -His face reflected her agitation in the shape of profound sympathy. -"You're sure that if we talked it over, we wouldn't find a way out? Two -heads are better than one, you know?" - -"I'm absolutely certain." - -"Then I won't distress you any further. Of course Warren has barely -seen the girl, and it's evident that his head was a little turned -by her beauty. You know her, and I'm sure you appreciate the -responsibility of deciding a question that concerns her so closely, -without even consulting her." - -"I can speak for her as I would for myself." - -"Then I'm sorry if the suggestion has worried you. I'll see you're not -bothered again." He spoke confidently, and Agatha hoped he did not -overestimate his influence where Ridgeley Warren was concerned. When -she remembered the square chin of the last-named young man, she did not -feel sure. - -In her heart she gave Forbes credit for having done his best. Later -in the day Howard showed her a letter he had written to Mr. Ridgeley -Warren at Forbes' dictation. Without explanation but in the most -emphatic manner possible, Warren was assured that his scheme was -impracticable. "I can not very well go into details," the letter ran, -"but Miss Kent, who knows the case thoroughly, has convinced me that -the kindest thing, as far as the girl is concerned, is to leave her -alone." And to this sentiment Agatha sighed a tremulous amen. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -DAY DREAMS - - -For the first time since she could remember, Miss Finch felt herself -living in an atmosphere of romance. If a young man's fancy turns to -thoughts of love only under the allurements of spring weather, Zaida -Finch surpassed the average youth by full three seasons. Love and -matrimony occupied her thoughts twelve months in the year, and to an -extent inconceivable in view of her general colorless and withered -aspect. - -Though as far as possible removed from the designing spinster of -the comic stage, Miss Finch had not as yet surrendered the hope of -changing her name. From her point of view the unmarried woman was a -self-advertised failure. Husbands, as far as she had been able to -observe, were always disappointing, and not infrequently obnoxious, -yet to lack one somehow proved one's self less than a woman. In those -dreams which never passed the bounds of maidenly reserve, she sometimes -imagined herself addressed by the prefix which indicates the dignity of -wifehood--she would have died sooner than have coupled it with the name -of any man of her acquaintance--and then in the words of a simpler and -more direct age, she felt that her reproach among men had been taken -away. The secret weighing heaviest on her heart was the knowledge that -no man had ever indicated that he wanted her. - -Needless to say, Miss Finch's present mood of sentiment was entirely -vicarious. Agatha's prospects absorbed her almost to the exclusion of -her own timid dreams. Miss Finch was constitutionally incapable of -realizing Agatha's vivid beauty, though she sometimes told herself that -if it were not for her red hair, which she innocently assumed to be a -misfortune, Agatha would be a really pretty girl. Forbes had no sooner -made his appearance than Miss Finch had inventoried his qualifications -for Agatha's future husband, and had not found him altogether wanting. -His blindness was a misfortune largely offset by his amiability, -and free use of money, and in her association with him, Agatha had -developed a sympathetic patience her old friend could not regard as -characteristic. - -"And it looks to me as if he were taken with her," Miss Finch had -congratulated herself. "He chirks up as soon as she comes near him. If -he likes her so well when he thinks she's an old woman, he ought to -like her better when he finds she's a young one." - -There was, to be sure, one serious difficulty to be met in the -readjustment of Forbes' ideas on the important subject of Agatha's -identity. At this point Miss Finch's dreams ended in chaotic confusion -and with her oft-repeated lament, "There's no good going to come from -cheating a blind man." - -After Warren's visit, Miss Finch's match-making tendencies took -another direction. If Warren had failed to make an impression on the -unsusceptible Hephzibah, he had nothing to complain of as far as Phemie -and Miss Finch were concerned. In spite of the agitation induced by her -unwonted responsibilities on the occasion of Warren's visit, Miss Finch -had been keenly alive to the young man's cheerful good humor, and his -naive self-enjoyment had communicated itself to the one of his audience -who seemed least responsive. "Exactly the one for dear Agatha," -declared Miss Finch. - -With the discovery of the source of the box of chocolates, Miss -Finch's smoldering hopes leaped into flame. Caution had dictated -Agatha's concealment of Warren's tangible apology, but to a girl -of her temperament the solitary consumption of a five-pound box of -confectionery was a moral impossibility. Her innate generosity forced -her to share the sweets with Forbes and Miss Finch and Howard and -even with Phemie. Three of her beneficiaries accepted their shares -as unthinkingly as the lilies of the field, but Miss Finch showed a -troublesome tendency to ask questions. - -"Agatha, you don't mean you've been wasting your money on candy? A box -of that size must have cost something awful." - -"No, Fritz, I didn't buy it." - -Experience had taught Miss Finch to be on her guard when Agatha -wore that look of wide-eyed innocence. She pondered the seemingly -straight-forward reply. - -"Having things charged is the same as buying 'em, Agatha. You've got to -pay for 'em some time." - -"But these were given me, Fritz dear. They were an apology." - -"Mr. Forbes!" gasped Miss Finch, and at once the strains of the wedding -march rang in her ears. - -"Mr. Forbes! The very idea! The only trouble with him is that he never -did anything in his life to apologize _for_. He's so perfect that -people mistake him for a worm and trample on him." - -"I didn't mean to make you mad, Agatha," Miss Finch protested timidly, -shrinking from the flame in Agatha's eyes. The inexplicable girl stared -for a moment and then to Miss Finch's great relief, burst into a laugh. - -"Fritz, you're funnier than a box of monkeys. If you must know, Mr. -Warren sent the chocolates." - -"To you?" Miss Finch almost screamed it. And forthwith the summer -breeze brought to her nostrils the odor of orange blossoms. - -"That's the question that's troubling me, Fritz. The box was addressed -to Hephzibah. But as I am her nearest living relative--you might almost -say her mother--" - -Miss Finch swept these fine points aside. "I didn't know he'd ever seen -you." - -"He walked into the kitchen while you were at church. That's exactly -his style, I imagine. And when he saw me there rolling biscuits, he -talked a lot of nonsense and ended by kissing me." - -"Agatha!" gasped Miss Finch. Her emotions were confused. She was under -the impression that this recital confirmed her wildest hopes and at the -same time outraged her finer sensibilities. Possibly her reprehensibly -exultant feeling was due to an overwhelming certainty that this at -least was life. - -Her face aflame as if she and not Agatha had been the recipient of that -kiss, Miss Finch attempted to discharge her responsibilities as mentor -of youth. "Agatha, I can't understand it. I'm afraid you must have -acted bold. I never heard of a gentleman's walking into a kitchen, and -kissing a young lady he'd never seen before." - -"Nor I, Fritz. And that leads me to the conclusion that Mr. Warren -isn't exactly a gentleman. At the same time," Agatha added, helping -herself to another chocolate, "he apologized very sweetly." - -"Is he coming to see you?" demanded Miss Finch, who in her ignorance of -the ways of the great world assumed that so spontaneous a tribute must -be merely preliminary to an ardent courtship. - -"He had an idea of taking my education in hand." Agatha briefly -outlined Warren's philanthropic scheme in behalf of Hephzibah Diggs, -and Miss Finch turned all colors as she listened. Now at last she knew -that the romantic novels with which she solaced her leisure hours had -not misled her. There really _was_ such a thing as love at first sight. - -"Agatha!" she ventured tremulously, "you could marry that man to-morrow -if you liked. It's as plain as the nose on your face that he's dead in -love with you." - -"If it were as plain as the nose on _his_ face, that would settle it. -But as nothing would induce me to marry him to-morrow or any other day, -the state of his feelings doesn't matter." - -"But I'm sure, Agatha," remonstrated Miss Finch, "that you wouldn't -want to break his heart." - -Agatha's reply was a paroxysm of laughter that left her gasping and -tearful. "Oh, Fritz," she half sobbed, as she wiped her eyes, "I'm so -glad you didn't die when you were little." - -Miss Finch was on her dignity. "I know you're making fun of me, Agatha. -But it's no laughing matter to wreck a man's life." - -Again Agatha yielded to mirth. "You've seen Mr. Warren and yet you say -that." - -"I can't see why you take that tone, Agatha. I'm sure he's a nice young -man and so lively." - -"I'll admit the liveliness but not the heart, at least not the broken -heart. That young man owns a good, tough, thoroughly seasoned organ, -take it from me." - -Miss Finch sighed but with less dejection than her manner indicated. -Little as she had learned of the ways of men and women in her guileless -spinsterhood, she had somehow gathered the impression that girls -occasionally abused the admirers who stood highest in their maidenly -affections, for the pleasure of hearing them defended. And though she -could not be sure that this explained Agatha's slighting references -to a most agreeable young man, Miss Finch resolved to lose no -opportunity of sounding Warren's praises. In his case, too, there was -an unfortunate confusion of identity to be cleared up, but from Miss -Finch's point of view, a young man who could give a kiss and a mammoth -box of chocolates to a pretty girl, under the impression that she was -a servant, would not hesitate to lay his heart at her feet when he -discovered that her blood was as good as his own. - -Developments convinced Miss Finch of the wisdom of her chosen tactics. -She overlooked no opportunity to speak a good word for the absent -Warren, acquiring a certain irrelevant eloquence on the theme. And -though Agatha gave no indication of agreeing with her, it was evident -that she enjoyed her earnestness and was more inclined to lead her on -than to check her fluency. - -Whether because of Miss Finch's judicious opposition or some less -obvious reason, Agatha was in noticeably high spirits. She entered into -playing her rôle with a whimsical abandon that at times moved even Miss -Finch to laughter, in spite of her conscientious misgivings. Indeed the -spirit of cheerful animation pervaded the entire household. Whether -because Forbes had at length resigned himself to hearing from Julia -only once in two or three weeks, or whether the improvement in his -health furnished the necessary elasticity for resisting disappointment, -his moods of depression were becoming very infrequent. He spent less -time on the porch and more on long jaunts with Howard. The two went -fishing frequently and sometimes Agatha made a third, in which case -the pace was regulated strictly according to Forbes' view of what was -due her advanced years. Agatha was sure she would find more enjoyment -on the occasions when the two males went as fast and as far as they -pleased, undeterred by consideration for the aged. - -One exhilarating morning Forbes and Howard left soon after breakfast, -taking their luncheon with them, and advising Agatha to expect them -only when she saw them. With her customary knack for utilizing the -moments, Agatha improved their absence to despatch a number of tasks -awaiting her attention, and wound up by washing her hair. She made -her appearance on the lawn in the early afternoon, her splendid mane -falling almost to her waist and reflecting the sunshine like burnished -copper. Already the little tendrils were beginning to curl about her -face while the water dropped from the long ends. - -Agatha seated herself in the sun, lifting the coppery mass strand by -strand, that it might dry more quickly. Had Miss Finch been versed in -classical lore, she might have been reminded of the golden fleece for -which men risked so much. As it was she said chidingly, "Agatha, you -will freckle terribly if you're not careful." - -"This sun is worth a peppering of freckles," Agatha answered -recklessly, but she pulled her hair over her face and then she -resembled Danäe veiled by a shower of gold. It was several minutes -before she made a peek-hole in the screen, and looked at Miss Finch -apprehensively. - -"Fritz, I hear wheels. Don't tell me that in spite of my repeated -warnings, we're going to have callers." - -Miss Finch stood up. The very slight advantage due to an upright -position was sufficient to enable her to recognize the occupant of the -approaching vehicle. "It looks to me like Jim Doolittle." - -"Jim Doolittle!" exclaimed Agatha, amazed. "Why, what can he want? He -must be coming to see you, Fritz." - -"Agatha!" quavered Miss Finch, and flushed a painful purple. - -"Well, he certainly isn't coming to see me, and I find it hard to -believe that Phemie is the magnet. He doesn't know Mr. Forbes and -Howard is a trifle young to attract him. Please see what he wants, -Fritz." - -"I--I'd rather not, Agatha." - -"Why, Fritz, what ails you? You can see for yourself that I'm in no -condition to interview Mr. Doolittle. His modesty would never survive -the shock. Send him away as soon as you can. It won't do to have all -the busybodies of the neighborhood dropping in whenever they feel like -it." - -Reluctantly Miss Finch departed on her inhospitable mission. But it -seemed that Agatha had done Mr. Doolittle an injustice. He had come on -an entirely altruistic errand. - -"There was a telegram at the office for Aggie's boarder, and I offered -to bring it out, being as I was driving by." - -"A telegram for Mr. Forbes!" fluttered Miss Finch, forgetting her -shyness in sympathetic concern. "I hope there's no more trouble in -store for that poor young man." - -"Wal, the Bible says to him that hath shall be given, and I've noticed -that's likely to come true, as far as trouble's concerned. How's the -poor feller getting on? I had a little talk with him one day, and I -made up my mind he warn't the June-bug sort of crazy, just the glum, -hold-your-tongue kind." - -"I guess Mr. Forbes' brains would hold their own alongside yours or -mine!" Miss Finch spoke with some heat and realized her mistake in time -to add, "Though of course he thinks a lot of things that aren't so." -It soothed her conscience to realize the absolute truth of her closing -statement. - -"I know, hallucinations they call 'em," said Mr. Doolittle, proud of -his mastery of the polysyllable. - -Miss Finch was not sure whether Agatha could be reckoned a -hallucination or not and she evaded the issue by adding pointedly, -"He's got quite an aversion to company." - -"I could see that. You'd have thought it would be a real relief to -him to talk with me, man to man, after being shut up with a passel of -women-folks, but no! I couldn't scarcely get a word out of him." Mr. -Doolittle shook his head in sad wonder over the vagaries of a mind -distraught, and then his attention wandered to a patch of color on the -lawn. "Is that Aggie Kent in the brown dress with her hair hanging?" - -"Yes." - -"Looks like a haycock struck by lightning." Again Mr. Doolittle shook -his head. "Aggie's a lucky girl to have you on hand to steady her and -keep her acting sensible. I guess everybody 'round here knows who's the -backbone in this house." - -"Agatha's an awful capable girl," said Miss Finch. She was aware that -she did not deserve the compliment, yet because of that contrary twist -in human nature from which the most exemplary are not altogether free, -it gave her pleasure. "Agatha don't need any backbone but her own," she -insisted. - -Mr. Doolittle straightened his sagging figure and tightened his lines. -"Wal, if the young man should get vi'lent any time just call on me." He -clucked to his horse and the ramshackle buggy creaked away. - -The great moments of life come and go while we remain oblivious. As Mr. -Doolittle jogged down the shaded drive, he said to himself that Zaida -Finch would make some man a good wife. He even turned his head to look -back, and the prim little figure hurrying across the grass seemed to -his elderly eyes to radiate a certain maidenly charm. - -All unconscious of this momentous occurrence, Miss Finch carried the -telegram to Agatha, and that young woman shared her apprehension, -though for a somewhat different reason. - -"It's not so likely to mean trouble for him as for me. Perhaps some -more of his city friends are coming to visit him. If they do, I think -I'll have an attack of smallpox and quarantine the place." She stood up -extending her hand for the message. "I must hunt him up right away and -find out." - -"You're not going that way, are you, Agatha, with your hair all down? -You look like a crazy girl." - -"What's the difference? Mr. Forbes won't be scandalized, because he -can't see me. And the birds and the squirrels won't mind. It's not dry -enough to put up yet." - -Telegram in hand, she started up the slope behind the house. Miss -Finch's faded, troubled eyes saw her silhouetted in glowing relief -against the intense blue of the summer sky, and then lost her as she -passed out of sight over the brow of the hill. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE RESCUE - - -Forbes and Howard had spent the morning in the open. They had tramped -miles under the genial sun, had eaten a luncheon which disproved the -accepted theory as to the capacity of the human stomach, and at the -conclusion of the meal had rested in the shade, Forbes smoking, and -Howard sprawled upon the turf, idly watching the woolly clouds that -like a flock of sheep grazed across a pasture of luminous blue. - -Suddenly Howard leaped to his feet, and the next moment the report -of his shotgun shattered the lazy hush of the summer day. To Forbes' -secret annoyance, his nerves betrayed him into a violent start. He had -not been aware that firearms were included among his young companion's -impedimenta. "Hello!" he exclaimed disapprovingly. "What are you -shooting at this time of year, boy? You'll get yourself into trouble if -you're not careful." - -"It's a chicken hawk. They're awful thick around here. Much as ever -Ag--Miss Kent raised any chickens this spring." - -"Oh!" Forbes subsided, with a smile. "Every season's open for chicken -hawks, I suppose." - -"Well, there's one robber out of the way," Howard boasted. "He went -down like a stone. Say, Mr. Forbes, would you mind staying alone a few -minutes while I run down the hill and see if I can find him?" - -"Go ahead, my boy." Forbes smiled again, as Howard's headlong rush told -how promptly he had acted on the permission. Forbes' mood was hopeful, -and therefore indulgent. There was something tranquillizing in the -atmosphere of the summer day. It was easy to believe in his ultimate -and complete recovery, and even that Julia would wait for him instead -of engaging herself to one of the men who were helping to make her -summer enjoyable. Young Prendergast was the rival he had most reason to -fear, and that was a sore spot with him, for Murray Prendergast had his -father's money to recommend him, and little besides. Forbes was ready -to defend Julia for breaking their engagement, but though tortures -could not have elicited the avowal, in his heart he was humiliated by -the possibility that Julia might turn from him, to throw herself into -Murray Prendergast's arms. Eyes or no eyes, Forbes knew himself the -better man. - -Yet to-day in the sunny peace of this Arcadia, the thought of -Prendergast had lost its power to sting him. He could reflect on -Julia's love of admiration with a tolerant smile. Flirtation was -the feminine equivalent of masculine wild oats, and he would be a -fool to put an exaggerated importance on a beautiful girl's innocent -coquetries. Miss Kent was hard on Julia. That was the way with the best -of women. They did not know how to be fair to one another. - -"Bless her dear heart!" Forbes was not thinking of Julia now. His smile -had become tender. "What a champion she is! She never can see but one -side, and that's yours--if you happen to be the fellow she likes." - -His fancies, tenuous as the smoke of his cigar, wove themselves into -pictures as he sat dreaming. He saw himself restored to health, and in -a home of his own. He saw Julia beautiful as ever, but with matronly -dignity replacing her girlish charm. And there were little shapes -whisking in and out of that dreamland, creatures half sprite, half -human, and his cigar went out as he watched their capers. An observer -would have noted a hint of pathos in his smile as well as a whimsical -humor. - -He roused himself from his long reverie to wonder what had become of -Howard. Making all due allowance for the ardor of the chase, Howard's -absence had been protracted beyond all reason. Forbes whistled long and -shrilly, shouted Howard's name, and waited with growing uneasiness. He -could only make a rough estimate of the time that had elapsed since the -boy's departure, but he knew it must be nearer an hour than the few -minutes Howard had asked for. And it was not like Howard to forget him. - -He had no way of measuring the time as it dragged on, but he ceased at -length to assure himself that he was becoming a fidgety old woman, and -frankly admitted he had reason for alarm. It was impossible to explain -Howard's continued absence on the ground of boyish thoughtlessness. -There was another and possibly a sinister explanation. His heart -sickened as he realized that Howard might be seriously injured and with -no aid near. As the thought suggested itself, he sprang to his feet in -furious rebellion against his helplessness. - -"I've got to get to the road somehow. Then I can hail the first wagon -that passes, and send some one over here to look for that boy." He -realized that the thing was simpler in the statement than in the doing. -The last road they had crossed was at least half a mile from where he -stood, and to grope his way unguided over half a mile of open country -was a desperate undertaking. He was not even sure of the points of the -compass. - -Forbes was angry to find himself trembling. He took a stronger grip -upon his self-control, and racked his brain for any information that -would be of service. Howard had spoken of a south wind that morning and -Forbes was under the impression that when they returned home from their -jaunts up into the hills, they walked toward the setting sun. He wet -his finger and held it up to test the direction of the breeze. He was -likely to go wrong, he knew, but anything was better than inactivity. - -Stumblingly and with his hands outstretched, he started on his way. -His progress was slow. At first he was continually halted by imaginary -obstacles from which he shrank till his groping hands convinced him -that the way was clear. Resolving on bolder tactics, he marched along -at a swinging pace till a collision with a stalwart pine sent him -reeling back, gasping and half stunned. Again he tried caution and -after an interminable half-hour abandoned it, as intolerably slow. He -picked up a rotting branch over which he had stumbled, and waving this -before him to make sure that no tree barred his way, he found himself -making very creditable speed for a blind man without a guide. - -After a little, again he halted, thinking he heard a faint, wailing -cry. He strained his ears, his heart thumping. "Howard!" he shouted. -"Howard!" He wondered if his nerves were playing him a trick, or -whether he really did hear a second time, that faint sound of distress. -He started on at a reckless pace, brandishing his stick before him, and -occasionally shouting Howard's name. - -So utterly had the thought of his own safety passed from his mind that -a second collision was only to be expected. But this time it was not -a tree, whose impact sent him staggering backward, but a human form. -Involuntarily he dropped his stick, catching at the nearest object to -save himself, and was aware that two hands had seized him in a clutch -as desperate as his own. For a moment they clung together in an embrace -like the locked clasp of two drowning swimmers. Then a voice deep down -in Forbes' consciousness said, "Good God, it's a woman." - -As his head steadied he knew he was not mistaken. There was a -smothering quantity of hair for one thing and it seemed to be -everywhere at once. When he moved just a little to get away from it, he -put his cheek against another cheek of exquisite smoothness. Surprise -rendered him incapable of moving, and standing like a statue, he made -other interesting discoveries. The woman in his arms was breathing in -long-drawn gasps like sobs. He could feel the convulsive straining of -her chest against his, as her breath came and went. Under his hand her -heart plunged like some frantic creature in a trap. Then he realized -that she was trying to speak. - -"You fool," she could only whisper it, with that strange sobbing -breath. "You fool! Oh, you fool!" - -"My dear girl!" Forbes remonstrated. He could not have told why he was -so sure of the fitness of this form of address, except that the curves -of the pliant body, that lay limp against his heart, were somehow -eloquent of youth. "I don't understand you." - -His protest had an immediate and in some respects an unwelcome effect. -At once her relaxed form stiffened and withdrew from his arms. A strand -of hair rasped across his cheek producing a curious tingling like a -mild electric shock. But she had not gone far, for he could distinctly -hear her difficult breathing. - -"You were walking to your death. In another minute you would have been -over the cliff." - -"Is it possible!" No normal man can escape death by a hair's breadth -and remain unmoved. Forbes' face paled. For a moment he was intensely -conscious of the myriad fragrances steeped in the sunny air, of the -myriad sounds, significant of teeming life. But he had no time to waste -on himself. - -"I knew I ran a risk but it was necessary. As you see I am blind, and -my attendant, a young fellow named Sheldon, left me for a few minutes -while he hunted for a hawk he had shot. That must have been two hours -ago. I'm afraid the boy is hurt." - -She murmured something he failed to understand and he did not ask her -to repeat it. "As soon as you are able to walk, please go somewhere and -get help. He may be seriously injured." - -"I said he was coming--I see--him coming." She still whispered but her -breathing was obviously less painful. - -"Howard coming? Do you mean Howard?" - -"Yes." - -"Are you sure you know him?" - -"Yes." - -"Does he seem to be hurt?" - -"Not that I can see--he's running." - -"Thank God!" Forbes exclaimed. He had time now to think of himself and -his deliverer. He took a step nearer her, and it seemed to him, though -he could not be sure, that she drew back a little. - -"As I understand it, you saw me from a distance, and realized I was in -danger. And you ran to help me." - -"Yes." The monosyllable was hardly more than a breath. - -"I thought I heard a cry once. Did you call?" - -"I tried--to. Running up hill--I didn't--have breath." - -There was a hysterical catch in her voice. Forbes seized her by the -arm. "Oh, you're crying. Please don't." - -"I'm not." She sobbed aloud as she denied the charge and continued -to sob to his immense distress. He found her hand and patted it -soothingly as if she had been a child. - -"Poor girl! I can see how unnerving all this has been. But won't it -help a little if you remember that you've saved my life?" - -"Oh, don't! Don't!" - -"I'm afraid you'll have to let me say it, but I'll wait till another -time if you'd rather. Please tell me your name." - -"It d--doesn't matter." - -"It matters a great deal to me. It isn't every day, you know, that a -man has his life saved by a beautiful girl." He felt singularly secure -regarding his adjective. "And of course I want to know who you are." - -She trenched her hand away with disconcerting energy. "It--doesn't -matter about me," she said as well as she could for weeping. "But don't -take such risks again. Good-by." - -"Now this is positively absurd," exclaimed Forbes in real annoyance. -"You've done me a tremendous service, the biggest one human being -can do another, and I'm not the sort of man to remain ignorant of my -benefactress. I want a chance to show that I'm not unappreciative." - -Silence! - -"Are you there?" Forbes demanded sharply. So vivid and illuminating -were his recollections of the woman his arms had enfolded that it -seemed preposterous he should never know how to address her. - -Continued silence. - -Forbes bit his lip and waited. And behind his back, a singular -pantomime was being enacted. A young woman whose heavy red hair -fell about her like a cloak, ran into the arms of a breathless boy -approaching from the opposite direction. She put her lips to his ear -and whispered, "Don't tell him who I am." - -"All right, but what's the matter, Aggie? What are you crying for?" - -"Never mind. Nothing. Don't tell him my name." - -"But what if he asks me?" - -"Don't tell him, that's all." She drew herself away from him and -started by a circuitous route for home. Howard approached his waiting -employer with a new perplexity superimposed on his former perturbation. - -"Mr. Forbes, I don't know what you'll think of me--but down there I ran -into the game warden." - -"Oh, did you!" Forbes' attitude was a trifle absent-minded. "Then you -weren't hurt." - -"No, sir, I'm all right. But he'd got hold of a partridge some one had -shot and he was bound I'd done it. And he made me go along with him and -I thought I would never get away." - -Howard's voice showed strain. Forbes' groping hand found his shoulder -and patted it. - -"All right, old man. No harm's done. I own I was anxious when you -didn't show up, but no harm's done." - -"Are you ready to go home now, Mr. Forbes? It's nearly four o'clock." - -"Yes, we'd better go." Forbes took the boy's arm. "By the way, Howard, -did you see a girl talking with me a few minutes ago?" - -"Ye--es, I saw her." Howard's manner betrayed reluctance. - -"What is her name?" - -An incomprehensible silence followed. Forbes repeated the question with -more than his customary peremptoriness. - -"I--I don't think I can tell you, Mr. Forbes." - -"Do you mean you don't know?" - -Howard was a truthful boy. "Yes, I know it," he replied hesitatingly. -"But she"--a sudden inspiration came to his aid--"Miss Kent don't want -me to talk about her." - -"I shall ask Miss Kent myself," Forbes rejoined coldly. - -"Yes, sir," said Howard, brightening. "That would be better." He felt -that it really was up to Aggie to get out of the difficulty as best she -could. It was all very well to say to a fellow that he was not to tell -a certain thing, but she didn't take into account that he would feel -like a fool when he was asked a plain question. - -As it proved, however, Forbes did not appeal to Miss Kent for -enlightenment. As they neared the house Howard proved the youthful -resilience of his spirits by making a little joke. "It's a good thing -you're not married, Mr. Forbes." - -Forbes did not agree with him, but he forced himself to smile amiably, -and ask the reason for the conjecture. - -"Because there's a long red hair on your coat collar." - -Forbes saw the point and much besides. Understanding came in a flood. -The girl was Hephzibah, of course, poor unfortunate Hephzibah, ashamed -even to give her name and yet more sinned against than sinning, he was -strangely sure. Without seeing it, he had felt the spell of her beauty, -that beauty that had enthralled Warren. As he thought of his friend, -Forbes was instantly convinced that he had too readily yielded to Miss -Kent's insistence, regarding Warren's offer. He even felt a certain -tempered irritation with his old friend for having taken on herself the -responsibility of deciding for another so vital a matter. Now that the -girl had saved his life it was unthinkable that he should leave her -to her fate just because of an old-fashioned theory that there was no -future for a woman who had once gone wrong. - -He felt so strongly on the subject that he might have spoken his mind -to Miss Kent on reaching home had he been given the opportunity. But -Zaida Finch met him with the information that Miss Kent had gone to bed -with a severe headache, and that a telegram had come for him about the -middle of the afternoon. She hoped it was not bad news. - -The telegram proved to be from Forbes' physician, who was going away -for his vacation, and wished to look his patient over before leaving. -It gave him his choice of coming to the city on Wednesday or Thursday, -and Forbes chose Wednesday. He had decided to waste no time before -having a talk with Warren. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES - - -No human being expects to die and all expect to marry. Observation -continually proves the groundlessness of one or both of these -anticipations, without altering the attitude of the survivors. In the -background of the consciousness of the most confirmed bachelor or -spinster, stands the shadowy form of the possible wife or the possible -husband. - -Mr. James Doolittle, at fifty-five, had no idea of escaping the -matrimonial yoke. He thought of himself always as an eligible young -fellow, waiting for the right girl to come along. On two or three -occasions earlier in life he had temporarily congratulated himself on -finding the right girl, but as the ladies in question had disagreed -with him, there had been no escape from the conclusion that he was -mistaken. These disappointments he had accepted with an edifying -equanimity, reminding himself that there were still as good fish in -the sea as had ever graced a frying pan. - -Just why, on a certain summer afternoon, Jim's vague and groping -expectations should suddenly have focused upon Zaida Finch, and why her -familiar, faded features and diminutive, gnome-like body should have -taken on the quality of allurement, is one of the mysteries which will -remain a mystery when the riddle of perpetual motion has been solved. -As the memory of Miss Finch hurrying across the grass continually -recurred to him, Jim said to himself that though a trifle more flesh -would not hurt her, she was a cute little thing. And forthwith he -was conscious of a feeling of youthful irresponsibility, flatly -contradicting the testimony of the family Bible. - -Yet it was with no very definite purpose in his mind that on the -Wednesday following his brief call at Oak Knoll, Mr. Doolittle resolved -on a second visit. Even incipient love is fertile in excuses. He argued -that the most elementary sense of courtesy demanded his ascertaining -the nature of the telegram of which he had been the bearer, and -extending his sympathy in case it had brought bad news. With the lack -of candor with himself, frequently manifested by wiser men in his -condition, Mr. Doolittle failed to explain the fact that he assumed -for the call the necktie which for thirty years he had worn on dress -occasions, hand-painted daisies on a pink background. The silk was -faded now and the daisies had lost much of their original perky luster, -but with the hand-painted necktie tied under his chin, Mr. Doolittle -felt himself a figure to appeal to the exacting feminine taste. - -His state of mind pleasantly indeterminate, Mr. Doolittle jogged -through the dust in the direction of Oak Knoll. As yet his ardor had -not reached the point where the leisurely pace of the gray nag got on -his nerves. The droning peace of the mid-summer world was reflected in -the serenity of his spirit. But as he neared Oak Knoll, the sound of -wheels halted him at the foot of the long driveway, and waiting there, -some intuition ruffled the placidity of his mood, and left him alert -and uneasy. - -Jim knew his suspicion justified when suddenly upon his startled and -hostile vision emerged another buggy, smarter than his own, and newly -washed. The driver, Deacon Wiggins, looked up from the contemplation of -his sorrel mare to bark a gruff greeting, "Afternoon, Jim." - -Deacon Wiggins was eminently a marrying man. He had married early, -and as often as a complacent Providence, assisted by pneumonia, heart -disease and typhoid, had permitted. A rather rusty band of crępe around -his hat, preserved with commendable thrift from one bereavement to -another, bore witness to his latest loss some three months earlier. And -with a lover's quick suspicion, Mr. Doolittle leaped to the conclusion -that the deacon's errand to Oak Knoll was the same as his own, that -in his eyes, too, Zaida Finch had found favor. His voice rasping as -he realized the insatiable greed of some of his sex, Jim Doolittle -returned the deacon's greeting with a sneering, "Wasn't looking to see -you here." - -Deacon Wiggins at once drew rein. His errand had not been a sentimental -one. He had called to collect from Miss Finch the amount of her very -modest subscription to the cause of foreign missions, and had been met -by Phemie with the news that the blind boarder and Howard had gone to -the city on the early train, and that the ladies of the family were -celebrating by spending the day with friends. Whereupon the deacon had -replied that he would call again, and had gone his way unruffled, till -halted by Doolittle's challenge. Though Deacon Wiggins was well past -fifty and had been thrice married, he had not outgrown that instinct -which impels two young cockerels to assault each other with murderous -intent. - -"You wasn't looking to see me, eh?" repeated Deacon Wiggins, -ponderously sarcastic. "Well, I don't know as that matters, Jim, as -long as I didn't come for the sake of seeing you." - -Doolittle reddened violently. "No, it's plain enough what you've come -for." - -The note of unreasonable jealousy was unmistakable. And while the -deacon was quite in the dark as to the other's meaning, all his -masculine dignity was in arms over the realization that another man -was attempting interference with his doing as he pleased. "Whether I -came for one thing or another," he retorted, "I don't have to ask your -leave." - -"Must make Zaida Finch feel terrible proud to know you are thinking of -her for Number Four." - -The introduction of Miss Finch's name into the conversation took the -deacon by surprise, but he made no attempt to allay the groundless -suspicion. Instead he replied, "A good many women would rather be -Number Four with some men than Number One with others I could mention." -The magnanimity which kept him from giving names was clearly a -pretense, for his significant smile pointed his meaning unmistakably. - -"There's no accounting for tastes," acknowledged Mr. Doolittle, -transformed by his fury to an unbecoming turkey red. "But sometimes -folks have better taste than we give 'em credit for." - -The deacon's smile was as belligerent as a blow. - -"You're right there, Jim. You're right. I've always said that the sort -of men who die old bachelors show the women ain't such fools as some -folks take 'em to be." - -He clucked to his horse and drove on. Doolittle, breathing hard and -unable to think of a sufficiently crushing rejoinder to this final -insult, waited till the deacon was out of sight before turning up -the drive. To him Phemie repeated her story of the blind boarder's -departure for the city, escorted by Howard, and the consequent gadding -of the ladies of the family. - -Mr. Doolittle drew a long breath as he realized that the fell designs -of Deacon Wiggins had been temporarily foiled. He was not the man, -however, to underestimate the gravity of the situation. His rival was -notable for prompt action, as his previous marriages had abundantly -proved. Left to himself, Doolittle might have meandered through several -years of more or less ardent courtship, before reaching the point -of asking Miss Finch to change her name, if indeed, he ever reached -it. But the certainty that Deacon Wiggins would waste no time in -such preliminaries forced him to realize that he, too, must act with -promptness, or resign himself to loss. Jim's vague intention became -definite in view of the purposes with which he credited the deacon. -With mingled sorrow and indignation he wondered at the man's grasping -nature. - -Meanwhile Deacon Wiggins, jogging homeward, was undergoing a very -similar psychological experience. The most pronounced trait in the -deacon's character was his obstinacy. He was an ardent Democrat, for -the reason, it was generally believed, that he lived in a community -of devout Republicans. He had been drawn irresistibly to the -Congregationalist body because, as his acquaintances were certain, -he sprang from Methodist stock. In all his dealings Deacon Wiggins -could be safely counted on to take the off-side. But it had been long, -indeed, since anything had so whetted his native stubbornness as his -brief interview with James Doolittle. - -In a general sense it might be said that Deacon Wiggins was looking for -a wife. He was always looking for a wife in those interruptions to his -marital bliss, whose brevity shocked the finer sensibilities of Mr. -Doolittle. But at present his attitude was one of critical observance -rather than active search. Mentally he had inventoried the attractions -of several unattached females of the community, though the thought of -Zaida Finch, as designed by Providence to solace his loneliness, had -never crossed his mind. But now that Doolittle's indiscreet opposition -had turned his thoughts in her direction, Deacon Wiggins said to -himself that he might go further and fare worse. Miss Finch was a fine -woman, a little undersized and scrawny for his taste, but a woman -of good temper and good principles, eminently qualified to make a -satisfactory wife. Seemingly the newly-awakened ardor of Jim Doolittle -was like a searchlight, illuminating virtues hitherto unnoticed. The -deacon reached for his whip and surprised the sorrel mare by a cut -across the flank. Mentally he had crossed his Rubicon. - -Miss Finch, placidly ignorant of the designs of Destiny, had passed a -pleasant day. She had found it an immense relief to have Mr. Forbes -away, even for twenty-four hours, for she never lost the sense of -walking amid pitfalls while he was in the house. Agatha, in the rebound -from the necessity of acting the rôle of an elderly maiden lady, had -been more whimsically childish than usual, and had imparted to her -faded little friend something of her own irresponsibility. Accordingly -Miss Finch passed a pleasant day, and a peaceful night, and woke in the -morning quite unprepared for what fate had in store. - -In Forbes' absence, the arrival of the Free Delivery was only an -ordinary incident in the day's routine. Miss Finch went down the drive -to get the mail a half-hour or so after the wagon had passed. And when -in another half-hour it occurred to Agatha to inquire as to the results -of that expedition, it took her a good five minutes to locate Miss -Finch. At length her search brought her to a weather-beaten bench under -the trees, where Miss Finch had seated herself as if to rest from the -fatigue of the walk up the drive. At her feet were scattered various -items of mail, which had slid off her lap in the stress of her emotions -and lay on the grass unnoticed. - -"Well, Fritz, you must have found some absorbing reading," Agatha -began. "I've screamed myself hoarse calling you." She paused, -regarding her old friend with sudden concern. Miss Finch's face was -singularly flushed and her pupils dilated like those of a sleep-walker. -In either hand she clutched a letter. - -"Fritz, what it is?" Agatha exclaimed in real alarm. "Aren't you -feeling well?" - -Much to her relief, Miss Finch's head turned in her direction. Up to -this time she had seemed oblivious to her presence. - -"Yes, I feel all right, Agatha," she replied, her voice dreamy and -unnatural. "I--I'm going to be married." - -The violence of Agatha's start indicated an almost uncomplimentary -incredulity. - -"You are--what did you say, Fritz?" - -"I'm--I'm going to be married." - -"For heaven's sake! Who is it?" - -Miss Finch's manner lost something of its assurance. - -"I haven't quite--made up my mind." - -Agatha's expression of astonishment changed quickly to consternation. -She came close to the little lady, slipping a hand through her arm. - -"Fritz, dear, hadn't you better come to the house and lie down? The -sun is awfully hot, and you shouldn't have gone out without a hat." She -studied Miss Finch's unnatural color with a sinking heart. Was it a -touch of the sun or something worse? - -Miss Finch, though perfectly aware of the nature of Agatha's -apprehensions, showed no resentment. Indeed the difficulty she had -experienced in combating her own incredulity enabled her to sympathize -with her young friend's perplexity. - -"When I say I haven't made up my mind, I mean I haven't decided which -one to marry." - -"Yes, I see, Fritz. Now let's go to the house. Just lean on me." Phemie -would have to go for the doctor, Agatha decided. She herself would not -dare to leave. - -"If you don't believe me," exclaimed Miss Finch, a sense of injury at -last making itself manifest in her voice, "you can read the letters for -yourself." - -Agatha snatched the extended missive, thankful for anything that would -throw light on Miss Finch's singular hallucination. Her stubborn -incredulity received its first shock when she saw Miss Finch's name -written across the yellow envelope in an unmistakably masculine hand. -The contents of the letter completed her undoing. - - "Miss Zaida Finch: - - "Dear Friend--I have always believed the truth of those words of - Scripture that it is not good for man to be alone. (Gen. 2:18.) Three - dear companions have I taken to myself only to yield them to the cold - and silent tomb. Have you ever thought of changing your state? You are - so much in my thoughts that it seems a leading to show that it is you - who should fill the place of my three lost companions, till you, too, - shall be called from battle to reward. - - "I hope you will make this matter a subject of prayer, and will see - your way clear to accept me as your husband. Write me how you feel - about it. I enclose stamp. - - "Yours truly, - - "Hiram L. Wiggins." - -Agatha read the unusual document breathlessly, too relieved by the -discovery that Miss Finch's mind was not seriously affected to -appreciate to the full the unique literary quality of the composition. -Deacon Wiggins actually was proffering Miss Finch his hand and so much -of his heart as had not been consigned to the tomb along with the three -deceased ladies who had borne his name. Agatha's impressions of the -deacon were vaguely hostile, yet she realized that from Miss Finch's -standpoint, the occasion called for congratulations. Agatha was not -unaware of the little spinster's attitude of wistful anticipation -where matrimony was concerned. And though it was difficult to think -of Deacon Wiggins as the realization of a romantic dream, she warned -herself that she must not be a kill-joy. - -"I'm sure, Fritz," Agatha said, with no trace of her usual mischief, -"that the deacon will be very fortunate if you decide--" She checked -herself, for Miss Finch was extending a second letter. - -"For the love of Mike," Agatha gasped, borrowing from Howard's -vocabulary as her own seemed inadequate. "You don't mean there's -another?" - -"Yes, there are two, Agatha," said Miss Finch, and under the -circumstances her flitting expression of complacency was quite -excusable. - -The dreadful suspicion flashing through Agatha's mind, that the -guileless Miss Finch had been made the butt of a peculiarly obnoxious -practical joke, vanished as she read Jim Doolittle's letter. It was too -characteristic for her to doubt its authorship. - - "Dear Zaida: - - "Please excuse me calling you Zaida, for as Zaida you are enshrined in - my thoughts, and I think of you very often when I am sad and lonely - and I wish I had a wife like you to cheer me, and to be a help-meet to - me like the Bible says, and while I have not married again and again - like some people I could name it has not been because I do not have - a high opinion of women. And if I should be left alone I should not - go looking for some one to take your place right away, for with me to - love once is to love always, and, dear Zaida, my heart beats for you - alone. - - Yours truly, - - "James Doolittle." - -Agatha was seized with a paroxysm of coughing, the businesslike -conclusion of the letter seeming decidedly inconsistent with its -impassioned prelude. Then, recovering herself, she went over to Miss -Finch and kissed her. - -"Well, Fritz, you're a lot too good for either one, but women are, as a -rule. Which is it to be?" - -Miss Finch looked down at her first love-letters with an anxious -expression, hardly befitting the occasion. - -"Well, Agatha, I'm not sure. There is a great deal of sentiment in Mr. -Doolittle's letter. It's almost poetical in spots. I wouldn't have -thought he had so much poetry in him?" - -"Nor I," admitted Agatha. - -"But the deacon's letter shows a beautiful religious spirit, and when -you are choosing a husband you have to think of the things that are -really important." - -"The deacon is better off than Mr. Doolittle," suggested Agatha. -"Though I've always heard he was inclined to be close." - -"I wouldn't let such things weigh with me, Agatha. I can't imagine -marrying a man because he had more money than somebody else. It's what -a man is himself that counts with me." - -"Then I suppose it's the deacon," said Agatha, with youth's -characteristic readiness to jump at conclusions. - -"I don't know, I'm sure. Don't hurry a body so, Agatha." Miss Finch -spoke more sharply than was her wont. "If you were picking out a -husband at my time of life, you wouldn't want to be rushed so that, -like enough, you'd pick the wrong man." - -Agatha shook her head. "No, Fritz, if I ever became such a -heart-breaker that I had a batch of proposals in a single mail, I'd -take as long as I could to make up my mind. I'd make the sweetness last -like an all-day sucker." - -Miss Finch's brief irritation vanished as she heard herself referred to -as a heart-breaker. She blushed not unbecomingly. - -"The names might help you in making up your mind," continued Agatha, -bent on giving all the assistance in her power. "Which is the -more--what is that word--mellifluous in your ears, Mrs. Wiggins, Mrs. -Deacon Wiggins, or Mrs. James Doolittle?" - -"I'm afraid you're not as serious-minded as you ought to be, Agatha," -chided Miss Finch. "Marriage is 'most anything you like except a joke, -and you can't make a joke of it, no matter how hard you try." As she -moved toward the house with her two letters, leaving Agatha to collect -the widely scattered mail, her face wore a troubled, anxious look, as -if the fateful solemnity of the married state already had reached out -from the future and enveloped her. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -A CONFESSION - - -Because of her absorption in Miss Finch's engrossing problem, Agatha -gave the travelers of the household less of her attention on their -return that afternoon than those rather spoiled individuals had reason -to expect. Not till the following morning when she read Forbes a letter -from Julia, even more egotistic than the average communication of that -self-centered young woman, did Agatha realize that something was amiss -with her boarder. He seemed tired and low-spirited, disinclined to -conversation, in decided contrast to Howard, who was bubbling over with -items of interest relating to their brief trip. Clearly the jaunt had -been too much for the convalescent's strength. - -A little conscience-stricken that she had not earlier made the -discovery, Agatha set herself resolutely to the task of reviving -Forbes' drooping spirits, though with less than her usual success. -And when late in the afternoon she suggested a walk, pleading that her -knees were growing stiff from lack of exercise, he turned the tables -on her unexpectedly by insisting that she go for a stroll with Howard -as an escort, leaving him at home. And as her protest stirred him to a -most uncharacteristic irritation, she yielded the point without further -argument. - -"Of course, if you really want to get rid of us, we'll go. Only I hate -to leave you alone." - -"I'm better company for myself than for others, dear lady. I'd rather -be alone for a little. I'll try to sleep and perhaps I'll wake in a -better humor." - -Her only thought an impatient haste to have the ordeal over, Agatha -started out, Howard in attendance. But her dejection yielded by degrees -to the magic of the summer afternoon. It vanished completely when she -challenged her brother to a race across a green stretch of pasture. -They reached their goal laughing and breathless, Agatha in the lead, -and climbing the low stone wall they dropped panting in the shade of -a guardian elm. Agatha snuggled back against the huge trunk, tucking -her feet under her, while Howard sprawled happily at her side, laying -his head in her lap. Agatha's contented sigh as she ran her fingers -through his hair, told of relaxed nerves. - -"What a pity Mr. Forbes wouldn't come! It's so restful here. What did -he do yesterday to tire him so?" - -"He didn't do much of anything. Saw the doctor and Mr. Warren and -then--" - -"Warren? Did he see him?" - -"Sure. Telephoned the first thing when we got to the city and Mr. -Warren came up to the hotel for lunch. They let me go out and look -around for a couple of hours while they talked. Say, Aggie, I wish you -knew Mr. Warren. He's a dandy." - -Agatha's expressive face betrayed no especial impatience to meet -the object of Howard's eulogy. Indeed a grim tightening of her lips -indicated that on this theme her brother and herself were far from -agreement. But before the boy had time to be impressed by her lack -of responsiveness, his attention was distracted by a cough from the -direction of the road, eminently a stagey cough, due not to a tickling -in the throat, but to some one's desire to announce his presence. -Howard turned sharply, then sprang to his feet with a shout of mingled -pleasure and astonishment. - -"Why, hello, Mr. Warren! Did you come out to find us? It's the funniest -thing but I was talking about you this very minute." - -Warren, immaculate in a gray business suit and spotless panama, gave no -indication of sharing the boy's pleasure in the unexpected encounter. -He looked at him with disconcerting steadiness, and Howard, turning to -his sister, saw her unconcealed consternation and realized that the -game was up. He had momentarily forgotten the necessity of explaining -Aggie. Mr. Warren would have to know the truth and undoubtedly would -take it on himself to acquaint Mr. Forbes with the surprising state of -affairs. Yet after all, Mr. Warren was a good sport. Perhaps if the -thing were put up to him-- - -Warren's peremptory speech broke in on the boy's confused thoughts. -"Chase along, Howard. I don't want you at present." - -"What do you want me to do, Mr. Warren?" - -"I don't care what you do as long as you don't stay here." - -"I--but I--" Without understanding his sense of discomfiture, Howard -blushed an angry scarlet, and faced the intruder with instinctive -defiance. Then Agatha spoke wearily. - -"It's all right, Howard. Run along, please." - -She was not easily daunted, but something in Warren's manner was -accountable for a singular chill at her heart that was like fear. She -had forgotten how big the man was, and his nose was so unexpectedly -long and his chin so heavy, and his eyes bored into her like augers and -were of a steely gray besides, which made the figure more impressive. -He seemed quite another person from the silly young man who had talked -nonsense in the kitchen that Sunday morning and ended by kissing her -cheek. - -She heard Howard stumble away, muttering angrily to himself. Very -deliberately Warren moved toward her. She forced herself to lift her -eyes. He was looking down at her with the air of one who has the -whip-hand and knows it. For some undefined reason she felt herself at a -tremendous disadvantage. - -"Look here," said Warren with the same hardness in his voice she had -noticed when he spoke to Howard, "this won't do, you know." - -Agatha remembered that she was Hephzibah Diggs just in time to drawl -the inquiry through her nose. "What won't do?" - -"You mustn't be putting ideas into the kid's head. He's a nice kid. -Forbes is tremendously interested in him and so is Miss Kent. On Miss -Kent's account if there were no other reason, you ought to let the boy -alone." - -She glared at him, fury growing with understanding. Her baleful gaze -fought its way to him through tears of pure rage. - -Her unexpected emotion softened him perceptibly. He laid aside his air -of judicial sternness as easily as he would have removed his coat. - -"Come now," he said, seating himself beside her. "We mustn't quarrel. -And I dare say you meant no particular harm. Only keep in mind that -it's hands off where the boy is concerned." - -"Have you got anything to say to me?" - -"You bet I have. I've come clear from town to say it, Hephzibah. By the -way, isn't there something I could call you for short?" - -"Yes, Miss Diggs." - -He eyed her approvingly. A tear had splashed upon her burning cheek, -and was making its leisurely way toward her chin, but tears with Agatha -seldom gave the impression of feminine softness. Warren had the usual -masculine horror of weepy women. It was a relief to perceive that for -all her tears, Agatha's mood was murderous. - -"No indeed, we mustn't quarrel," he repeated. "Because I've come on -purpose to see you, and do you a good turn. I'm interested in you, and -want to help you." - -"I don't want none of your help." - -"That's because you don't understand, little girl. This world is a -pretty big place and so far you've seen only a measly little corner." - -"It suits me." He saw an added enmity in her eyes, over this aspersion -on her native village, and smiled tolerantly. - -"I wouldn't waste any loyalty on this burg if I were in your place. -I asked half a dozen people where I could find you and every one -pretended he'd never heard of you." - -Agatha's look showed her taken aback and Warren was not slow to follow -up his advantage. - -"Of course I knew they were lying. Even in this unobservant community, -my dear Hephzibah, you could hardly escape notice any more than on -Broadway. I assume these young men were protecting their reputations by -denying the pleasure of your acquaintance." - -"Oh," murmured Agatha, "I never thought I could hate anybody the way I -hate you." - -"You shouldn't feel that way, my child. I'm not trying to hurt your -feelings. I'm perfectly ready to let bygones be bygones and give you a -hand up. I only mentioned this to show the narrowness of these little -country places. They never forget, Hephzibah, and believe me, they -never forgive." - -The fire of her wrath had dried her tears. Her eyes bright with hate, -she met his gaze in silence. - -"There's something about you, Hephzibah," continued Warren, a slight -uneasiness of manner showing that his _sang froid_ was not quite proof -against her silent hostility, "something which makes me certain that -it would pay to educate you. You could learn, I'm positive of it. And -you'll take on polish. You say you're satisfied with things as they -are. That only shows your ignorance, my dear child. Instead of being -a poor little drudge, slighted and snubbed by a lot of country jays, -you could make a place for yourself in the big world. I can't tell you -now just what will open up for you, but at the least it would be like -fairyland compared with what you have to expect here." - -Her anger seemed to have moderated to tranquil contempt. She sat aloof -and disdainful, waiting for him to finish and take his departure. - -"I own you don't know me well enough to feel sure of my motives in -making this offer," Warren went on almost humbly. "But you can ask Miss -Kent about the blind man who's boarding with her this summer, and see -what sort of reputation she gives him. And he's in this thing with me. -In fact it was at his suggestion that I came down here to-day." - -At last he had succeeded in interesting her. Although she did not speak -she turned with a quickness that had the effect of an interruption, and -the recent disdainful calm of her expression was replaced by a rather -wistful look. - -"Yes, Forbes is in for this, tooth and nail." Warren was pleased at the -altered demeanor of his audience. "When I first suggested it to him, -he talked it over with Miss Kent, and the old lady discouraged him. I -imagine she's a good sort but about as broad as a knitting needle. She -insisted that it was better for you to be let alone, and she talked old -Forbes over, and I thought the whole thing was settled. But after you -saved Forbes' life--" - -"Why," cried Agatha. "How--how--." Her usually ready tongue failed -her, and in her blushing confusion Warren thought her adorable. - -"I suppose you wonder how he knew you were his rescuer," Warren -continued, enjoying to the full the pleasing effect of his revelation. -"It came to him by a sort of intuition. He quizzed the kid, but Howard -wouldn't tell. It simply goes to show how strait-laced the old lady -is. She'd forbidden him even to talk about you. But something you said -or did fitted in with what I had told Forbes about you, and he decided -that he couldn't rest easy under such an obligation." - -"It's only a guess." Agatha had found her voice. "You don't know -anything about it." - -"It was a safe bet, even before I told you and watched your face. Now -it's a dead certainty. Listen! Forbes came to see me yesterday and we -cocked up this scheme. See how it strikes you." - -He had her attention now, close and serious, with no suggestion of -disdain. Painstakingly he explained the plan. They had selected a woman -both knew to act as Hephzibah's tutor. They would send her to some -quiet place where there would be little to distract the girl's thoughts -from her work. Her tutor, an impoverished gentlewoman, would undertake -the cultivation of manners befitting the best society, and would mold -her literary taste by reading to her from the English classics, in -addition to her regular instruction. - -"I don't say it will be so very much fun for six months," Warren owned -frankly. "But we both think it would be a good idea for you to work for -all you are worth at the start, and make all the progress possible. And -when once you--well, when the rough edges are smoothed off a little, -you can come to town and mix in a little fun with the day's work. What -do you think of the idea?" - -Agatha's answer was a shake of her head. - -"Too strenuous a program, is it?" Warren looked disappointed at her -lack of ambition. "Well, it isn't necessary to travel at such a pace. -Both Forbes and I felt it would be more encouraging to you in the long -run, if your advancement was so rapid that you couldn't help realizing -it." - -"Yes, that would be better if--but it won't work. Thank you. It's kind -of you, but I--I can't go away." - -"Away? Do you mean away from this hole in the woods?" - -Agatha nodded with no attempt to defend her native place against his -sneers. - -"This home of yours, where a nice kid like Howard is forbidden to speak -of you, and where older men look scared when your name is mentioned and -say they never heard of you?" - -"You said all that before." Agatha had turned rather white. "And it -won't do any good to say it again." - -Warren studied her averted face, a pensive face at that moment. He had -a confused certainty that he had been too hard on her. He had only -spoken the truth and for her good, but he had overdone it. He had been -brutal. - -"Hephzibah," he said suddenly, a new gentleness in his voice, "I know -what's the matter with you. You're in love." - -There was something so virginal in her protesting recoil that he had to -stop a moment for breath. Yet a quality in the movement gave him an odd -conviction of her innate fineness, in spite of that chapter in her past -he found it hard to forget. - -"There's no other explanation, Hephzibah." He tried to speak lightly -without any great degree of success. "When a girl of your sort sticks -to a place of this sort, like a barnacle to a ship's bottom, it's as -sure as shooting that there's a man in the case. Come, Hephzibah, own -up." - -She lifted her chin in a regal way she had--an incongruous motion in -a country girl who "worked out"--and looked at him squarely. With a -little thrill he saw that her eyes had filled again. And though she did -not speak, those brimming eyes seemed a brave, frank avowal that his -surmise had hit the mark. - -"Well, Hephzibah, I'm glad you aren't going to need our help--Forbes' -and mine--in order to be happy. I hope your young man knows he's -lucky." He was astonished at the keenness of the pang which marked this -formal renunciation. "When is it to be, Hephzibah?" - -"Why, it's not--you don't understand--I'm not going to be married." - -Warren sat up straight. "The devil, you're not," he said, his voice -harshly cynical. - -The girl rose and stamped her foot on the grass. The soft turf -swallowed the sound, but the passionate gesture was not less impressive -because noiseless. "You hush!" she said. "Don't you dare to think -things like that about him. He's perfect. He never harmed anybody, -never! And for you to dare to blacken him with your beastly thoughts -just because I've been fool enough to care." - -Swayed by unprecedented emotion, Warren rose to his feet. In her -earlier anger the girl had been merely a lovely virago. Now, in her -furious defense of the man he had apparently misjudged, she was superb. -Warren felt himself swept from his moorings. - -"Very well, Hephzibah. I'll take your word for it that he's all right." - -"He doesn't know. He doesn't even dream. There's--He loves some one -else." - -"Don't, Hephzibah. Poor little girl! What a damned muddle life is." He -was fumbling for his card. - -"Can you write, dear?" - -"After a fashion." All in a minute she was another woman, with radiant -mischief peering out of her eyes. - -"Here's my address on this card. If you should change your mind, write -me. I hope and believe you will. Just because one man is blind, it -doesn't follow that there's nothing else in life." - -She gave a slight start, looking at him obliquely, the mischief -quite gone from her eyes. But she accepted his card, and then of her -own accord gave him her hand. "You have been good to take so much -trouble," she said. "Thank you." The two had changed markedly since the -dialogue under the elm tree began. The girl's hostility had vanished as -completely as the man's condescension. - -On his way back to the city that night, Warren evolved the theory -that Hephzibah was originally of gentle blood. That accounted for the -quality of her beauty, for something in her manner suggesting one -accustomed to homage rather than to service. Warren was inclined to -believe it also explained a singular fact which impressed him more as -he thought over the events of the afternoon than it had at the time. -There could be no question but that in moments of extreme excitement, -a certain uncouthness disappeared from her speech and manner, and -she lapsed, so to speak, into the idioms of her presumably cultured -forebears. In Warren's opinion this cast a most interesting side-light -on the subject of heredity. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -A WILFUL MAN MUST HAVE HIS WAY - - -Though there was no likelihood of another letter from Julia for a week -at least, Forbes showed an abnormal interest in the contents of the -mail bag, and Agatha guessed he was expecting to hear from Warren. -She, too, found herself anxiously anticipating the arrival of the -letter addressed in the vigorous hand which in some obscure way was so -suggestive of the man's personality. When it came four days after that -unique dialogue under the elm tree, and the duty of reading it devolved -upon herself, Agatha's heart beat suffocatingly. - -But as it proved, all her thrills were anticipatory. The letter itself -contained nothing she did not already know, and that little was told -tersely and obscurely, evidently with the intention of preventing Miss -Kent, the probable reader, from learning that her counsel had been -ignored. With businesslike brevity Warren stated that he attended -to the matter they had discussed the previous week. He, Forbes, was -correct in his conjecture as to the identity of the party who had -done him the service he had spoken of, but said party had turned his -proposition down flat. "And now that our consciences are clear," Warren -wrote, "the only thing left is to drop the whole matter. Hope the -unpleasant effect of your treatments has worn off and that your eyes -are feeling better. - - "R.W." - -It was plain from the expression of Forbes' face that he shared -Agatha's uncomplimentary opinion of the communication in question. The -remainder of the day he was frowningly contemplative, resisting all -efforts to draw him into conversation. For the first time Agatha saw in -his face lines suggesting a determination akin to stubbornness. - -By morning his manner showed the relief of having reached a decision. -Agatha was not unprepared to have him say at the conclusion of the -morning meal, "Miss Kent, when you have a little time I would like to -have a talk with you." - -"I can come now." - -"There's no hurry--no especial hurry, that is. Any time this forenoon." - -But Agatha's curiosity was awakened. She conducted him out upon the -porch, ensconced him in a comfortable chair, and seated herself beside -him. As a preliminary, he took her hand and kissed it. - -"I must begin with a confession, my dear lady. I have been keeping a -secret from you, in fact more than one." - -"Dear me! And I thought you had accepted me as mother confessor." - -"So I have. I decided not to tell you for fear of worrying you. But the -truth is that I came near walking over the cliff one afternoon, when I -was out with Howard, and ending my troubles by breaking my neck." - -Agatha succeeded in expressing a sufficient degree of shocked horror in -her exclamation. - -Forbes patted her hand reassuringly. "But I didn't, you see. My life -was saved in a conventionally romantic way. A beautiful girl flung -herself into my arms, and when she could get her breath, gave me a -terrific scolding." - -"Oh!" Agatha looked at him with unfeigned interest. "How did you know -she was beautiful? Did Howard tell you?" - -"No, Warren." - -"Oh!" She seemed a little disappointed. "But he wasn't there, was he?" - -"No, but he'd told me about her. And I think I should have known -anyway." - -"How?" Again he noted the animation in her tone. - -"I'm not quite sure. Perhaps a blind man develops a sort of sixth -sense. Anyway, as I stood there with my arms about her--it was -necessary in the circumstances, and you needn't look shocked as I -suspect you're doing--I had as vivid an impression of youth and beauty -as if I'd seen her." - -"More so, probably," amended Agatha joyously. - -"No, not if Warren's right. He says she's something extraordinary. -Can't you guess who it was?" - -"I believe that Mr. Warren"--Agatha seemed to be searching her memory -for details--"talked rather extravagantly about Hephzibah." - -"Yes, Hephzibah was the girl. And that puts quite a new light on -Warren's plan for educating her, don't you see?" - -"No, I don't." Agatha's brevity implied distaste for the subject. - -"Well, I do. A man's chance interest in a pretty girl may be perfectly -innocent and unobjectionable, but you can't compare it with what one -feels for the woman who has saved one's life." - -"I told you that she wanted to be left alone. I told you that it would -be kinder." - -"Wait, please." Under the deference of his manner, she perceived a -resolution that was adamant. "I've told you only one of the secrets -that I have kept from you. Here's the other. When I was in town I saw -Warren and we laid plans for taking Hephzibah's case in hand, regular -uplift proposition, don't you know. Warren was to see her and arrange -matters. We had everything settled. We had a governess selected and -had decided on a little sea-side place for them to stay until she was -presentable. Warren was going to ask a girl he knows to buy her a -suitable outfit." - -"I don't wonder you've been blue," Agatha said in tones of soft -reproach. "Planning all this out and not a word to me." - -To her surprise he blushed high. "No," he said after a moment, "I've -been down in the depths, God knows, but not for that reason. I -thought--well, you seemed to feel so strongly on the subject of not -interfering with Hephzibah, that I didn't want to bother you." - -"And now you do? Is that why you're telling me about it?" - -"I'm telling you because I want your help." He set his jaw grimly as he -faced her. "I left Warren to engineer the thing and he's bungled it." - -"It wasn't his fault." Agatha evinced a commendable eagerness not to be -unjust to the absent. "When Hephzibah has made up her mind, trying to -change it is like going against a stone wall." - -"Possibly. But I shan't feel satisfied till I've tried my persuasive -powers on her." Forbes sat waiting for some comment from Agatha, and -when none was offered, explained firmly, "I want an interview with her." - -Still Agatha did not speak. She was beginning to feel an aversion to -Hephzibah Diggs which amounted to positive hatred. That talk with -Warren had been trying enough, with his repeated references to some -scandalous episode in her past. But for reasons perfectly clear to -Agatha herself, the interview with Forbes promised to be vastly worse. - -"Well?" Forbes was puzzled by her silence. "Had she better come here? -Or shall I have Howard take me to her home?" - -"Oh, no." The dismay in Agatha's voice negatived the last suggestion -conclusively. Forbes found her tremors a trifle irritating. He had -to remind himself that she was an old lady, and that for many years -her will had been supreme in her little circle. He found her hand -and patted it affectionately. He was beginning to think that these -sentimental attentions counted more with elderly women than with -younger ones. - -"Well, then, we'll have her here. Will you send her word, some time -to-day?" - -"I'm not sure she'll come." - -"Then I'll go to her." His obstinacy showed in his voice. "I tell you -I'm going to talk to that girl. She's got a chance at last. She's young -and it's inconceivable that she should turn down such an offer if she -really understood it." - -"That's the sort of girl she is. Worthless, trifling." - -Forbes withdrew his hand from hers. To her amazement Agatha saw she had -really offended him. And now to her dislike of Hephzibah was added a -preposterous jealousy. She, Agatha Kent, had devoted herself to Forbes -all summer only to have him act like a spoiled child when she ventured -a criticism of a girl he had met only on one occasion, a girl with a -past, at that. What was Hephzibah to him or he to Hephzibah, that for -her sake he was ready to affront his father's old friend and his own? - -"I shan't need Howard this morning," remarked Forbes pleasantly but -with a relentless holding to his purpose which forced her to realize -the hopelessness of altering his intention. "So if you please, ask him -to take the message. The girl may be all that you say, and my interest -and effort may all be wasted, but I prefer to see for myself." - -"Very well," said Agatha swallowing. She perceived that he considered -her a narrow-minded old person, who thought it impossible for a woman -to return to the paths of rectitude, after once stepping aside. He -would not take her word for Hephzibah. He was determined to interview -her for himself. Agatha looked at him with narrowing eyes. Very well! -Let him take the consequences. - -"I'll see that Hephzibah gets the message," she said with dignity. "I -can't answer for results." - -"Of course not." Now that he had gained his point, his manner was -thoroughly friendly. "I'll take the entire responsibility for the -outcome." - -Agatha realized that she was dismissed. She went up-stairs feeling -out of sorts with Forbes and positively murderous where Hephzibah was -concerned. She even played with the thought of having that obtrusive -young woman smitten with mortal illness, too sick for the interview -Forbes insisted on, and in a few days reaching the end of her brief -and troubled life. She dismissed the thought when she realized that -Forbes was capable of summoning a physician from the city to attend the -patient. - -The door of Miss Finch's room was ajar. Miss Finch sat at the table -with a sheet of paper spread out before her and a pen in hand. The -seriousness of her expression suggested that she was on the point of -making her last will and testament. - -"Fritz," exclaimed Agatha, appearing in the doorway, "I have a message -for you to give Hephzibah Diggs." - -Miss Finch looked at her wildly. - -"Will you please say that Mr. Forbes would like to see her some time -to-day. Say it's very important." - -As Miss Finch continued to stare, Agatha showed signs of impatience. -"Well, why don't you begin?" - -"Begin what, Agatha?" - -"Why, say what I've just told you, that Mr. Forbes wants to see me this -afternoon." - -Miss Finch groaned and shook her head. "Oh, Agatha, it seems so wicked." - -"Wicked! If that's not unreasonable. Here I am taking all the pains to -come up-stairs to you, to have you give me the message so I won't need -to stretch the truth the least little bit, and then you talk as if I -were an ordinary prevaricator, without a conscience." - -Miss Finch quailed before Agatha's simulated indignation. "Oh, if you -look at it that way," she replied feebly and made an effort to recall -the message. "Hephzibah, Mr. Forbes wants to see you to-day." - -"Tell me it's very important," prompted Agatha. - -"It's very important," Miss Finch repeated, and looked on the point of -bursting into tears. - -"I'll be there at three o'clock," replied Agatha in the person of -Hephzibah. Then her gaze fell on the letters lying open on the table -and she temporarily forgot her own perplexities in the perennial -feminine interest in a love-affair. - -"Oh, Fritz," she exclaimed, coming closer. "You're writing the letter, -aren't you? Which one is it to be?" - -Miss Finch looked at the blank sheet before her with an expression -equally blank. - -"Agatha," she hesitated, "it almost seems to me--at least don't you -think Mr. Doolittle is rather the best-looking?" - -Agatha pondered the question with the seriousness its importance -deserved. - -"I rather think he is, Fritz. The deacon is much too fat. My ideal of -manly beauty isn't broad enough to include a fat man. It's surprising -how some people thrive on bereavement." - -Miss Finch fidgeted with her pen. "But perhaps the deacon is a little -more careful about his appearance." - -Again Agatha acquiesced. "Mr. Doolittle is far from particular. I've -seen him in the village with only one suspender, and the usefulness of -that dependent on one anemic-looking safety-pin. I've honestly trembled -for fear of what might happen. The deacon's away in the lead in the -matter of clothes." - -Again Miss Finch looked nervously at the paper before her and then -surprised Agatha by laying down her pen. - -"I rather thought I'd write them to-day," she said. "It's been--well, -not long, but quite a time since their letters came, and I thought--" - -She fell into an indeterminate silence, and Agatha finished the -sentence for her. "Of course they're getting impatient. It's cruel to -keep them on the rack this way. Why don't you put them out of their -misery, Fritz?" - -"Why, I don't want to hurry, Agatha. I must wait to be sure. There's -some nice things about each one and some that aren't so nice. I'll have -to think it over a while yet." - -Agatha was watching the little woman keenly. "Fritz," she asked with -unusual, gentle gravity, "are you sure you want either of them? Don't -you think you'd be happier just to stay on with me?" - -Miss Finch regarded her interrogator with evident amazement. "Why, -Agatha, I might never have another chance." - -This was too true to question. Agatha remained silent. - -"I sometimes can't help wishing," Miss Finch owned plaintively, "that -there hadn't been two. That's what makes it so puzzling--having to -choose. And there seems so much to be said on both sides. But to -refuse them both--why, Agatha, it would be flying in the face of -Providence." - -Agatha said no more. Leaving Miss Finch to her dreams, she went up -to the garret to find an appropriate costume for Hephzibah in her -forthcoming momentous interview. She felt she could act her rôle -with more spirit if dressed appropriately to the part. Agatha did -not underestimate the difficulty of her proposed masquerade. It was -an easy matter to evolve a personality sufficiently consistent to -deceive Warren, for Warren had never met the dignified and elderly -spinster, Miss Agatha Kent. Forbes, on the contrary, had spent hours -in that lady's company nearly every day through the summer, and knew -every inflection of her voice. The forthcoming interview with Forbes -presented any number of terrifying possibilities. - -She had a word with him at a suitable interval after their late -conversation. "She's coming." - -"Good!" he cried triumphantly. "Did Howard go?" - -"No. Miss Finch was going to see her, anyway. She'll be here at three." - -"Good!" said Forbes again. He turned to her with that mingled -gentleness and resolution which somehow revealed him in a new light. - -"Now, my dear friend, I'm going to ask a favor of you. Promise me you -won't misunderstand." - -"I'll try not," she said faintly, and her heart misgave her. - -"Promise me that you'll leave us to ourselves when we have our little -talk. I know your interest in Hephzibah's future--" - -In her relief Agatha became jocular. "No, you don't know. You can't. -Her welfare means as much to me as my own." - -"I'm not doubting that. Please don't misunderstand me. But sometimes I -think these sensitive natures can open up better to a stranger than to -a friend. And the fact that I'm blind may be a help to her." - -"Yes," agreed Agatha with unmistakable sincerity, "I'm pretty sure it -will be." - -"There's something mysterious about that girl," Forbes continued. "The -way she refuses to listen to propositions that are all clearly for -her good, puzzles me. I'm convinced that if I can have her to myself -an hour or so, I'll get at the root of the trouble. Anyway it's worth -trying." - -Relieved from the terrifying certainty that he was about to ask her to -chaperon them during the interview, Agatha had almost ceased to dread -the prospective ordeal. But prudence suggested the advisability of -seeming a little hurt. "I shouldn't have interfered in any way," she -assured him plaintively. "Since you've set your heart on talking to -Hephzibah, I should have sat quietly in the background and not said a -word." - -"Better not," Forbes interposed hastily. "Let me have my way this time. -And when we talk it over afterward, I'll tell you every word that was -said as nearly as I can remember." - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -HEPHZIBAH TURNS THE TABLES - - -Hephzibah Diggs was prompt. As the grandfather's clock in the hall -struck three, Agatha advanced to the French window opening on the -porch, and said in her natural voice, "She's here, Mr. Forbes." - -Forbes smiled approval. "Send her around, please, Miss Kent." His -manner suggested that the difficulties in the way of his philanthropic -plan were now a thing of the past. - -The clumping footsteps that presently announced the approach of his -visitor took him back a trifle. There was no particular reason why -Hephzibah should not be an ordinary clumsy country girl, in heavy shoes -that clattered noisily as she moved, but somehow he had not expected -it. He rose and stood awaiting her. - -The voice was more unexpected than her heavy tread. It made him wince. -He remembered that Warren likened it to the melodious notes of a -guinea fowl and he appreciated the aptness of the comparison. There -was no reason why Hephzibah Diggs should not talk through her nose, and -in a harsh, strident, generally unpleasant tone. But the fact that she -did so, though he had been abundantly forewarned, took him by surprise. - -"Miss Kent says you've got something to say to me." - -Thus Hephzibah announced her presence. And Forbes, hastily summoning -a smile, and resolutely excluding his pain from his voice, extended a -cordial hand. - -"I'm very glad to meet you, Miss Hephzibah. Won't you sit down? I think -there's a chair near." - -"I'll wait on myself, don't you bother none." A grating noise indicated -that a chair was being dragged across the floor of the porch into -convenient nearness to his own. A plumping sound gave evidence that -Hephzibah had seated herself. - -The picture in the rustic chair deserved a more appreciative audience -than a blind man. Hephzibah wore a costume best described as a medley, -since garments originally the property of Miss Finch and Howard, -as well as her own, contributed to the startling effect. A pair of -Howard's outgrown shoes accounted for her clumsy tread. She wore a -little bonnet which Miss Finch had discarded after some dozen years of -service, and which seemed genuinely scandalized at finding itself atop -Agatha's brazenly assertive mass of hair. A very short calico skirt, -also the property of Miss Finch, and a sky-blue silk waist, evidently -designed for festive wear, completed the grotesque costume. Just why it -should have given Agatha confidence in playing her rôle, she knew as -little as any one. - -Forbes commented pleasantly on the weather as some such preliminary -skirmishing seemed necessary before coming to the point. He had -resolved on establishing a friendly understanding between Hephzibah -and himself, before making the offer which, he realized, might readily -arouse the suspicion of a girl who knew by bitter experience that men -are not always to be trusted. He was inclined to suspect Warren of -lacking tact, startling her by his failure to employ _finesse_. He did -not take himself into his own confidence fully enough to admit that he -was also sparring for time in the effort to recover his poise. It was -singular that he had received so different an impression of Hephzibah -in the brief, bewildering interview which had opened by his clasping -her in his arms, and ended by her refusal to tell her name. He had -to remind himself that on the springy turf her clumsy tread would be -soundless, and that the gasping whisper in which she spoke gave him no -clue as to the quality of her voice. Still, if Warren's letter had not -expressly assured him that Hephzibah was his mysterious rescuer, he -would have felt sure that he had been mistaken. - -Hephzibah was in full accord with his favorable opinion of the weather. -She expressed her agreement so heartily that he winced again, and -conquered an impulse to tell her that it was unnecessary to speak so -loud. - -"I suppose," he began, deciding that after all it would be better to -waive further introductory remarks, "that you must have wondered why I -wanted to see you." - -"I didn't bother about that none," replied Hephzibah. "I've had a lot -to do with sick folks, and I know they're likely to take 'most any sort -of notion into their heads." - -Forbes reddened smartly. He felt as if he had been slapped. Clearly -tact was not in Hephzibah's line. - -"I've heard a good deal about you, first and last," he assured her -pleasantly. "And of course my interest in you was increased by what -happened near Indian Rock the other afternoon. I'm not going to talk -about that for I know you would rather I wouldn't." - -"Oh, don't mind me," Hephzibah returned comfortably. "You can say -anything you like. You can't make me mad." - -Forbes hesitated. There is no doubt that on the moment he acquitted -Miss Kent of a certain charge to which she had been given no chance to -plead guilty. He realized that women sometimes understood one another -better than a mere man might hope to do. But he had put his hand to -the plow with the intention of proving Warren's unfitness in matters -requiring diplomacy, and he had no intention of turning back. - -Deliberately and with carefully chosen words, Forbes explained to -Hephzibah the plan he had evolved for her regeneration. He went more -into detail than Warren had done. He traced her future years from the -present modest start, up to the time when she should bear the stamp of -culture, and be able to hold her own in the best society. The picture -that he drew seemed to him an attractive one. He showed himself not -altogether lacking in a knowledge of the opposite sex, by the emphasis -he placed upon the friend of Warren's to whom had been assigned the -responsibility of selecting a suitable wardrobe for Hephzibah. - -He did not pause till he was pleasantly confident that he had done the -subject justice. He turned his sightless eyes upon her expectantly. -Hephzibah said nothing. There was a chilling quality in her protracted -silence. - -"Well?" questioned Forbes, and though he had been so favorably -impressed by his putting of the case, he spoke a little anxiously. -"What do you think of it all?" - -Hephzibah laughed unmusically. - -"Well, I let you go on, just so's to get it off your chest. There ain't -nothing to it, not so far as I can see. The clothes would be nice -enough, but if I had to study all the time and have some dame bossing -me my days off and all, I'd pay for 'em dear." - -"But wouldn't you like to be educated?" - -"Laws, no. I never hankered to be a school-teacher. I'd rather cook any -day in the week." - -By this time Forbes was convinced that Miss Kent was right. Something -was lacking in Hephzibah. He realized that he himself had been -influenced more than he knew by Warren's extravagance, and Warren, it -was apparent, had been swept off his feet by the girl's fresh beauty. -Just how to explain the impression he himself had formed of her that -day when she swung her lithe body between him and mortal peril, Forbes -did not know. She had said little, and that with difficulty, because -of her breathless condition, and yet the impression he had formed of -her was infinitely removed from the truth. He felt now that he had made -a mistake, and that Hephzibah was not of the fiber to take on polish -readily. He would show his gratitude in some more appropriate way than -by attempting her education. But since he had blundered into this -rather absurd situation, there was nothing left but to go through with -it. - -"You do not have to use your education in teaching school, unless you -wish to," he explained patiently. "But it will fit you for a better -social position." He realized that this was over her head and kindly -simplified it. "I mean that the more you learn, the nicer friends you -will have and the more things you will find to interest you." - -"I know enough now," Hephzibah insisted calmly, "for anybody that ain't -a teacher. When I went to district school I learned to read and write -and figure, and I 'most always stood up till near the last when we had -spelling matches. Oh, I've got an education all right." - -"Possibly, my child, it would be better to rely on the judgment of some -one else." His manner was patiently paternal. - -Hephzibah Diggs shuffled her feet noisily. "I guess I know enough to -'tend to my own affairs," she said, her tone truculent. - -"I'm not so sure about that, Hephzibah. I think you would do much -better to take advice." - -"How'd you like it yourself if folks you didn't know came butting in, -telling you how to manage your business?" - -"If it was meant kindly, I should be grateful." - -"Oh, very well." He could hear that she was breathing hard. "Then I'll -tell you that for a sensible man you're making as big a botch of your -affairs as anybody I ever knew of." - -Forbes was unfeignedly astonished. "Why, Hephzibah, you don't know what -you're talking about." - -"Don't I, though. I know about that girl of yours, and what a fool -she's making of you." - -Forbes caught his breath. Then he realized that it was beneath his -dignity to be angry. "I think it is hardly necessary," he said stiffly, -"to discuss that subject, Hephzibah." - -"Oh, no! you can stick your finger into my pie all you want to. You can -tell me I ought to go to some place I never heard of, with somebody I -never knew, and do everything I hate for years and years, but when I -say one thing about your girl, it's hardly necessary to discuss that -subject." - -The last words were given with what he realized was an excellent -imitation of his own air of dignified aloofness. This amused him and -had the additional effect of mollifying his irritation. "But I am -interfering in your affairs, because I have your interests at heart," -he said very kindly. - -"Same here. I hate like the mischief to see a nice gentleman made a -fool of by a vain, silly girl with about as much brains as a cockroach, -and as much heart as a pancake." - -This description of Julia, though he would have indignantly denied that -it had the remotest resemblance to truth, roused him to the realization -that this uncouth young woman knew more of his personal affairs than -she had any right to know. - -"Hephzibah," he said sternly, "I don't understand where you could have -secured information about any friends of mine. Surely Miss Kent--" - -For all her faults, Hephzibah was capable of magnanimity. On one -critical occasion Miss Kent had sacrificed Hephzibah's reputation to -save herself, and Hephzibah was under no obligation to spare hers. Yet -without hesitation she threw herself into the breach. "I listened," she -explained quickly. - -"You mean when Miss Kent was reading me my letters?" His flushed face -told that he was not disposed to belittle her eavesdropping. - -"Yes, and when you talked things over. I heard enough to know that -you'd better use the brains the Lord gave you to manage your own -affairs. Why don't you put it up to that girl of yours that she can -take you or leave you?" - -"Really, Hephzibah--" - -"Oh, it's all right for you to come along and pry into my business, and -tell me what _I'm_ to do. But when I turn the tables you squirm. Funny -what a difference it makes whose foot the shoe's on." - -Forbes subsided. Under his feeling of bewilderment was a vague -suspicion that perhaps there was something in Hephzibah's point of view. - -"In the first place," continued this intrepid young woman, "she showed -she was no good when she throwed you down like she did. She was going -to marry you, wasn't she? And if she cared enough about you for that, -it was up to her to stand by you when trouble came. Pretty kind of wife -she'd have made if she turned her back the minute hard luck struck you." - -Forbes remembered vaguely that Miss Kent had once said something -similar. He wondered that two human beings so unlike should have the -same view-point. - -"You got off easy," Hephzibah continued. "You might have married her. -When she showed herself up for what she was, you'd ought to have got -down on your marrow-bones and thanked the Lord. But look at you! -Instead, you keep on telling her how much you love her and that a -yellow streak don't matter--in a woman." - -Forbes suddenly realized that he could endure no more. He could not -listen longer to these preposterous statements. But underneath his -panic of anger, something whispered that he shrank from listening -longer to Hephzibah's frantic speech, not because she was uttering -slanders against Julia, but because what she said was true. - -He struck the arm of his chair with his clenched fist. "Stop!" he said -in a voice unlike his own. "I won't listen." - -"All right," said Hephzibah Diggs. "But what's sauce for the goose--" - -She stopped, starting to her feet. The blow from Forbes' fist had -loosened the arm of the chair in which he sat. It had bounced out of -place and then slipped back again, catching his finger as it returned -to base. It was his sudden startling pallor that checked Hephzibah's -fluency. - -"Can you help me a little--Hephzibah?" Forbes' voice was faint, his -lips blue. "My hand--seems caught." - -Hephzibah's clattering haste was too late to save him from ignominious -faintness. He had not been well since his trip to the city, and the -shock of the pain was too much for his nerves. She caught the arm of -the chair and wrenched it savagely away, just as his head fell over -against her shoulder. She released the imprisoned hand, and slipping -her arm about him kept his limp body from sliding to the floor. Upon -his white face, she saw, conscience-stricken, there seemed to rest an -expression of piteous bewilderment. - -Forbes reviving found himself indoors. He was stretched on the couch in -the living-room. The odor of camphor was much in evidence and his hair -felt damp, as if he had been taking a dip in the surf. Some one was -chafing his hand. "Hephzibah," he said faintly. - -The voice of Miss Kent answered him, speaking in a muffled fashion, as -if she had a cold in her head. - -"She's gone. That horrible girl is gone. She shall never come near you -again." - -Even after his late experience the adjective seemed to indicate -prejudice. But he did not press the point, as there was another matter -he wished cleared up. - -"Did I frighten you terribly?" - -"Yes--I was frightened." Her voice shook as if she wanted to cry again. -"You're not so strong as I thought. I shall have to take better care of -you. I blame myself--terribly." - -This was unreasonable, but he did not stop to argue the case. "Was that -why you kissed me?" he asked. "I didn't seem to come to all at once; -consciousness came in waves and receded, you know, and once I felt -sure some one kissed my cheek, and a big tear splashed down--" - -Miss Kent spoke hastily. "Oh, that was only part of your dreaming. -Fainting people often have such fancies." - -"Very likely," Forbes agreed. "You see, I don't know much about -fainting. It never happened to me but once before." He turned his -head on his damp pillow and lapsed into silence. It was the part of -discretion, perhaps, to leave Miss Kent under the impression that the -kiss was an illusion, due to his semi-conscious state, but he knew -better. It was as real as music, or flame, or electricity. It had -certain characteristics of all three. - -It must have been Hephzibah. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER - - -Murray Prendergast had proposed. The summer sport had become dead -earnest. Julia wrote Forbes the full details, explaining that the young -man was awaiting her answer, and that she had asked two weeks in which -to come to a decision. Apparently Julia, like Miss Finch, felt that -to refuse Prendergast would be flying in the face of Providence, even -though accepting him seemed a harsh necessity. - -"'It's not what you and I dreamed of in the dear old days,'" wrote -Julia. "'Oh, Burton, how far away those happy times seem when we sat -hand in hand and planned our future. How merciless life is, Burton! Is -there some dark fate in whose hands we are only puppets?'" - -Agatha broke off in her reading to lift a scarlet face. "Must I go on -with this?" - -"Do you mean that you're tired?" Forbes' voice was self-controlled but -in his pale cheeks a pulse beat like a trip hammer. Even his tears -would not have hurt her like that palpitating spot over which his will -was powerless. - -"Yes, I _am_ tired. I'm terribly tired of the people who talk about -fate when it's all their own cowardice, and pity themselves for losing -what they deliberately threw away." - -"It's a matter of view-point," said Forbes tonelessly. "If that's all, -I'm afraid I must ask you to go on. I--I could hardly have Howard -read it." All at once his white cheek showed a stain of red, as if -the mere thought that any eyes but his own should see that letter was -humiliating beyond endurance. - -Julia's letter was as long as usual and decidedly more sentimental. -She surrendered herself with abandon to the luxury of heart-break. -She recalled a number of tender episodes, and wondered pathetically -why fate could not have spared lovers so fond. To Agatha, Julia's -melancholy was a theatrical make-believe on the face of it, as much -a pose as her pretense of affection. Agatha did her best to spoil -the effect of the letter by reading rapidly, and in a monotonous -sing-song, but she could not keep her eyes from the face of the man -before her, and she saw that every tender memory the missive evoked -found response in his tortured heart. - -She wound up breathless and hot and trembling uncontrollably. Forbes -thanked her with a formal courtesy that added to her pain, for it -seemed to set her at a distance. She wanted to put her arms about him, -and cry over him, and tell him that the hurt would not last. Then she -remembered with bitterness that she was a withered old woman in whose -heart the fires of love had burned to ashes, long, long before, if -indeed they had ever been kindled. - -"I'd like a sheet of paper, please," Forbes said with the same -laborious politeness. "I'll scrawl a line myself." - -"What are you going to tell her?" - -His air of surprise at the question indicated that there was but one -answer. "What is there to say, except to wish her all happiness?" - -"You're not going to blame her, then?" - -"God forbid." He took the sheet she gave him, wrote upon it rapidly -and folding it across, handed it back to her. "I'll have to ask you to -direct the envelope for me," he said, still heart-breakingly patient. -"I can write well enough for Julia's eyes, but not for Uncle Sam's." - -Agatha did not reply. The breeze, always fresh upon the porch, had -parted the folded sheet, and her reluctant gaze caught the signature, -"Always yours, B.F." She turned away her eyes and caught her breath. -"Always yours." That was the cruelty of it. Julia would marry Murray -Prendergast and yet keep her hold on the heart of the man she had -abandoned in his need. Her selfishness could not alter his loyalty. -If the letter just read did not reveal her to him in her incomparable -egotism, nothing ever would. - -Agatha's heart bled for him in his white resignation. If he had done -anything but sit there like a man under sentence of death, she would -have felt equal to the occasion. But this white suffering terrified -her. She dared not trust herself to look at him, for her eyes ran -over at the sight of his drawn face. She stared out over the serene -landscape as she said unsteadily, "Did you ask her to wait?" - -"Wait? Why wait?" - -"For you to get well, of course. If she's so fond of you, she ought to -be able to wait a year or two until you've recovered your sight." - -He shrugged his shoulders without replying, but the gesture revealed -more than hopelessness, something alarmingly akin to indifference. And -though Agatha knew that in the nature of the case, this mood could not -last, it added fuel to her hatred of the shallow, selfish woman who -was responsible. In her serener moments Agatha comforted herself by -the reflection that however unhappy Forbes might be without Julia, he -was bound to be more unhappy with her. But in the present crisis that -consolation failed her. She was swayed by the desire to give him, at -all costs, the thing he wanted. - -Her plan was formed in an instant. Agatha was aware that with many -women as with all men, undisputed possession tends to indifference. -Forbes' one chance with Julia, she implicitly believed, was to awaken -in the mind of that complacent young woman a doubt as to whether her -unfortunate lover was in reality hers always, as he declared himself. -Forbes, who scorned to ask even for a few months' delay, could not be -expected to lend himself to the scheme unfolding in Agatha's fancy. -Some friend must do for him what he would not stoop to do for himself. - -As Agatha walked to the writing-desk, holding the folded sheet pinched -shut with thumb and finger, for fear of again reading the assurance of -Forbes' unalterable devotion, there was something oddly gallant in her -bearing. Her keen common sense was temporarily quiescent. Her heart had -things all its own way. Since the prospect of losing Julia irrevocably -had graven that terrible look upon Forbes' face, she must find some way -of making Julia hesitate to engage herself to Prendergast There was but -one chance, as far as Agatha could see. She resolved to take it. - -No one could consider it singular, Agatha decided, as she seated -herself, if an amiable old lady should send a note of congratulation to -the girl to whom she had penned so many communications. Agatha almost -snatched the stationery from the drawer. She had a most unnatural -fear of losing her courage by delay. At the moment she lacked neither -courage nor inspiration. - - "My Dear Miss Studley: - - "I'm sure you will pardon a line from a woman old enough to be your - grandmother." - -Agatha paused, bit her pen and frowned. "I am, of course," she told -herself, with that odd impression of dual identity, which at times -made it difficult for her to remember whether she was nineteen or -sixty-seven. "But it isn't worth while to make her feel so youthful." -She reached for a fresh sheet of paper and made a new start. - - "My Dear Miss Studley: - - "I am sure you will pardon a line from a woman old enough to be your - mother, who has come to feel right well acquainted with you through - Mr. Forbes, and through reading your letters aloud to him. I want - to be one of the first to congratulate you, and to wish you all the - happiness you deserve." - -Her pen poised in air, Agatha combated the temptation to underline the -last two words. "It's exactly what I _do_ wish her," she mused. "All -the happiness she deserves, not a bit more nor a bit less. Poor wretch, -it's an inhuman sort of wish but I can't help it, and I'm afraid she -won't realize that I'm consigning her to Purgatory." - -The pen resumed its hurried scratching. It was not necessary for Agatha -to wait for inspiration. Words came in a flood. - - "Some people might blame you for your engagement, so soon after - breaking with Mr. Forbes, but I assure you I do not feel that way. I - am unmarried myself, and I know that when a woman loses one chance, - she may never get another. Mr. Forbes might die or change his mind. I - think you are very sensible to make sure of Mr. Prendergast while he - is in the mood. Whatever ill-natured people may say about you, I for - one will always take this view." - -Agatha drew a long breath of pure satisfaction. She had undertaken the -letter with the sole thought of rushing to Forbes' assistance in his -extremity. But virtue was proving its own reward. She was enjoying -herself immensely. Her sense of satisfaction made her reckless. When -again the pen began moving down the sheet, it wrote more than Agatha -had originally intended. - - "I suppose you sometimes feel a little anxious about Mr. Forbes - and his future. It is hard for us women to get rid of a feeling of - responsibility for the men who love us. And I am glad I can set your - natural misgivings at rest. It would not be a great surprise to me - if you should hear of another engagement in the near future. Yet Mr. - Forbes is a very honorable gentleman, I need not assure you, and as - long as you were unmarried, or at least not engaged, he would not have - permitted himself to become entangled with any other woman. But this - summer he has spent a great deal of time with a girl who lives in the - neighborhood. She is considered extremely pretty and though that does - not mean anything to him at present, it is evident that he finds - her company most enjoyable. Indeed I believe he is more interested - in her than he himself realizes, while the fact that she has devoted - practically her entire summer to him, seems to indicate that it would - not be difficult to bring her to think of him as something more than - a friend. And I've noticed that she seems quite responsive when he - pats her hand or holds it, as he has a way of doing. I suppose he - feels that an invalid has a right to some little privileges. On one - occasion he did so far forget himself as to take her in his arms, - but the circumstances were quite unusual, and I saw to it that the - indiscretion was never repeated. I always manage to be around when the - young people are together, for, as our beloved Longfellow expresses - it, 'Man is fire and woman is tow.' - - "I'm afraid I am a poor one to talk about discretion when I am writing - you all this. I'm sure if Mr. Forbes knew he would be very much put - out with me, and so I am going to ask you not to speak of this if you - should happen to write again. Very likely Mr. Prendergast will not - approve of your corresponding with an old flame, and who can blame - him, for as Will Carlton says so ably, 'She that is false to one can - be the same with two,' or words to that effect. I'm afraid my memory - is not what it once was. - - "Excuse this garrulous letter. How I have run on about Mr. Forbes - instead of merely carrying out my first intention, and wishing you the - future you so richly deserve. - - "Very truly yours, - - "Agatha Kent." - -Agatha re-read the closely written sheets with growing delectation. In -every respect they measured up to her anticipations. She had expressed -her sentiments toward Julia with a plainness she would hardly have -believed possible in a letter superficially observing the amenities -of civilized life. She had planted some barbed suggestions where she -flattered herself they would render the reader most uncomfortable. -But that was not all. It is a thoroughly human weakness to wish to -eat one's cake and have it too, and Agatha suspected Julia of having -more than her share of this familiar characteristic. Julia, so Agatha -argued, saw herself the irreproachable wife of a wealthy man, enjoying -all the dignities incident to the Prendergast social sphere, and at the -same time the object of another man's hopeless adoration. The doubt -Agatha's letter suggested, that she could continue without a rival -to rule in Forbes' affections, was, in Agatha's opinion, Forbes' one -chance to keep her from the decisive step. - -Agatha enclosed Forbes' brief communication with her own lengthy one -and despatched it by Howard before qualms could assail her as to the -advisability of dropping this particular bomb into the enemy's camp. -She knew vaguely that a host of suggestions stood marshaled at the back -of her brain, ready to demonstrate conclusively her lack of wisdom. If -Julia did not choose to consider the letter confidential, trouble would -ensue. The fact that Agatha saw all Forbes' letters, and that he knew -only what she chose to tell him, gave her but slight advantage, since -she confessed to scruples in the matter of other people's letters. And -if it had the result she believed possible, and Julia refused to engage -herself to Prendergast till Forbes' recovery was certain or proved -impossible, Agatha could not congratulate herself on having assured her -friend's happiness. - -"I'm afraid I'm a good deal like a mother who gives the baby the -scissors to play with because he cries for them. Only with a baby you -can distract its attention, and make it think that something else is -just as good, and with Burton Forbes that wouldn't work." - -And then having satisfied herself by peering through the window that -Forbes' face still wore the dazed look of a creature incomprehensibly -wounded, Agatha threw herself upon the couch and sought the relief of -tears. She wept as she did everything else. Hot tears rained down upon -the pillow. Sobs shook her. Every now and then mirth got the upper -hand and she laughed hysterically, interrupting, though briefly, the -Niobe-like activities. - -The storm was over as suddenly as it had begun. Agatha rose and -regarded her swollen features in the mirror with much disfavor. - -"I suppose it's no use to put powder on my nose. It would only look -like a strawberry sprinkled with sugar. And anyway, Mr. Forbes can't -see what a fright I am." - -As if that thought had a miraculously sustaining power, Agatha drew a -long breath and passed into the kitchen to help Phemie with the dinner. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -CONFIDENCES - - -Agatha had reached the conclusion that Julia was more venal than vain. -A full week she had awaited a sign that her ruse had succeeded. For -seven creeping days, dry-lipped and with unsteady pulses, she had -scanned the mail for a letter directed in Julia's familiar, hateful -hand, and in the beginning she could not have told whether there was -more of hope or of apprehension in her expectancy. - -But now she knew by the way her heart was singing. Her insane attempt -to give Forbes the thing he wanted, whatever the consequences, had -gloriously failed. She had played a friend's part, if a fool's part, -and had not been punished by success. Naturally Forbes' numerous -letters had never made the slightest reference to an attractive young -girl, who was devoting her summer to rendering his exile tolerable, and -such an omission would have awakened doubt in the least suspicious -nature. To Agatha, Julia's continued silence, in the face of such -facts, was convincing proof that she had thrown up her hand and was out -of the game. - -Agatha had fought Forbes' depression stubbornly while the week was -young, and then as hope strengthened, with an audacious, irresistible -gaiety that occasionally swept him off his feet. Never had it seemed -so difficult to simulate age. A score of times a day she found it -necessary to strangle a peal of girlish laughter, or tone it down to -the subdued quaver appropriate to her years. It was incredibly irksome -to subject her buoyant feet to the yoke of decorum. Never had she so -courted exposure as now when the lightening of her heart impelled her -to all sorts of foolish youthful pranks. Miss Finch watched her in dumb -fascinated terror. And Forbes despite his abysmal gloom, found himself -responding with astonishing frequency to her whirlwind spirits. - -She woke early the morning of the eighth day and lay musing, too -pleasurably excited to fall asleep again. Julia was out of the way. -She had engaged herself deliberately to another man, and now it was -not Julia but a radiant memory against which she must pit her wit and -beauty. Had Agatha been older she might have questioned whether this -were an occasion for self-congratulation, since the unfading, perfect -dream has an undeniable advantage over fading and faulty beauty. But -thanks to her inexperience, the removal of Julia from her path left -her with a reckless confidence in her star. There was a tangled web -to be unraveled, to be sure, before matters were established on a -satisfactory footing, but her blithe hopefulness hurdled these grim -preliminaries, and busied itself with a future all rose-color. - -A sound in the next room roused Agatha from her sanguine -self-communion, the plaintive little whine of Miss Finch's creaking -rocking chair. Agatha sprang out of bed, and carried her watch to the -window. The faint light showed the hour hand still plodding on toward -four o'clock, no hour surely for Zaida Finch to be indulging her -propensity for rocking chairs. - -A white-clad figure, censoriously erect, appeared in Miss Finch's -doorway. Miss Finch gasped, jumped, and made a rush for her bed, as -if with the hope of persuading her youthful visitor that the sound of -footsteps had roused her from peaceful slumbers. Then realizing the -futility of evasion, she stopped short, and stood with hanging head, -her air of confusion together with her diminutive figure, giving her -the appearance of a naughty child. - -"Fritz," began Agatha impressively, "why on earth aren't you asleep?" -As she came closer her judicial air changed to consternation. Miss -Finch's pale little eyes showed red even in the dim light. Her small -nose was redder still. Her thin cheeks were wet with tears. - -"Fritz, dear," cried the girl, her voice vibrant with tenderness, -"are you sick? Does your head ache? Get into bed and let me make you -comfortable. Why didn't you call me? I've been awake an age." - -This affectionate concern was too much for Miss Finch's self-control. -As she climbed into bed, she gave way to loud sobs. Agatha hung over -her, distressed and vaguely self-reproachful, because she had not -discovered earlier the urgent need of her presence. - -"Don't cry, Fritzie! Shall I get you the hot water bottle, or is it -the camphor that you need? Where does it hurt?" She patted the little -sob-shaken figure with a motherly hand. Even when not impersonating her -great-aunt, Agatha frequently felt years older than Zaida Finch. - -It took a minute to elicit an answer. It came finally in a little -sniffly whisper. - -"My head's all right, Agatha." - -"Probably that short-cake disagreed with you. I wondered at the time, -if two helps weren't too many, with the whipped cream." - -"My stomach's all right, too," declared Miss Finch, a trifle pettishly. - -"Then where's the pain?" - -Miss Finch deliberated. Her tears gushed afresh. "I--guess it's in my -heart. I'm worried, Agatha." - -Agatha sat down on the side of the bed, and sighed remorsefully. - -"I know it's been a hard summer for you, Fritz. All this deception -is very trying for one of your candid temperament. I should mind it -frightfully myself if it wasn't for the fun of the thing. But I adored -amateur theatricals when I was in boarding-school, and this is exactly -the same, except that you have to make up your part as you go along. I -knew that you'd been worrying, but I didn't dream how dreadfully you'd -taken it to heart." - -Miss Finch opened one swollen eye. She looked rather taken aback. - -"I don't deny all this deception has worried me, Agatha. But just -now--I was thinking of something else. I'm worried about my own -affairs." - -For a moment Agatha was nonplused. Miss Finch was one of the people -who seem to be without personal "affairs." She had no relatives to -die, no money to lose, no friends to disappoint her, no prospects to -be overcast. She was painfully immune against loss, by comprehensive -lack. Then on Agatha's incredulity flashed the recollection of Deacon -Wiggins and James Doolittle. In her absorption with her own concerns -she had forgotten that Miss Finch stood at a cross-roads, doubtful -which turning to take. "Oh, Fritzie," she cried self-reproachfully, "I -hope nothing's gone wrong with your love-affairs." - -Miss Finch's grief lost something of its poignancy. Agatha's -exclamation seemed to establish her status. It was something to know -love's pangs, even though ignorant of its joys. Her husky voice was -controlled as she replied, "The trouble is that they haven't gone at -all, right or wrong." - -"Oh!" Agatha became meditative and Miss Finch's confidences trickled on -plaintively, like a sad-hearted brook. - -"I got another letter from Deacon Wiggins yesterday. He said he -guessed his first must have gone astray since he hadn't heard from me. -He went over about the same ground as he did in the first letter and -he put in a lot of Scripture. It gives one a feeling that a man can be -depended on, when he's got so much of the Bible at his tongue's end." - -"Well?" Agatha interrupted hopefully. - -"Then I met Mr. Doolittle on the road this afternoon and he looked -at me real reproachful, and said he was coming to see me in a day or -two. I thought he seemed," faltered Miss Finch in conscience-stricken -accents, "kind of thin and pale." - -Agatha suppressed a smile. "You're keeping them dangling a rather long -time, Fritz. I never suspected you before of being a flirt." Then as -Miss Finch groaned aloud, the girl repented of her little witticism and -hastened to ask, "Aren't you any nearer to making up your mind?" - -"The trouble is, Agatha," sighed Miss Finch, "that there's so many -good reasons on both sides, for and against. I've thought and thought -till it's seemed as if my head was spinning 'round on my shoulders. -You see there was a cousin of my mother's who was a second wife. She -married a man named Flagg, and I've heard her tell Ma that she got so -sick of hearing about the way the first Mrs. Flagg did things, that if -she'd risen up out of her grave, she'd have given her back her husband -as quick as she'd have turned her hand over. She said he was always -talking about his first wife's mince meat and her mustard pickles and -how saving she was, till it seemed as if there wasn't any use in her -trying to do things right." - -"Well?" Agatha prompted, more to afford Miss Finch the relief of -unburdening her mind than because she failed to see the application of -the tragedy of the second Mrs. Flagg. - -"Deacon Wiggins has been married three times. It's likely that some -one of those three women could do pretty near everything better than I -can," explained Miss Finch, with characteristic humility. "If it was -hard for Cousin Caroline Flagg to have one wife held up to her for an -example day and night, I don't know how I'm going to stand three of -them." - -Agatha patted the limp hand clutching the damp pocket handkerchief. -"I'm sure _I_ should find three predecessors a drawback. That's where -Mr. Doolittle has the advantage." - -"Yes, he seems to have, Agatha. But there's no denying that a -man who's lived fifty years without being married to anybody gets -dreadfully set in his ways. My father's sister married a man when he -was along about fifty, and she was twenty years younger. He was a -nice man, but stubborn. For one thing he always kept a pair of extra -boots standing under the bed, with the toes sticking out, so he could -change quick if he came in. Aunt Hannah was one of the nervous kind and -she had looked under the bed for a burglar all her life. When she'd -come into the room and see the toes of those boots, it always gave -her a turn, and she'd feel sure she'd found him at last. Anybody'd -have supposed she'd get used to it after a time, but she never did. -She tried her hardest to get him to keep his boots in the closet, and -she'd make shoe-bags for him, all bound around with tape and real -pretty-looking, but it wasn't any use. He said he'd always kept his -boots under the bed, and he'd feel lost if they was anywhere else. -Seems as if when a man lives single long enough, he gets to think there -ain't but one way of doing things and that's his." - -"Deacon Wiggins should be adaptable, then," hazarded Agatha. "He's -accommodated himself to the ways of three women." - -"There's another thing," Miss Finch continued, ignoring Agatha's -tentative encouragement. "And that's the first wife's relations. I -remember Cousin Caroline used to say she didn't mind his folks dropping -in, and of course she didn't mind her folks, but when his first wife's -folks came to Sunday dinner, or to spend the day, she was on pins and -needles. And she said if ever the bread wasn't as light as usual, or -the roast got overdone, it would be when some of the first Mrs. Flagg's -relations stopped for a meal. She'd been a member of the Methodist -church from the time she was thirteen, Cousin Caroline had, and she was -president of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, but I've heard -her say with my own ears that she'd rather see the devil coming up the -walk any day, than one of the Sawyer tribe--the first Mrs. Flagg was a -Sawyer. And she had one set of wife's relations to worry her. I--I--if -I took Deacon Wiggins, I'd have three." - -"If you married James Doolittle," contributed Agatha cheeringly, "you -wouldn't be troubled in that way." - -"No, I wouldn't. But I'm not sure that too little company wouldn't be -worse than too much. Mr. Doolittle ain't ever been what you'd call a -social man, and except for that sister of his who lives out west, he -hasn't any folks to speak of. And as long as I haven't any, I don't -see how between us we could scare up enough mourners for a respectable -funeral." - -"Oh, come, Fritz, you're talking of weddings, not funerals. -It certainly is a pity that these lovers of yours have their -advantages--or disadvantages--so evenly balanced. It's like a see-saw, -first one's down and then the other, and that makes it hard to come to -a decision." - -Miss Finch took the banter seriously. "Yes, Agatha, it seems a wicked -thing, but I almost wish I'd find out something dreadful about one or -the other, like drinking or Sabbath-breaking, and then I'd know what -to do. But this weighing things and trying to make up my mind is just -wearing me out. Agatha, it ain't what I expected. I supposed it would -be an awful pleasant feeling to know that two men wanted you, but the -way it's turned out, I don't believe I ever was so worried in my life." - -"Perhaps proposals are like wisdom teeth, Fritz, and the slower they -are coming, the more trouble they make. But don't forget that you -aren't under any obligations to take either of these men. We were -getting along fine before they thought of wanting to marry you, and if -you say no to both of them, you and I will keep Old Maids' Hall and be -happy ever after." - -"I don't believe you're likely to remain single," objected Miss Finch -with perfect simplicity. "It's a pity that nice Mr. Warren never -came again. You could have had that man if you'd tried. Look at the -chocolates he sent you, after only seeing you once, and that in your -kitchen clothes." - -"If my name must be either Kent or Warren, I'll stay an old maid to the -end of my days." - -"I don't see why you don't like the name Warren, Agatha, and I think -Mrs. Ridgeley Warren sounds awfully nice. But you're the one to be -pleased. It's a pity Mr. Forbes is so afflicted. If it wasn't for that -he'd make a grand husband." - -"Mr. Forbes' worst affliction at present," pronounced Agatha tartly, -"is being very much in love with an absolutely heartless and generally -despicable young woman named Julia." - -"My gracious," lamented Miss Finch. "Nice prospect for him, ain't it?" - -"Not so bad as you'd think. She's going to marry another man." - -"Oh!" Miss Finch's limp hand came suddenly to life, found Agatha's -fingers and squeezed them. "Maybe he'll get over it," she hinted. - -"Maybe." Something in Agatha's tone suggested she was smiling. - -"And then if he'd get his eyesight back, the way he expects to--" - -"Then he'd have to be introduced to me all over again. You know he -thinks I'm a kittenish old lady of seventy." - -"If he doesn't like you better when he finds you're not quite twenty, -he's different from most men, that's all." There was a new authority -in Miss Finch's pronouncement. She spoke as one who knew the sex, to -whom its little idiosyncrasies were an open book. And hardly less -significant than the change in herself was the fact that Agatha -accepted her altered attitude without surprise. - -At the same time the girl's impulsive kiss on her old friend's -tear-stained cheek was irrelevantly tender. "I must go back to bed," -said Agatha. "It'll soon be time to get up. And don't worry over those -adorers of yours. It'll do them good to be kept waiting. Men--most -men--need to have the conceit taken out of them." - -Though she paused in the doorway to charge Miss Finch to go to sleep -immediately, she did not act on her own counsel. Instead she ensconsed -herself on the broad sill of the east window and swinging her dangling -bare feet, watched the face of the sky slowly brighten, flushing pink -at last, like the cheek of a girl. Overhead little rosy clouds floated, -like cherubs, listening to the chorus of bird song which grew in volume -moment by moment. - -Another day was beginning, a good day, Agatha was ready to believe. For -though between herself and her heart's desire a tortuous deception lay, -to be explained and forgiven, the prospect no longer seemed hopeless. -It was an eminently satisfactory world, Agatha decided, with Julia out -of the running. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -UNDERNEATH THE BOUGH - - -The kind-hearted Miss Kent had decreed a holiday for Howard. With -characteristic thoughtfulness she had volunteered to take Forbes off -his hands, and suggested they fill in the time by a long walk with -a picnic lunch in some shady place, dinner to be postponed until a -convenient hour after their return. Howard showed hilarious approval of -the plan, and Forbes aroused himself from his melancholy abstraction -sufficiently to agree, whereupon Agatha fell to making sandwiches, -giving directions to Phemie as she worked. - -Nature in the raw did not appeal to Miss Finch. She hated long -walks. She hated sitting on the grass; while sandwiches, without -an accompanying cup of tea, were as ashes to her taste. The others -accepted her excuses with fortitude, and left her at home to see that -Phemie did not set the house afire, and to grope wearily toward a -solution of her vexing problem. Howard, having stuffed his pockets -with a generous proportion of the sandwiches, shouldered his fishing -rod and departed to make the most of his holiday. And while the -fragrant freshness of the night still lingered in the air, Forbes and -Agatha set out in the direction of the woods. - -The serene confidence of her morning vigil still enfolded Agatha. She -walked as if keeping time to music, inaudible to all ears but her -own. Forbes had insisted on carrying the basket of lunch which also -contained a book or two, in case their mood should take a literary -turn. Agatha kept fast hold of his arm, the better to steer his steps, -and he thought there was a hint of friendliness in the firm clasp. The -lonely and unhappy man felt a disproportionate sense of gratitude. - -They walked and rested, strolled on and rested again. Neither was -inclined to talk. Forbes had plenty to occupy his thoughts, and Agatha, -too, was reflective. She realized that the time was at hand when she -must confess to Forbes the deception she had practised on him, or else -allow him to go out of her life altogether. Neither alternative was -agreeable, but the latter was unthinkable. - -A scheme occurred to her so in harmony with her native audacity that -she dallied with it lovingly, before reluctantly renouncing it as -impracticable. She could tell Forbes that she expected a visit from her -grand-niece, Agatha Kent, and prejudice him in favor of the newcomer -by assuring him of the extraordinary likeness existing between the -twentieth-century Agatha and her girlhood self. After the new Agatha's -arrival, she could leave him more and more to the society of the -younger woman, withdrawing by degrees into the background until her -sudden demise would hardly shock him, though he would naturally feel -more or less responsible for consoling her namesake and heir. Agatha's -final rejection of the plan was due less to doubt of her ability to -act the dual rôle, or to manage the embarrassing details of her own -interment, than to the realization that if her intimacy with Forbes -was to continue, it must be established on a foundation of absolute -truth. This deception on which she had entered so light-heartedly, -had its sole excuse in the impermanence of their relationship. Before -their friendship could become real there must be perfect understanding -between them. - -They ate their sandwiches shortly after noon, washing them down with -deliciously cool water from a convenient spring. The day had grown warm -and very still. "It feels as if a thunder-storm might be brewing," -Forbes remarked, breaking one of the periods of friendly silence. - -"I think not," Agatha answered in a dreamy voice. "Don't you love this -stillness here in the shade? It's perfect, perfect!" - - "'A book of verses underneath the bough, - A loaf of bread, a jug of wine--and thou,'" - -quoted Forbes inevitably. He was laughing but the lines stirred her, -and to disguise the fact she spoke nonchalantly. - -"There _is_ a book of poems in the basket, but I don't care for reading -to-day, do you? It's one of the times when you feel everything that has -ever been written and more too. You simply want to sit and think how -wonderful it is to be alive." - -"By jove, it's you that's wonderful," Forbes exclaimed. "That -sensitiveness wears off with most people long before they're my age, to -say nothing of yours. But you feel the thrill of life and the mystery -and the adventure, as if you were a girl." - -"Yes," Agatha acquiesced, "I do." - -"I'd have known it without your telling me. It's been a continual -marvel all through our acquaintance, that ardent freshness of yours. -It's confirmed my faith in immortality." - -Agatha had no answer ready. He groped for her hand and took possession -of it with becoming masterfulness. - -"I've got something to say to you, something very important. I've meant -to say it for an age, but I've been too much of a coward to risk a no." - -Agatha was obliged to remind herself that she was almost seventy years -of age. Otherwise she might have suspected she was listening to a -proposal. - -"Before I can explain my plan, I want to ask you something. Aren't you -ever lonely here in winter?" - -The question was less formidable than she had anticipated. Her quick -assent showed relief. - -"And aren't you going to miss me a little when I go back to the city?" - -"Of course I shall," she said faintly, and instinctively tried to -withdraw her hand. He tightened his hold, laughing. - -"Please don't take it away. It does me good, and I'm sure it can't do -you any harm. Now you've given me just the encouragement I needed. If -you're lonely here, and if you're going to miss me, why shouldn't you -and I set up housekeeping together?" - -"I--I don't understand." Again Agatha steadied herself with the -recollection of her three-score years and seven. - -"I'm afraid you've spoiled me," Forbes continued with sudden -seriousness. "I've grown shamefully dependent on you. It isn't -altogether or chiefly that you've looked after my physical comfort -so wonderfully, though, of course, that counts. But you've been so -interested in all that concerns me, so sympathetic, such a good pal--" -He broke off, apparently at a loss for words. "You're as bracing as an -October breeze," he said. "God knows what I should have done without -you, this damnable summer." - -The thought crossed her mind that this was her opportunity. Now that -they were alone, now that he had acknowledged his indebtedness, she -could safely throw herself upon his mercy. Her lips parted for her -confession, and an overmastering cowardly fear paralyzed the organs -of speech. Suppose he refused to forgive her. Then he would go away -and she would never see him again. She must make herself still more -indispensable. She must foster that feeling of dependence before she -risked self-accusation. - -"Of course I must be in town next winter," Forbes went on. "Why -shouldn't I take a furnished apartment and have you as a sort of mother -confessor? We can get some good servants so you will be relieved of all -responsibility as far as the establishment is concerned, and your sole -duty will be to keep me content with life. How does that appeal to you?" - -Agatha heard herself faltering something about Miss Finch. - -"Oh, we'll find a place for Miss Finch," Forbes said tolerantly. "I -took it for granted Miss Finch would come along, just as I assumed that -your shadow would accompany you." - -"It may be that Zaida will be married by fall," exclaimed Agatha, -seizing the opportunity to postpone the necessity of answering him. -She would not have risked the story on Warren, but she trusted Forbes -to understand that even while her voice broke with uncontrollable -laughter, she was not holding her old friend up to ridicule. As -she described Miss Finch's singular quandary, Forbes joined in her -laughter, more spontaneously than for many weeks, though he made no -effort to conceal his amazement. - -"Miss Finch! I begin to feel that I haven't done justice to the lady's -charms. She has impressed me as colorless, not faded, you know, but -colorless from the start." - -"It's well we don't all see alike," Agatha said demurely, though a -little startled by his perspicacity. - -His next remark took her by surprise. "It's a thousand pities you never -married." - -Her impertinent retort that there was still time for that, was checked -before it left her lips, and replaced by the less hazardous rejoinder, -"In that case, probably I shouldn't be sitting here with you." - -"True. But my good luck has meant loss to so many. You would have been -an incomparable mother. It's a shame you didn't have a dozen children. -Do you know I've never in my life felt such a sense of being mothered -as I have since I came to Oak Knoll. My own mother was an invalid when -I first remember her." - -A little confused, but gallantly striving to live up to her maternal -rôle, Agatha patted his arm with her disengaged hand. He showed his -filial appreciation by kissing the other. - -"It wasn't my father's fault, anyway, that you didn't fulfil your -destiny. He took me into his confidence the last few months of his -life, not in any formal way, you understand, just a word dropped here -and there. He was the tenderest of husbands to my mother, but at the -last of his life, his thoughts were all with his first love." He turned -toward her with a gesture plainly interrogative. "He must have been -rather an attractive young fellow." - -"He was." Agatha spoke with conviction. - -"And still you turned him down. I suppose it would be presumptuous to -hazard a guess that there was another man." - -"Yes, I think it would be rather presumptuous," Agatha said -breathlessly. "Anyway, it's foolish, dragging up old love-affairs. 'Let -the dead past bury its dead,' you know, though you modern young folks -don't hold Longfellow in such esteem as my generation did." - -"I was only thinking that if there was a man who might have married you -and didn't, he's probably putting in his time in the next world cursing -his luck. But you're not going to be as hard on the son as you were on -the father, are you?" - -"I--I--do you mean--" - -"You're not going to blast all my hopes by saying no. How am I going to -get along without you; tell me that?" - -"You must give me a little time to think," Agatha protested faintly. -She had vowed that morning to avoid all references in the future -to her advanced age, but the habit of acting a part was too strong -to be overcome by a single resolution. She heard herself continuing -mechanically, "Old people don't like to be hurried into important -decisions. Leaving the home of so many years and going away with a -young man may seem a very little thing to you, but to me it's a real -adventure." - -"Take all the time you want for reflection," he conceded generously. -"Only understand, you must end by saying yes!" - -"You might change your mind and not want me," Agatha said. The -playfulness oozed out of her tone as she voiced her haunting dread. -"You might find out something about me, some trait you had never -suspected. I might be any number of awful things--deceitful, for -instance." Again the impulse to confession took her by the throat. -Again she fought it off almost with terror. It was too soon. She was -not ready. She did not know what to say, and moreover the moment was -too sweet to spoil. - -Forbes laughed tolerantly. "Oh, I'll take the risk. Shall we shake -hands on the bargain?" - -He was amused by the fervor of her refusal, but his instinct warned -him he was carrying his teasing too far. He had a strong conviction -that she would end by accepting his proposition, but nothing would be -gained by hurrying her to a decision. Though in most things she was -strangely younger than her years, her age manifested itself in her -reluctance to change the established order. He congratulated himself -on broaching the subject early enough to give her time for accustoming -herself to the idea. - -A comfortable silence fell between them. Forbes stretched himself on -the pine needles, and presently dropped off to sleep. He had held -to her hand throughout their talk with seeming playfulness, though -perhaps underneath was the instinct of the blind man to establish a -link between himself and his kind, to touch what he can not see. In -his sleep he moved nearer the imprisoned hand, and lay with his cheek -touching it. And though her arm grew very tired from staying in one -position so long, passing through the various stages from prickles to -excruciating pain, and finally to a numbness which made her wonder -if she could ever use it again, Agatha did not move. Indeed as she -sat listening to his quiet breathing, feeling through the torture of -her cramped muscles the touch of his cheek against her hand, her only -quarrel with the hour was that it could not last. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -MISS FINCH FOLLOWS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE - - -Zaida Finch was not ill-pleased at the prospect of a day to herself. -Agatha's personality was distracting. It was next to impossible to -concentrate your thoughts on your own affairs, however urgent the need, -when Agatha was darting about like a bright-plumaged bird, saying -things that interested you, even though you frequently found them -shocking. "She's a dear girl," Miss Finch reflected, "but upsetting; -and I need quiet." - -She seated herself upon the broad porch, with the inevitable mending, -and wearily began weighing the advantages of one suitor against those -of his rival. There was the matter of health to be considered, an -important factor in reaching a decision. Zaida remembered a spinster of -forty married to a man considerably her senior, who had been a bride -three weeks to a day when the bridegroom was smitten with paralysis. - -"And poor Linda was nothing but a sick-nurse from that on," mused Miss -Finch. "He must have lasted a good twenty years. I never was much of a -hand in the sick-room. Nursing would wear me out in no time." - -But though caution sharpened her natural acuteness, Miss Finch was -unable to award to either of the gentlemen who had honored her, any -advantage over the other in the matter of health. She could not -remember that Deacon Wiggins had ever been ill, though sickness and -death had been familiar guests in his household. James Doolittle -frequently walked with a limp due to rheumatic trouble, but James came -from long-lived stock, and gave a reassuring impression of toughness. -As far as human judgment could play the prophet, she would not be -called on to act as nurse to either aspirant, at least for a number of -years. - -Miss Finch's mending suffered. She found it difficult to employ her -brain and her fingers in synchronous activities, and as selecting a -husband naturally took precedence over stopping the holes in Howard's -socks, she sat much of the morning with her hands lying idle in her -lap, her countenance expressing a concentration almost tragic. By noon -she was fairly limp from the strain and she went to the kitchen to ask -Phemie for a cup of tea. - -The sound of wheels recalled her to the porch before her modest -luncheon was disposed of. Her first apprehension that either the -deacon or James Doolittle was coming to insist on an immediate answer, -vanished as she caught sight of two unmistakably feminine figures on -the rear seat of the rickety vehicle approaching. But her feeling of -reassurance was of brief duration. Almost immediately the conviction -seized her that the women were strangers. - -Miss Finch stood quaking. Her constitutional shyness had been so -cultivated by a lifetime of keeping herself in the background that -the prospect of an interview with the unknown women presented itself -as an ordeal. It was probable, Miss Finch reflected, that they were -city people looking for board. In that case it was only necessary to -tell them that they did not wish any additional boarders, and they -would have no alternative but to go away. Nevertheless she wished -with illogical heartiness that Agatha were at home to assume the -responsibility of the interview. - -The creaking carryall came to a halt in front of the house. Miss Finch -saw that of the two passengers, one was young and one elderly, while -both were smartly dressed and formidable. It was the older woman who -addressed her, eying her disapprovingly through her lorgnette, and -speaking in a tone of incredulity that somehow was offensive. - -"My good woman, kindly tell me whether this is Oak Knoll." - -"Yes, it is," said Miss Finch, reduced by the lorgnette to abject -helplessness. - -The driver growled something from the front seat. Miss Finch understood -him to say, "Next time maybe you'll believe me." - -"And is Mr. Forbes, Mr. Burton Forbes, spending the summer here?" The -incredulity was as marked as before and as disagreeable. - -"Yes'm," replied Miss Finch faintly. "He is." - -The driver growled again. The substance of his remark, as far as Miss -Finch could grasp it in her confusion, seemed to be, "What did I tell -you?" - -But it mattered little to Miss Finch what the driver had to say. A -deplorable certainty absorbed her. The women were preparing to alight. -There was a trifling delay, owing to the fact they seemed to expect -the driver to assist them, while he assured them that he did not dare -to leave his horses. As the dejected steeds stood with hanging heads, -apparently resigned to the prospect of dying in their traces, the -indignation of the two passengers was amply justified. - -They were out at last, and while the elderly lady haughtily paid the -driver, Miss Finch's distended eyes were taking a rapid inventory of -the younger. She was extremely handsome, Miss Finch saw, tall and -slender and tremendously striking in her black and white costume. -She stood looking about her with an evident disdain which the -little spinster might have resented, had she not been chilled by an -indefinable fear. - -When the beautiful stranger spoke, her remark was a complete surprise. -"Miss Kent, I suppose." - -Zaida Finch became aware of an inexplicable hostility in the other's -manner, of an arrogance that bordered on insolence. She found she was -being scrutinized contemptuously. The little drab nonentity felt in her -veins an unprecedented stirring of resentment. - -"No, I'm not," she said with a flatness that seemed deliberately -contradictive. "I'm Miss Finch." - -"Be so kind as to call Miss Kent." - -"She's out, I'm sorry to say," replied Miss Finch, and her regret was -heart-felt. If only Agatha were on hand to give back this presumptuous -girl stare for stare, to inquire her errand, in the chilling tone -of which Agatha knew the secret, and finally to send her about her -business. - -"Call Mr. Forbes, then." - -"Mr. Forbes is out, too," Miss Finch explained, and a little chill ran -down her spine. She had forgotten how imperative it was that Agatha -should not encounter any of Forbes' friends. If their unwelcome guests -lingered, it would be necessary for Agatha to become Hephzibah again -with all the inconveniences attendant on that incarnation. "I've got to -get rid of 'em somehow," thought Miss Kent distractedly. - -But apparently for the younger of the two strangers, Miss Finch had -ceased to exist. She turned to her companion impatiently. "It's -dreadfully boring, Aunt Estelle, but Burton is out at present. We'll -have to sit on the porch and wait. Fortunately it is shady." - -"Yes, it seems to be _shady_," admitted Aunt Estelle, with an emphasis -indicating that as far as the porch was concerned, she could make -no further concessions. She climbed the steps looking about her with -multiplying evidences of disquiet. "Ask her when Burton will be back," -she enjoined, exactly as if Miss Finch had spoken a foreign tongue, and -could be addressed only through an interpreter. - -Miss Finch did not wait to have the inquiry translated. "I don't know -_when_ he'll be back," she said quickly. "Probably he'll be gone all -day." - -"He'll return for luncheon, I suppose," said Aunt Estelle, grudgingly -acknowledging Miss Finch's ability to speak English, but apparently -liking her no better on that account. - -"No, he won't," declared Miss Finch, with unaccustomed positiveness. -"They took sandwiches." - -The two women exchanged glances. "Who is with Mr. Forbes?" asked the -younger. Her manner implied her right to know. - -"Ag--well, Miss Kent went with him." And to herself Miss Finch added -wildly, "I can't have a lie on my conscience, even for Agatha." - -"Who else was in the party, please?" The young woman in black and white -had become a judge, and Miss Finch, the prisoner at the bar. - -"There wasn't anybody else," gasped Miss Finch, with every indication -of uttering a deliberate and premeditated falsehood. - -"Where were they going?" - -"I don't know exactly. They were going for a picnic somewhere, but I -didn't hear 'em say where. I don't know as they knew themselves." - -The judicial sternness became more marked as the prisoner's -embarrassment increased. "You mean that Mr. Forbes and Miss Kent have -gone off for the day with--sandwiches?" Something in her inflection -made the mention of sandwiches the crowning insult to her intelligence. - -"Yes," faltered Miss Finch guiltily. "They often take long walks, and -carry a picnic lunch." - -The older lady spoke with asperity. "It's a preposterous situation. I'm -sorry to remind you, Julia, that I said at the start it would be better -to telegraph." - -Miss Finch started violently. She recalled Agatha's confidential -assurance that Forbes was in love with a despicable young woman named -Julia, but that the aforesaid Julia was to marry another man. Yet here -she was, undeniably handsome, terrifyingly elegant, and worst of all, -with no apparent doubt as to her right to be demanding the immediate -producing of Mr. Forbes. - -The two women had seated themselves, Aunt Estelle ostentatiously -dusting the rocker she trusted with her ample person. Miss Finch -proffered a belated and reluctant hospitality. - -"If you're thinking of sitting here long, I'll see about getting you -something to eat." - -Julia brushed the offer aside without thanks. "We shall wait for Mr. -Forbes." - -"It is really absurd, you know," Aunt Estelle contributed, "for us to -sit waiting indefinitely. Burton must be somewhere about. A blind man -and an old woman can not possibly walk very far. Why are they not sent -for?" - -As her inquiry was addressed to Julia, Julia passed it on to Miss -Finch, her extremely frigid tone indicating that Miss Finch should have -thought of that herself. - -"There's nobody to send except the hired girl," Miss Finch explained -despairingly. "And she never was known to find anything, even if it was -right under her nose. If only Howard--" - -Miss Finch checked herself abruptly. A thought had flashed across her -mind so dazzling in its brilliancy she could hardly believe herself -capable of originating it. Indeed, the probability is that she had not -done so, but that some extravagant fancy of Agatha's, falling like seed -into her subconsciousness, had lain there dormant till the emergency -brought it to swift germination. Zaida Finch had never heard of Victor -Hugo's saintly nun, crowning a lifetime of sanctity by a devout and -holy lie, but unconsciously she was inspired to emulate her example. - -With Miss Finch veracity was almost a mania. She was one of the -tiresome people who are continually suspecting themselves of -exaggeration or of misrepresentation of something absolutely without -importance, and then bore their associates by insisting on their -attention while they painstakingly correct their statements. Yet now -she forgot her habitual dread of falsehood. If a lie were necessary to -save Agatha, lie she must. - -She resumed her interrupted sentence, pale but resolute. "If only -Howard was well, he could look for 'em. He could find 'em if anybody -could. But it'll be a good while before he does much running around, I -guess." - -The two visitors regarded her stonily. In her simplicity she had -assumed their cooperation to the extent of a question or two. They -would surely ask her who Howard was, or why he was incapacitated. But -apparently these matters did not interest them in the slightest degree. -It was necessary for Miss Finch to continue her career of mendacity -unaided by so much as the lifting of an interrogative eye-brow. - -Miss Finch rose to the occasion. "He's sick, you know," she confided to -the two pairs of indifferent ears. "High fever, and considerable of a -rash--if you'd call it a rash." - -Aunt Estelle showed a slight uneasiness. "You've consulted a physician, -I suppose." - -"We're trying a kind of mental cure first," replied Miss Finch as -glibly as if she had practised perjury from her childhood. "And then if -that don't work, Ag--Miss Kent is going to call in the doctor. But she -don't like to do it till she has to, for it would be awful inconvenient -to be quarantined." - -"Quarantined," exclaimed Aunt Estelle with fresh evidences of -perturbation. "Have you any reason to think that it may be contagious?" - -"Most of these rashy diseases are," Miss Finch replied. And though -there was no malice in her composition, she was conscious of relishing -Aunt Estelle's air of agitation. "I'm hoping it's nothing worse than -scarlet fever, though there's been a good many cases of smallpox around -here lately. And I don't know that Howard's ever been vaccinated." - -Aunt Estelle rose from her chair with a little cry. In her palpitating -pallor she reminded Miss Finch irresistibly of blanc-mange. - -"Smallpox, Julia," she exclaimed. "Do you hear what the woman -says--smallpox! Even if we escape with our lives, one's complexion--oh, -my God! Why did I ever listen to this mad idea of yours!" - -Julia's composure was in refreshing contrast to her aunt's excitement. -She rose, it is true, but only to advance to the older woman's side and -whisper in her ear. And having whispered, she calmly resumed her seat, -and looked away toward the hills, apparently intensely interested in -the scenery. - -Aunt Estelle stood irresolute. "Do you really think so?" - -"I'm absolutely sure of it," said Julia. - -"I think I noticed a little wildness in the eye myself," Aunt Estelle -conceded, with a return of her earlier conviction of Miss Finch's -inability to understand English. - -"Unmistakable," opined Julia. - -Miss Finch looked blankly from one to the other and hope was at low -ebb. They were going to stay. She had thrilled with childlike pride -at the discovery of her own inventiveness, culpable though it might -be. Complacency had whispered that Agatha herself could not have done -better. And now she realized that her effort had failed. She had -sacrificed her conscience to friendship, and the sacrifice had been in -vain. Though not so quick-witted as many another, she had no difficulty -in recognizing the conclusion these strangers had reached. To herself -she said, "They think I'm crazy." - -Miss Finch was not at the end of her resources. Her lapse from the path -of rectitude had proved strangely stimulating to the imagination. She -meant to get rid of these women before Agatha returned. Agatha would -be equal to the emergency provided she were not taken by surprise. If -Julia and her aunt were not afraid of smallpox, it was possible that -they might be afraid of a crazy woman who showed signs of becoming -violent. - -"G-r-r-r-r--" said Miss Finch menacingly. Aunt Estelle jumped and -took another chair. For the first time in her life, Miss Finch felt -herself at no disadvantage because of her insignificant proportions. -"G-r-r-r-r-r--" she said again. - -"Julia," exclaimed Aunt Estelle nervously, "do you really think it's -safe--" - -The intrepidity of the modern young woman passes comprehension. -"Harmless, I imagine," Julia said with nonchalance. "Otherwise Burton -would hardly have remained." - -"Why he should have remained in this place under any circumstances," -declared Aunt Estelle, "passes my comprehension." - -"There must be some reason we know nothing about. Burton will -explain." Something in Julia's tone implied that Forbes would not find -explanations altogether easy. She added with evident relief, "Here he -comes now." - -"Thank heaven!" cried Aunt Estelle piously. - -Miss Finch looked wildly in the direction of Julia's steadfast gaze. -All was over. Arm in arm across the grass, so absorbed in each other -that the girl was as blind as the man to the audience on the porch, -came Agatha and Forbes. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE DAY OF JUDGMENT - - -Forbes woke refreshed from his sylvan nap, and sat for a little -discoursing on the invigorating effect of contact with mother earth, -while Agatha, by drastic massage, restored the circulation to her -temporarily paralyzed arm. The sun had dipped but little toward the -western horizon when they turned their faces homeward, and they walked -slowly. Agatha exulted in heat. A temperature of ninety stimulated her -both physically and mentally. But Forbes found the warmth of the day -relaxing, and she set the pace with that fact in mind. - -Toward the last of their long leisurely walk, Forbes brought up the -subject he had introduced earlier in the day. Though he made no effort -to hurry her to a decision, he sketched entertainingly some of the -diversions she might anticipate, if she accepted his invitation for the -winter. The program was planned with due regard for the infirmities of -age, but Agatha listened raptly. - -They were but a few rods from their destination, Forbes talking -earnestly, and Agatha hanging on his words, when some mysterious sixth -sense warned her of danger. She looked ahead and instantly halted. -Forbes felt her figure stiffen against his arm, and instinct told him -she was frightened. "What is the matter?" he cried, sickening with a -new realization of his helplessness. - -Agatha did not answer, but as she stared ahead she understood that -doomsday had arrived unheralded. A young woman was tripping toward -them, a handsome young woman, who even without beauty would have -attracted all eyes by the distinction of her dress and bearing. It -could be no other than Julia. The ample lady in the background, -following with a haste that empurpled her complexion, that she might -not be left tęte-ŕ-tęte with a maniac, failed to attract Agatha's -attention. Julia's graceful figure dominated the landscape. - -"What _is_ the matter?" Forbes again demanded. He laid his hand -reassuringly over the fingers trembling upon his arm. And at that -moment a voice subtly reproachful, suggestively tender, spoke his name. -"Burton!" - -"Julia!" Forbes shouted. His dear old friend, Miss Kent, and her -mysterious perturbation, were instantly forgotten. He started forward, -remembered that he was blind, stood irresolute, his hands outstretched. -"Julia!" he cried again, this time with entreaty as well as rapture. - -Agatha was ready to believe that then and there she had amply atoned -for her sins, past and present. Even the certainty that the hour of -her humiliation was at hand could not hurt worse than the joy ringing -through his voice as he spoke another woman's name. She wondered dully -at her own folly. She had been warned and had not heeded. She had known -all the time of his love for Julia, and yet had foolishly assumed that -since Julia's selfish decision had put her out of his reach, he would -turn to her for consolation. Her pride had not rebelled over taking -what Julia had thrown away. Indeed she had thought very little about -herself. Her one desire was to be light to his blind eyes, balm to his -wounded heart. But her castle of dreams was in ruins, as soon as he -spoke the name she had hated from the first day she had heard it on his -lips. - -Julia approached him as swiftly as was consistent with grace, a rather -insolent triumph in the glance she shot over his shoulder toward the -pale girl standing in the background. "Yes, Burton," she said gently, -"it is Julia," and extended both hands. - -He caught them ardently and held them fast, his eager face questioning -her dumbly, though he only said, "What a wonderful surprise! How good -of you, how very good of you!" - -"My aunt, Mrs. Knox, is with me, Burton," continued Julia, the -pensiveness of her tone flatly contradicted by her air of elation. "I -think you have met Mr. Forbes, Aunt Estelle." - -Aunt Estelle, still panting, brought herself into hand-shaking distance -and this formality helped to recall Forbes to the realization that -there were other people in the world besides Julia and himself. He -turned toward Agatha. - -"This is a pleasure I have been promising myself," he said. "Julia, I -want you to know my dear friend, Miss Kent. Miss Kent, let me present -Mrs. Knox and Miss Studley." - -The blankness of the silence that ensued was as definite as a blow. -Forbes stood awaiting the conventional formula, but his quick ear could -detect only the sound of hurried breathing. Again he turned toward -Agatha, but for the first time she failed him. - -"Miss Kent is still here, is she not?" queried Forbes. He remembered -his ideas had been chaotic after discovering Julia's presence. His late -companion might easily have withdrawn without attracting his attention. - -For so simple a question, the effect was startling. "Burton," Julia -cried, her voice sharp to the point of shrillness, "what are you -talking about?" - -Aunt Estelle caught her sleeve. "Can't you understand, Julia?" she -hissed. "This place is a private asylum. That crazy old creature on the -porch, and now him. It's perfectly plain. Let us go away at once." - -Forbes caught most of this sibilant outburst. He turned white with -anger. "Miss Kent?" he pleaded, and Agatha pulled herself together. Her -voice was steady if slightly unnatural, as she answered, "Yes, I am -here." - -Forbes tried to laugh. The consciousness of being enveloped in baffling -mystery made his blindness doubly intolerable. There was a bewilderment -in his voice that wrung Agatha's heart. - -"This is what I have been hoping for all summer. You know how often -I've wished you and Miss Studley might know each other." - -"Burton," Julia screamed, "who and what is this person?" - -The contempt in her tone, even more than her disdainful phrasing, -brought the blood racing to his forehead. "Julia!" He seemed to defy -her to go on. "If you have read my letters at all," he said in a -vibrant voice, "you know both who Miss Kent is and how much I am in her -debt." - -"Miss Kent! Your father's friend!" - -"And mine as well, Julia." There was no ecstatic tenderness now in his -use of her name, but indignant sternness. - -"Burton, either you are insane or the woman is an impostor. She is not -old. She is young, hardly more than a girl." - -Forbes attempted to reply, but for a moment no words came. He put his -hand to his forehead with a confused gesture. "I have been off in the -woods with Miss Kent all day," he stammered. "I supposed--I had not -noticed--" Again he turned in Agatha's direction. "Who are you, please?" - -There was no trace of emotion in her composed answer. "I am Agatha -Kent." - -"Do you dare to say," shrieked Julia, "that you were the friend of Mr. -Forbes' father?" - -"I never saw Mr. Forbes' father." - -Forbes took a step ahead, then halted, and stood with his feet a little -apart, like one who balances himself on the deck of a heaving ship in a -high sea. "But where," he stammered, "where is the other Miss Kent?" - -"There is no other. My Great-aunt Agatha, for whom I was named, died -twelve years ago." - -There was a momentary palpitating silence which Julia was the first to -break. - -"And you mean," she arraigned her, "that all this summer you have been -a deliberate impostor, palming yourself off on Mr. Forbes as an old -woman, allowing him to think--oh, it's too shameful. I can't believe -any girl would be so base." - -"It is quite true, nevertheless," Agatha assured her gently. Her steady -eyes met Julia's, and even that intrepid young woman drew back a step. -Her momentary shrinking was not unreasonable for could concentrated -hate smite like a lightning bolt, her life would have been measured by -seconds. - -Instinct taught Julia how to repay that level look by the deadliest -hurt. She turned on Forbes furiously. "Do you mean to tell me that you -have been the victim of a hoax all summer, that this girl has passed -herself off on you for an old woman? But, no, it isn't possible. You've -contrived this outrageous story between you to cover up something -disgraceful. You couldn't have been such a dupe as you pretend. It's -incredible!" - -Forbes' color came and went during this attack. "It seems incredible," -he owned when she gave him opportunity. "I don't blame you for -questioning the truth of such a story. I can only remind you that it is -easy to deceive a blind man." - -Something in Agatha's stony whiteness convinced Julia that she had made -no mistake in her choice of retribution. She gave the screws another -turn. - -"You mean for me to believe, Burton, that you've been only the gullible -victim of a swindle, that this impostor has tricked you successfully -all these months?" - -There was a rather long silence. "Yes," said Forbes tonelessly, "that -is what I mean." - -Julia's first sense of being at a disadvantage had passed. She was -thoroughly enjoying herself. - -"I begin to understand your strange letter," she said, addressing -Agatha. "Your letter of congratulation, you know. I suppose you are the -young woman to whom you referred, the one with whom Mr. Forbes had -spent so much time, you no doubt remember." - -There was such malicious satisfaction in her tone that Forbes turned as -if to interfere. Then his uplifted arm dropped rather heavily to his -side. - -"You'll laugh when I tell you, Burton," exclaimed Julia, setting him -the example by laughing herself, most unpleasantly. "But she insinuated -in this letter that you might marry her. That is at the bottom of this -outrageous plot. She actually thought she could compromise you in some -dreadful way and force you to marry her. Shocking as it is, one can't -help being amused." - -Forbes' only answer was again to lift his hand to his head. It was -Agatha who spoke. Unmasked adventuress as she was, her dignity was in -rather agreeable contrast to Julia's vindictive shrillness. - -"It is hardly necessary to trouble Mr. Forbes with any further -details," she said, "since, thanks to you, my plot against his peace -has been exposed. I suppose you will want to take him away as soon as -possible." - -"Oh, at once." Julia showed signs of becoming hysterical. "The very -first train. I feel as if I couldn't breathe in this atmosphere of -deceit." - -"I'm afraid there is no train before five o'clock, but I'll have the -carriage ready in plenty of time. And now, if you will excuse me, I -shall see about getting you some luncheon." - -"Luncheon! Good heavens, I couldn't eat a mouthful. It would choke me." - -Mrs. Knox seconded her niece admirably. "It would not be safe, Julia. A -person capable of all this would not hesitate to poison our food." - -Agatha accepted this tribute without comment. "Will you pack Mr. -Forbes' things yourself?" she said, addressing Julia. - -Again Mrs. Knox intervened. "Julia, I forbid you to go into that house, -with this girl, and that dreadful, crazy creature--" - -Forbes interrupted with signs of irritation. "You said that once -before. There is no insane woman here." - -"I am afraid you are not a very good judge of what _is_ or is _not_ -here, Mr. Forbes," replied Aunt Estelle, scoring again. "We had a -most unpleasant encounter with a woman clearly insane. She positively -gibbered." - -"Yes, Burton," Julia cried with shrewish enjoyment, "you have been made -a laughing-stock all summer, poor dear. You've kept writing about this -fine old place. I wish you could see it. It's simply in the last stages -of dilapidation." - -"It's ready to fall to pieces," corroborated Aunt Estelle. "I didn't -venture inside, but the glimpses of the interior I got from the window -showed that everything was fairly moth-eaten." - -"Yes," Agatha admitted quietly. "We are very poor, so poor that a -blind boarder seemed providential. Won't you sit on the porch till the -carriage is ready?" she added politely. "I'm sure Mr. Forbes is tired -after his long walk." - -"Oh, please," protested Julia, her self-control shaken by the other's -calm, "please drop this pretext of being so interested in Mr. Forbes' -welfare. After the fraud you have practised on him all summer you can -hardly expect him to believe anything you say." - -"Oh, no," said Agatha. "I don't expect that for a moment. And now if -you're sure you won't eat a little luncheon, I'll bid you all good -afternoon." She went across the grass to the house, carrying herself -with her chin high, moving deliberately. No one could have guessed -the fact of which she was so certain, that during the encounter she -had ceased to be a girl, that she had leaped without any intervening -stages of maturity and middle life, straight to old age, that dreadful -old age, beyond hope or joy, the age that is death in life. Agatha -remembered wonderingly that once the mere flicker of sunshine through -leaves, the mere fragrance of a flower, had a magic to quicken her -pulses. - -A little after three the carryall appeared. Howard was driving, and -Forbes' suit-case and other impedimenta lay on the seat beside him. As -he helped his passengers in, he explained that the trunk would be sent -by express next day. This announcement was received in frigid silence -whereupon Howard, too, became sulkily silent and used the whip on the -fat bays with such effect that they covered the five miles between Oak -Knoll and the village station at an unprecedented rate of speed. - -Forbes thawed a little when Howard helped him to alight, and stood for -a moment beside him. "Good-by, Mr. Forbes," the boy said huskily. "I'm -awfully sorry you're going." - -He put out his hand and after an instant's hesitation Forbes gripped -it. He had grown fond of the boy. "Oh, Howard," he said, his voice -betraying his hurt, "I wouldn't have believed it of you." - -He heard Howard gulp and then burst out sobbing. Fortunately for the -boy's pride, the hour was early and the station platform lacked its -customary contingent of loafers. - -"We didn't mean anything, Mr. Forbes," Howard choked. "Aggie wanted to -take boarders, so she could send me to school, but when they saw how -old and shabby the house was, they wouldn't come." - -"Is she your sister?" - -"Kind of one. Her father married my mother. She's better than a -thousand real sisters." - -"Burton," said Julia's voice beside them, "I wouldn't encourage the boy -by listening to him. Probably that young woman has coached him in a new -series of lies." - -"Aggie never tells lies," Howard challenged her hotly. "This was like -a charade or something. Mr. Forbes thought she was old and so she -pretended to be. We had lots of fun and it didn't do anybody any harm." -He appealed to Forbes. "She took good care of you anyway, didn't she, -Mr. Forbes?" - -"Really, Burton," expostulated Julia, "I can not allow this to go on. -These people evidently regard you as fair game. It's dreadful that your -blindness should put you so at the mercy of the unscrupulous, but I -shall see that you are not imposed on while I am with you. Send this -boy away." - -"He doesn't need to send me away," Howard exploded indignantly. "I'm -going." He seized Forbes' hand again. "Good-by, Mr. Forbes. Come and -see us some time." - -Julia gasped. "Did any one ever imagine such impertinence!" she asked -of high heaven. "Such people seem to be without natural shame. I -suppose they are so accustomed to being found out in falsehood and -fraud that they take it as a matter of course. In the interest of -justice there should be some way of punishing them. Couldn't they be -prosecuted, Burton, for obtaining money under false pretenses?" - -Forbes made no reply. Apparently he did not share Julia's lofty -enthusiasm for abstract justice. His air of bewildered dejection -suggested a lost child, rather than a man rescued from a false and -intolerable position by the lady of his heart. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -WARREN GETS A TIP - - -Ridgeley Warren had been to the station to bid a friend _bon voyage_. -He presented himself armed with a box of chocolates, the latest novel -and three brand-new witticisms culled from a roof-garden program the -previous evening. The pretty girl had accepted his offerings with -marked graciousness and had laughed convulsively at each of the jokes, -thereby intensifying Warren's habitual sense of being on good terms -with himself and all the world. His spirits unclouded by the pang of -parting, he strolled toward the exit, trying to decide where to dine, -when his own name reached his ears coupled with a fervent ejaculation, -"Mr. Warren! Thank heaven!" - -Warren spun on his heel to encounter Julia advancing with extended -hand. Julia was not one of Warren's favorites, but her pleasure at the -sight of him was contagious. "Gosh!" he exclaimed agreeably, "this _is_ -luck." - -It was while shaking hands with Julia that Warren became aware of Mrs. -Knox's imposing figure in the background. And scarcely had he lifted -his hat in recognition of her presence, when his eye fell on Forbes, a -pale and woebegone object, committed to the clumsy guardianship of a -station porter. - -Warren turned on Julia blithely. "Don't tell me you've sprung a -surprise on us. Don't say that I should have come with my pockets full -of rice." - -"Oh, Mr. Warren, be serious, please." There was gentle reproach in -Julia's uplifted eyes. "It seems really providential meeting you here. -Now you can take charge of Burton till he finds some suitable person to -look after him." - -"What's become of the nice little chap who has been on the job all -summer?" - -"Oh, Mr. Warren!" Julia's gesture indicated the futility of attempting -immediate explanations. "It's a long, a dreadful story, and it will -take time to make you understand." - -"Hm! I'm not usually considered so dense." - -"But this isn't like anything else. It's incredible. I can hardly -believe it myself. Let's go to some quiet place where we can have -dinner and talk things over." - -"Yes, for heaven's sake, let us have dinner," snapped Mrs. Knox. An -unusually early hour of rising, together with a mid-day fast, had -reduced her to an unwonted state of nervous irritability. Forbes, too, -seemed wrapped in impenetrable gloom. It was not a cheerful party. - -Warren's curiosity was aroused. He found a taxi, bundled the dejected -trio inside and gave the driver directions. He was rather shocked to -see how ill Forbes looked on nearer view, but he concealed that emotion -under his usual cloak of levity, and told humorous stories all the way -to their destination, covering the lack of responsiveness on the part -of his audience by roars of appreciative laughter. - -The staid hotel which Warren had selected, though yielding to modern -demands sufficiently to institute a roof dining-room, discouraged -such innovations as would be likely to attract the light-minded, and -Warren's party had no difficulty in securing a table. Warren assumed -the prerogative of host and ordered with a lavishness productive of -a marked unbending on the part of Mrs. Knox. Julia, too, was hungry -enough to look forward to a good dinner with unwonted anticipation, and -she smiled on him appreciatively. Only Forbes remained moodily aloof. - -It was over the soup that Warren said cheerily, "Well, now, what's it -all about?" He was beginning to realize that something unusual must -have occurred to bring Julia and her aunt to town in August, as well as -to account for Forbes' strange, dispirited silence. - -Mrs. Knox immediately protested. "Oh, Mr. Warren, don't spoil a good -meal by bringing up that abominable affair." - -"Oh, yes, let it wait, please, Mr. Warren," sighed Julia. "Actually -when one realizes what wickedness there is in the world--deceit and -imposture and things of that sort--it seems fairly heartless to enjoy -one's self." - -"Then we'll wait for explanations till dinner is over," Warren -conceded, with undiminished buoyancy. But although he made himself -entertaining in his usual fashion, his mind was busy with the problem -Julia had suggested. Who was the girl hitting, with her talk of deceit -and imposture? She could not refer to Miss Kent, naturally, and Howard -was equally out of the question. Could it be that Hephzibah's existence -had come to her attention? Was it possible that Forbes had been -playing a lone hand and had thereby become involved in an entanglement -from which his betrothed had magnanimously rescued him? The unrelieved -melancholy of Forbes' face and manner rendered this explanation -entirely plausible. - -When the coffee was brought on and the men lighted cigarettes, Warren -felt, not unnaturally, that his hungry curiosity had a right to -satisfaction. "Well, I'm as ready to be shocked as I ever shall be," he -said. "Let's hear what has happened. Don't tell me that the staid Miss -Kent was on the point of eloping with old Forbes." - -To Warren's surprise, this apparently innocent witticism caused -Forbes to flush darkly. He noticed, too, that Julia's expression lost -something of its pensive sweetness, but even then he was unprepared for -the acidity of the tone with which she answered him. - -"There is no Miss Kent." - -"Eh?" Warren looked rather stupid. - -"Strictly speaking," admitted Julia, "there is a person who calls -herself by that name. But the nice old lady who was Burton's father's -friend has been dead a dozen years." - -Warren knocked the ashes from his cigarette with painstaking -deliberation. "Must be a rather lively old ghost," he commented, -striving to live up to his principle of never showing surprise, -"according to all Forbes tells." - -"Oh, poor Burton," Julia cried, with a glance of angelic commiseration -in the direction of her grimly silent lover. "Wouldn't you have thought -that Burton's misfortune would have appealed to the better instincts of -the most depraved? But instead, they take advantage of his blindness to -trick him in the most infamous fashion. The person who calls herself -Agatha Kent--I suppose it really is her name, though any one so -absolutely deceitful is as likely to lie about one thing as another--" - -"Well?" trumpeted Warren, his strained patience showing itself in the -unnecessary loudness of his challenge. - -"Do hush, Mr. Warren, everybody's looking at us. This Kent woman isn't -a nice motherly person. She isn't old at all, not a bit older than I -am." - -Warren sucked at his cigarette for a moment and blew the smoke -through his nose. He needed a little time in order to preserve the -imperturbable demeanor on which he prided himself. He looked at Julia -to be sure she was in earnest, looked at Forbes to see if he were not -going to deny this incredible story, and then expressed his feelings by -a low whistle. - -"Not a nice motherly person," he repeated inanely. "About as old as you -are." - -"She may even be a little younger," Julia admitted generously. - -Warren's air of incredulity deepened. He threw the uncommunicative -Forbes a challenging glance. - -"Do you mean that Forbes has been spending all his time with her for -the past three months and never suspected that she wasn't an old woman?" - -"So he claims." Julia's inflection was decidedly tart. - -Forbes made one of his rare contributions to the conversation. "I -wouldn't have believed such a thing possible myself, but blindness -makes one an easy victim." - -"Poor Burton!" murmured Julia, melting at once. "To think that any girl -should have the heart to take such advantage of another's misfortune." - -"But I can't see what she was getting at," Warren demurred. "I've -heard that occasionally ladies represent themselves as younger than -they really are, and the reason for that seems plain enough. But why -the devil should a young girl want to make herself out an old maid of -seventy?" - -"Purely mercenary at the start," Julia opined. "As I understand it, -Burton saw her advertisement for a boarder, and wrote her, supposing -she was his father's old friend. And she decided to pass herself off as -her great-aunt so as to get as much out of Burton as she could." - -"That young woman must have plenty of nerve. It's plain she needed the -money, as far as that goes. Place is terribly run-down." - -"Oh, shockingly," Mrs. Knox corroborated him, in her deepest tones. -"All the furniture I could see through the windows seemed mere wrecks." - -"On its last legs," Warren agreed. He waited for a moment and then -asked casually, "Well, what's the fuss about? What harm did it do?" - -The two women uttered a simultaneous ejaculation of horror. "A piece of -barefaced fraud," cried Mrs. Knox. - -"She has been getting money under false pretenses," flared Julia. "I -believe she can be arrested like any other swindler, and punished." - -Warren shrugged his shoulders. "I can't see where the harm comes in," -he persisted stubbornly. "She made Forbes comfortable all summer, so -comfortable that now he looks like a baby that's being weaned. She -took his money, but judging from the meals I ate there, she gave him -his money's worth. If she'd been an old party, passing herself off -as a youthful beauty, Forbes would have a right to kick. But under -the circumstances is seems to me you're making a mountain out of a -mole-hill." - -Warren's amiable defense of the guilty was not well received. Aunt -Estelle regarded him with open hostility, and Julia seemed pained by -his moral obtuseness. A flicker of interest lighted Forbes' impassive -face and suggested to Warren that his line of argument appealed more -strongly to his masculine listener than to the women. Although he held -no brief for Agatha Kent, he pressed his advantage. - -"We don't know, any of us, what we might do if we were up against it. -I've often thought I would commit highway robbery if I were hungry -enough. I'll say this for the girl, anyway: She must be a peach of an -actress. If she could knock around with a man all summer, walk with him -and talk with him and pet him a little, when he was down in the mouth, -and yet never let him suspect that she wasn't old enough to be his -grandmother--" - -"Really, Mr. Warren," Julia said with asperity, "I can't see any point -in continuing this conversation. I had hoped you might be able to make -some helpful suggestions regarding Burton, for of course I understand -that you can't be burdened with him for more than a few days. But if -you are going to spend the evening defending that brazen, red-haired--" - -"What!" roared Warren. This time he _had_ done it. The head waiter -looked in his direction apprehensively. - -Aunt Estelle took the protest from Julia's lips. "Pardon me, Mr. -Warren, but I must remind you that my niece and I dislike to be made -conspicuous by such demonstrations." - -Warren ignored the reproof. "What did you call her?" he demanded of -Julia, whose only answer was an offended stare. - -"Did you say she was red-haired?" - -"I--I did. Though why you should attach any importance to anything so -trivial, I confess I don't understand." - -Warren did not attempt to enlighten her. He indicated to the waiter -that he was ready for his check and his manner was offensively -jubilant. "I'm afraid," he said genially, "that you'll have to make -some plan for disposing of old Forbes besides committing him to my -tender mercies. I've just remembered that I'm going out of town in the -morning, early train." - -Julia looked startled. "But what is Burton to do, then?" - -"Just what he would have done if you hadn't run across me. Though if -you'd like my candid advice--" - -"Yes, please," said Julia, and tried to look winning. It did not suit -her that Warren should slip away in this cavalier fashion, leaving -her with a blind man on her hands. She had important plans for the -remainder of the week. Twenty-four hours was all she could possibly -spare for Forbes. - -"Then I advise you to marry him offhand. You have taken him away from -one young woman who was devoting herself to making him comfortable. I -should say that the least you could do was to follow her example." - -Julia's gasp of rage made Warren think of a cat whose tail has been -trodden on. From across the table Forbes promptly requested him to mind -his own business. - -"Just a bit of good advice, old man," Warren soothed him. "Take it or -leave it, as you please. Anything more I can do for you people before I -go?" - -A frigid silence indicated that any service he could offer would be -unwelcome, whereupon Warren, having tipped the waiter with a liberality -indicative of a jocund spirit, took his smiling departure, leaving -dejection behind him. - -After a talk with the night clerk, it was arranged that Forbes should -remain at the hotel, an adaptable bell-boy agreeing to act as his valet -in the morning. Before Mrs. Knox and Julia took refuge in another -hostelry, the lovers had a moment to themselves. - -Julia was in an unpleasant mood. The emphasis Warren had laid on Miss -Kent's histrionic powers had awakened her ready suspicion. As she found -herself alone for a moment with her lover, his look of weary dejection -aroused her resentment. - -"It's most extraordinary, Burton," she complained, "that you should -never have suspected her of being younger than she pretended. I could -see that Mr. Warren didn't believe it for a minute." - -Forbes replied with perfect conviction that Warren was an ass. - -"I should have thought that if you didn't find it out when you were -holding her hands, you would have realized it the moment you took her -in your arms." - -"Damnation!" Forbes was goaded beyond endurance. "I never took her in -my arms." - -"She said you did," insisted Julia, eying him suspiciously. "In that -preposterous letter she wrote me, you know. She said you often held her -hands and patted them and that sort of thing." - -"I did, I admit it. I supposed her a contemporary of my father's, you -remember." - -"And she said that once, under rather unusual circumstances, you took -her in your arms." - -"An absolute lie!" blazed Forbes. "But of course if you are going to -doubt my word, Julia--" - -Julia said no, that she did not doubt him. She added that when a person -had lived a lie for months, one more little falsehood would not mean -much. Then she gave him her hand to kiss, and was annoyed when he only -pressed it and said good night. She had to remind herself that though -there was no one near to witness the act of devotion, Burton could -not know that he was unobserved, and his undemonstrative demeanor was -undoubtedly due to his unwillingness to compromise her. - -It was while the adaptable bell-boy was conducting his charge to -his room, that enlightenment came. Forbes gave a convulsive start. -"Damnation!" he exclaimed, for the second time in fifteen minutes. - -"Yes, sir, our floor, sir!" The bell-boy eyed him expectantly. He had -an adventurous spirit, though condemned to carry suit-cases and bring -ice-water on request. It looked as if there might be something doing -with a gentleman who jumped so high and swore so roundly in a public -elevator. - -Forbes had only realized that the letter Julia had quoted had contained -no falsehood. He understood Warren's excitement over the discovery that -Agatha Kent was red-haired. Agatha and Hephzibah were one and the same. - -The circumstances which led to his taking her in his arms were unusual, -indeed. In the close corridors of the city hotel he seemed to smell -again the scent of sun-kissed fields. As the bell-boy gripped his -arm, he felt against his heart the pressure of that lithe young body, -shaken by sobs. His cheek had brushed another, smooth and fragrant. His -pulses had answered the indefinable challenge of youth and beauty. They -thrilled again at the mere memory. - -Forbes did not fall asleep till nearly morning. He lay awake, trying to -decide how far the situation was altered by the fact that Agatha Kent -had saved his life. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE WORM TURNS - - -In the hour or two of troubled sleep closing his wakeful night, Forbes -dreamed vividly and woke with Agatha's voice echoing in his ears. He -started up, his lips parted to speak her name, then dropped back upon -his pillows with a sense of desolate loss that tried his powers of -self-control. - -So faithfully had his memory reproduced every intonation of the -familiar voice that it had seemed to bring the living woman to his -side. He recognized the maternal note which had appealed to him the -more because of his unmothered boyhood, the undertone of indulgent -humor which was characteristic of the friend on whom he had learned -to lean. Only there was no such friend. Her place had been taken by -a stranger, capable of bewildering changes of identity, Miss Kent, -Hephzibah, and now this newcomer, Agatha, self-confessed impostress -who could, even when unmasked and flouted, preserve the dignity which -is the heritage of race. He found himself thrilled by an inexplicable -pride as he remembered the even voice with which she had answered -Julia's shrillness. - -The adaptable bell-boy presented himself in due time and awkwardly -assisted him with his dressing. After visiting the barber, he was -conducted to the hotel dining-room, and here the realization was -brought home to him that for many a month Agatha's tact had stood -between him and embarrassment. She had prepared his food so that he ate -without any especial sense of being at a disadvantage. His fork was -always at hand when he wanted it. His glass of water and his cup of -coffee were magically present to his need. In the hotel dining-room he -heard whispers at his back, and once a sound like smothered laughter, -and he tingled with the shamed consciousness of being a show for -curious eyes. His face burned throughout the meal, and his eating was -largely pretense. - -Forbes' engagement with Julia was for ten o'clock. At quarter before -the hour, the bell-boy who had taken him in charge conducted him to a -stiff little parlor on the second floor, and left him after a whispered -explanation to the maid. Time is proverbially slow-footed from the -standpoint of lovers, but as Forbes sat waiting he felt sure that his -impatience did not explain the seemingly endless duration of those -fifteen minutes. The maid came to him at last to ask if there was -anything she could do. - -"I'd like to know the time, please." - -"Half past eleven, sir." - -"Half past eleven," Forbes repeated. Oddly his first emotion was a -feeling of relief that Agatha did not know. - -The parlor maid was offering encouragement. "Prob'ly something's -happened to detain the young lady, sir. But I don't believe she'll be -much longer." - -"Let us hope not," Forbes replied dryly. The proudest of men, he winced -at the unmistakable sympathy of the woman's tone. It was not fair that -he should be subjected to such humiliation. - -Julia arrived upon the stroke of noon, voluble over some undeniable -bargains in blouses. She had stopped at one of the exclusive little -shops, preferred by the knowing to the big emporiums, only intending, -she explained vivaciously, to make one small purchase. But the woman -had kept showing her the loveliest things, and all so reasonable. -There was practically no one in the place, so that it had seemed like -shopping in some strange city. And it was worth coming to town in the -hot weather just to pick up such bargains. - -"I'm glad your effort was not thrown quite away," Forbes remarked with -an irony that glanced harmless from Julia's armor. - -"Oh, no, Burton, I don't grudge any sacrifice I have made. Getting you -out of the clutches of that harpy was worth it all." - -She waited for a suitable expression of gratitude from the gentleman -she had rescued. After a pause which Forbes failed to fill -appropriately, she spoke again, and this time with grave seriousness. - -"Now, Burton, it's only two hours before my train leaves and I must -have luncheon, so we'd better lose no time deciding on the wisest -course to take in this affair." - -Again Forbes failed to respond. Julia eyed him suspiciously. - -"I hope you haven't an idea of passing this outrage over without taking -any action, Burton. It's that sort of laxity that makes criminals." - -"Perhaps you have decided on the punishment appropriate to this -particular crime," said Forbes, his voice rich in ironic inflections, -which again passed harmlessly over Julia's head. - -"To tell the truth, I have. There's only one point on which these -mercenary people are really susceptible, and that's money. My advice is -to write her that unless she returns every penny you paid her, you will -prosecute her for swindling." - -"She might not be able to do that, Julia. I judge from what you all say -that she must be poor." - -"Oh, she's evidently that. Everything about the place is -poverty-stricken, and the gown she wore that day was so faded that you -could hardly tell the original color. But I believe she has all that -money put aside, for don't you remember, the boy said she wanted to -send him to school." - -"I remember. And you advise me to demand the money she has saved for -his schooling, and ask her to charge up my board for those months to -charity?" - -Julia held to her point. "It's the sort of thing she'd feel, because -it's evident there's nothing she wouldn't do for money. I confess I -can't comprehend that temperament. Money means so little to me that I -simply don't understand how it's possible for people to worship it as -they do." - -He listened with growing irritation. That this girl who had never -earned a dollar, and had never denied herself anything she wanted, -should assume so superior an attitude, offended his sense of justice. -"Perhaps if you knew more of the value of money," he cut in crisply, -"you might respect it more." - -"Oh, I know I'm impractical, Burton. Dad was always making fun of me -for that." The pensiveness of her tone was still evident as she added, -"Perhaps you'd like to have me write the letter before I go." - -"What letter?" - -"To that woman, of course, threatening to prosecute her unless she -returns the money." - -His pause was long enough to give the idea that he was considering her -suggestion. His tone when at length he spoke, implied nothing of the -sort. - -"Thank you, Julia. I shall not need your services. And when I write -Miss Kent, I shall enclose a check to cover my board till the first of -November." - -He heard her catch her breath. "You mean you are going to pay a premium -for being tricked and deceived?" - -"She deceived me and that's not easy for me to forgive. But I'm hardly -ready to sponge my living from a girl who is making a hand-to-hand -fight with poverty." - -"Dear, it's dreadful the way you men let your chivalry run away with -you. I suppose if you were on a jury, you couldn't bring yourself to -convict a woman of murder." - -"I hardly think Miss Kent's offense can be classed in that category," -Forbes said stiffly. "I suffered chiefly through the jolt to my sense -of dignity. That's always been a sensitive point with me." - -Julia sighed. "I can't bear to have you talk that way, Burton. It's bad -enough for Mr. Warren to make light of falsehood and treachery. But it -seems to me a person capable of that, is capable of anything." She laid -her hand lightly on his. "Trust a woman's intuition, Burton. Let me -write that letter." - -Her touch not only left him cold, but roused his antagonism. He felt -an irritated certainty that he was being played upon. "Thank you, but -I have nothing to say to Miss Kent that I can not entrust to a public -stenographer." - -She did not take away her hand. "Let's not talk of that dreadful woman -any more," she said, in a lowered voice. "Fate has given us this -little hour out of the years, and we mustn't waste it." - -Her words brought back something Agatha had said, her scathing scorn -of those who took the easy way, and then held fate accountable. The -remembrance steeled him against the insidious tenderness of her voice. - -"You made your choice, Julia, as you had a right to do. And I wish you -every happiness." - -The fragrance of a delicate perfume he had always associated with her -enveloped him. He felt the pressure of her body against his arm. - -"What a queer, quiet hotel this is, Burton. Right in the heart of the -city and yet we're as much alone as if we were off somewhere in the -woods." - -Had she been sensitive, she might have perceived a curious rigidity -in the arm against which she leaned, an ominous tightening of the -obstinately silent lips. Her vanity felt the challenge of his failure -to respond. She flung prudence to the winds. "Burton! Burton!" she -murmured, and whether her emotion was real or assumed, he did not know, -"why don't you kiss me?" - -His fastidious recoil was strengthened by the suspicion that she was -attempting by playing on his passion to mold him to her will in the -matter of Agatha's punishment. He moved away a little. "Excuse me," he -said, "I shouldn't dream of taking such a liberty with the fiancée of -Murray Prendergast." - -"Oh, don't!" He felt her shudder, and again wondered if it were real, -or a pretense. "All the years ahead belong to him, and just this little -moment is yours and mine." - -"I lay no claim even to a moment of your time, Julia. I asked from you -all or nothing." - -"Tell me just once that you love me, Burton." - -At his continued silence, she drew herself away. "You're different. You -don't care for me as you did." - -She waited vainly for him to deny the accusation. Then again she caught -his hand. She might have been a loyal wife, fearing that her husband's -heart was slipping from her grasp and longing to be reassured. -"Burton," she implored, "tell me whether you love me." - -"I thank God--no." - -She fell back, and he could hear her stormy breathing. Well as he knew -every inflection of her voice, he hardly recognized it when she spoke -again. - -"That wretched woman! That creature! She's to blame. She's stolen your -heart from me." - -"Don't be a fool." The brutality, foreign as it was to Forbes' training -and temperament, seemed demanded by the occasion. "My heart and all the -rest of me was yours while you chose to keep me. You threw me away like -a worn glove when my trouble came, and looked about for a more fitting -match." - -"Burton, you said yourself--" - -"I own I made your way easy for you, Julia. I was fool enough to be -satisfied to have you yourself and made no inconvenient demands in the -way of loyalty and truth. And the fate you are so fond of invoking was -kinder to me than I deserved." - -"You love her. You love that abandoned--" - -"Stop!" he commanded. "Don't dare finish." But he himself went on -talking rapidly. "As far as Miss Kent is concerned, of course I have -made it impossible for her ever to think well of me again, since after -her months of uninterrupted kindness, I could listen to your venomous -attack upon her, and not speak a word in her defense." - -"How dare you! How dare you speak like that to me!" - -"Whether I love her or not, I don't know. It's too bewildering for me -to be sure. But I know she's the most loyal friend, and the dearest -comrade and the bravest, most unselfish--" - -Julia sprang from her place beside him with a cry. His face was toward -her, and at the sound of her voice, an extraordinary thing happened. He -saw her for an instant quite distinctly, though the face he had loved -had undergone as hideous a change as if death and decay had done their -devastating work upon it. Secure in the knowledge of his blindness, she -faced him with the mask thrown aside. He saw her features distorted -by hate, her eyes narrowed malignantly, her lips drawn back from the -teeth. Something Hephzibah Diggs had said in their memorable interview -flashed across his mind. "When she showed herself up for what she was, -you'd ought to have got down on your marrow bones and thanked the Lord." - -Darkness shut down over the unwelcome vision. There was a rushing in -his ears so that he heard only faintly Julia's farewell, "I hate you! -Oh, how I hate you!" He leaned back against the cushions, realizing -that he was a sick man, but enveloped in a strange serenity. When next -the parlor maid proffered her services, he sent her to telephone for -his physician. An hour later he was comfortably ensconced in a private -hospital on the outskirts of the city, and sick as he felt, his mood -was increasingly cheerful, for the doctor considered the momentary -return of vision, elusive and disappointing as it had been, most -encouraging. - -It was a week before Forbes was equal to dictating a letter to Agatha. -He passed over the peculiar circumstances of their parting, expressed -rather formally his sense of gratitude and enclosed a generous check. -His acknowledgment came with gratifying promptness. But the nurse on -opening the envelope was puzzled. - -"It doesn't seem a letter at all, just bits of paper. Why, it looks -like a check, torn into little pieces." - -"You can't find the number of the check among the scraps, can you?" -asked Forbes. - -The nurse could and did and Forbes' suspicion became certainty. He -turned on his pillow, unreasonably wounded. The Agatha Kent he had -loved and trusted had never been, and this stranger who called herself -by the familiar name had rejected his overture of friendship. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -THE DAY AFTER - - -The day of judgment has its drawbacks, but it is the day after that -really hurts. The first shock numbs. It is when the nipping pain -begins, the remorseless pain too cruel to kill, that the sinner takes -the full measure of his punishment. - -On the day of Forbes' departure, Agatha ate her evening meal as usual -and went to bed at eight o'clock. She slept heavily till midnight, -roused and speedily dozed off again, but now to be the victim of -torturing dreams. - -Years before a pet dog of Howard's had become old and sickly and -Agatha's father had decided it must be killed. He had attempted to -shoot the animal in its sleep, but his nervousness had caused him to -miss his aim. It had taken three shots to finish the business. Agatha -had come upon the scene just in time to see the look the dying brute -turned on its idolized master, and the incident had stamped itself on -her memory as the supreme tragedy in her experience. She invariably -dreamed of it when feverish and ill. This night she underwent the -familiar agony with a difference. In the grotesque necromancy of the -dream-world, the wounded dog had become Forbes, turning his stricken -gaze upon the friend who had done him to death. She woke in a cold -sweat and did not sleep again. - -At four o'clock she was up and cleaning house as the one adequate -antidote for the remorseful thoughts that threatened to wreck her -reason. She worked furiously all the morning, barely stopping to eat. -Miss Finch watched her from a distance, heart-wrung and afraid, but -knowing from experience that at certain crises Agatha was best left -to herself. Howard, with the characteristic masculine reluctance to -witness suffering out of his power to relieve, took his fishing rod and -departed for a day of his favorite sport. - -About two o'clock in the afternoon, Ridgeley Warren came strolling -up the driveway between the rows of stately trees which made the -battered old house at the end of the avenue appear an anti-climax, -and so reached her unheralded. Agatha had thrown a braided rug across -the clothes-line and was beating it as if she had a personal spite -against each individual rag. The sun was full on her hair and despite -her menial occupation, she seemed to him a splendid figure, furiously -vital, crowned with light. Excitement whipped up his pulses as he left -the driveway and walked across the grass in her direction, but when -near enough to make his voice heard above the volley of blows, he only -said nonchalantly, "Good afternoon, Hephzibah." - -Agatha turned and stood panting. She had been working at high pressure -since daybreak, and close inspection revealed not a masquerading -goddess but a tired, bedraggled girl. Her hair had slipped from the -restraining pins and a wayward coil partly extinguished one eye. Her -fair skin was clouded by successive layers of dirt. A disfiguring -smudge successfully effaced the dimple in her chin. With quickening -admiration Warren realized that this soiled and disheveled apparition -still had a distinct claim to beauty. - -"Hard at work, I see, Hephzibah." He stood with his hands in his -pockets, immaculate in his light summer clothing, and as always he -roused her to defiance. - -"My name is Kent. Please use it." - -"I'm ready to call you anything you please, my dear spitfire. Only -remember that it's not my fault that I've always thought of you as -Hephzibah." - -Agatha glared at him. His presence restored her poise. She realized -that as an antidote Warren was better than a thousand years of -house-cleaning. - -"I don't know why you should think of me as Hephzibah or anything else. -I don't know why you shouldn't dismiss me from your mind altogether as -I should like to dismiss you." - -"Out of the question, Hephzibah, or Miss Agatha Kent, if you like that -better. You see, you interest me." - -"I'm sorry I can't return the compliment, but you bore -me--excruciatingly." - -"To begin with," Warren explained analytically, "you are the prettiest -girl I know, bar none. And in the second place, I'm inclined to believe -you're the brainiest. If what they told me last night is true, you -ought to make your fortune on the stage." - -Agatha regarded him silently and the antagonism died out of her face. -He was almost sorry, for it left her white and wan and rather pitiful. - -"You know what a fraud I am, then?" she said wistfully. - -"I know you're the cleverest girl of my acquaintance, if you could get -by with a thing like that." - -"I suppose he simply despises me." Into Agatha's mind had flashed the -preposterous hope that possibly Warren's tolerant attitude toward her -escapade was shared by the only man who counted. - -"Who? Forbes? Why the devil should you care what he thinks? Old Forbes -was always a bit of a prig." - -Positive hatred looked out of Agatha's eyes. "Oh, I don't know. I -shouldn't call a man a prig simply because he objected to being tricked -and deceived and lied to. I suppose he has a high enough ideal of women -so that he expects a girl to tell the truth, just as much as if she -were a man. I consider that attitude a compliment, myself." - -Warren was somewhat staggered. "Then I suppose I'm insulting you by -thinking you are a darned clever kid, and the rest of them a pack of -fools for making a fuss over nothing." - -Agatha left him in doubt on this delicate point. The little hope that -had stirred in her heart had died almost as soon as it was born, -and the resulting anguish seemed out of all proportion to its brief -existence. Forbes did not share Warren's leniency toward her summer's -masquerade. He was one of the fools who condemned her. She looked away -toward the hills and suddenly her face twisted in passionate weeping. - -"Don't do that, Hephzibah. For God's sake, don't cry. Can't you let me -help you, little girl? You need a friend I'm sure, and there's nothing -I'd like better than to help you. You've bewitched me, Hephzibah. -I lost my head over you when I thought you were an ignorant little -country girl, murdering the king's English every time you opened your -mouth. And the more I know of you, the more wonderful you seem. I'm -crazy about you." - -Agatha's sobs quieted as she listened. When a woman has been humiliated -beyond a certain point, nothing can restore her self-esteem like being -made love to by a personable man. Warren's irreproachable costume, his -good looks, his convincing air of prosperity all helped in her struggle -against intolerable mortification. Yet though she dried her eyes at -his agitated request, and favored him with a faint, watery smile, -she thought of him, if the truth be told, less as a lover than as a -life-preserver. - -Warren sat upon the porch and smoked while Agatha made herself -presentable. It took her some time and he was not sorry, for he wanted -a chance to get himself in hand. He had said very much more than he -had intended to say when he bought his ticket that morning, and though -he did not exactly regret his indiscretion, he told himself that he -had better go slow. Twenty-four hours earlier the name Agatha Kent had -suggested to him a benevolent old lady with a double chin, the chin an -entirely gratuitous contribution of his active imagination. Hephzibah -Diggs was a beautiful but deplorably ignorant country girl who had got -herself into trouble, like many another ignorant beauty. It was too -soon to propose to either. Yet as he glanced impatiently at his watch, -Warren realized that the charm of Agatha was her unexpectedness. You -never knew what she was going to do. You never could tell what she -might make you do, in spite of your better judgment. - -Agatha's delay gave him the time he needed. She presented herself in -a faded gingham which nevertheless had the advantage of being freshly -laundered, her heavy hair wound about her head with a negligence -a woman would have interpreted to mean that to Agatha, her caller -mattered very little. Now that her face was clean he saw how pale she -was, and how dark the circles under her eyes, and this discovery was -responsible for an unwonted gentleness in his manner. He talked as a -big brother might have talked, and the instinctive, virginal defiance -which his unconcealed admiration had always roused in her, changed by -imperceptible degrees to confidence. - -He asked her bluntly about her finances and she told him without -hesitation or evasion. He hinted at monetary assistance and she stopped -him midway, with an imperious tilt of her chin and a haughty stare. -"You are not talking to Hephzibah Diggs," she reminded him. - -Warren sighed and changed his tactics. "Did you ever think of selling -your place?" - -"I'm afraid nobody would want it, it's so dreadfully old and -tumbledown. And besides we've got to have a roof over our heads." - -"You couldn't sell it here, of course. But there are possibilities in -this place. A small summer hotel ought to do well. Magnificent old -trees, fine view, convenient to the city." He studied his surroundings -with an appraising eye. "It should bring at least fifteen thousand if -you found the right purchaser." - -She caught her breath and the sound brought his eyes back to her face. -What he saw touched him profoundly. Indeed he felt the smart of tears -under his drooping lids. "My God," he said to himself, "to have her -look like that over a paltry fifteen thousand." - -"Then I could send Howard to college," Agatha was saying, breathlessly. - -"Sure you could." - -"And there would be enough to take care of Fritz--Miss Finch, as long -as she lives." - -"I hope you'd do something for Hephzibah Diggs," said Warren gruffly, -to hide his emotion. "That girl has something coming to her, believe -me!" - -Warren spent most of his leisure entertaining people, but he seldom -felt better repaid than when Agatha greeted this jest with a quiver of -laughter. - -"I promise you she shall have a new gingham, perhaps a party dress if -the money holds out." - -"Yes, that's what Hephzibah would want, a party dress," said Warren. -"And I speak for the first dance the first time she wears it." He went -on to discuss sales and investments, and Agatha hung upon his words. -He perceived that the practical line appealed to her. His tentative -love-making bored and angered her. When he talked of gilt-edged -first mortgages, bringing six per cent., she leaned toward him, her -reddish-gold eyes melting into his, and seemed ready to leap into his -arms. - -The carriage he had ordered came for him at what he considered a -ridiculously early hour and he kept it waiting while he explained that -he would immediately take up the matter of the sale of her property -with several people who might possibly be interested. She let him hold -her hand while he protracted his good-by to an unconscionable length, -and he argued well from this, till she disconcerted him by saying -faintly, "Shall you see Mr. Forbes soon?" - -"I can't say. The fair Julia may have hustled him away before I'm back." - -"If--if you should see him," said Agatha, her lips white, "try to -make him think kindly of me. Try to make him understand that I didn't -realize that I was doing anything wrong." - -"To be sure I will," replied Warren with misleading heartiness. "But if -a man is such a blasted fool as to need that assurance, it's not worth -troubling your little head about him, don't you see?" And then he said -good-by again and went off in an unprecedentedly bad humor, damning -Forbes whole-heartedly all the way to town. - -Warren's call left Miss Finch pleasurably excited. For a man to come -out from the city for a few hours' talk with a girl, argued his -intentions serious. And Agatha's abstraction, the dreamy look in her -eyes, the irrelevant nature of her replies to the simplest questions, -seemed to imply a gratifying responsiveness in her mood. Little did the -innocent spinster dream that Agatha's absorption was due to calculating -the wisest expenditure of an income derived from an investment of -fifteen thousand dollars in first mortgages at six per cent. - -But Miss Finch's elation was short-lived, for Howard came home with a -startling piece of news. "Heard the funniest thing to-day. Who do you -suppose has been getting married?" - -To please him Agatha hazarded a guess. Howard shook his head. - -"It's the last one you'd ever think of. Old Billy-goat Wiggins. He -married a widow out on the Jericho pike and I guess he's had six or -seven wives already." - -Without attempting to correct her brother's exaggeration, Agatha cast -an apprehensive glance in Miss Finch's direction. Miss Finch met her -look with an air of resolute calm. At last the matter was settled. Now -that one of her lovers was out of the running, the only thing left was -to take the other. Her days of anxious deliberation, due to weighing -one man against his rival, were over, and it was a great relief. "Mrs. -James Doolittle," said Miss Finch to herself and blushed high. Well, -Doolittle was as good a name as Wiggins. "I b'lieve if anything, it's a -little more aristocratic," Miss Finch decided. - -But as the evening wore on, she found herself disquieted. In her -thoughts of James Doolittle there was little of roseate illusion. She -saw him mentally as she had seen him uncounted times in reality, his -trousers patched and bagging at the knees, his shirt soiled and faded, -his hat suggesting that some predatory animal had taken frequent bites -out of the rim. "I do like a man to look neat," sighed Miss Finch. -She recalled too, the tumbledown cottage where James Doolittle had -kept bachelor's hall since his mother's death six years earlier, and -compared it disadvantageously with her present quarters. Romance had -spread her wings, and taken flight. Marriage had become a very drab, -prosaic affair. But there was no help for it. - -Miss Finch retired to her room rather early and wrote Mr. Doolittle -accepting the offer of marriage made nearly two months before. It was -a prim little note and if her delay had been unflattering, there was -nothing in her formula of acceptance to restore the masculine _amour -propre_. She said that marriage was a very serious matter, and she -hoped they were making no mistake. She signed her name Zaida Finch, and -realizing that the compact signature would soon be replaced by that of -an unknown female, Zaida Doolittle, she shed some agitated tears. - -The letter was sealed and stamped on the table beside her and Miss -Finch was lying awake wondering whether the tongue of slander would -be set wagging if she should decide on giving the Doolittle cottage -a thorough cleaning before taking the step that would make her its -permanent mistress, when Phemie came blundering up the stairs. - -Miss Finch sprang out of bed and, candle in hand, appeared in the -doorway. She shook a chiding finger at the girl. "Don't make such a -racket," she hissed. "Everybody's been in bed for hours. You oughtn't -to stay out so late, Phemie. It don't look right in a young girl." - -Phemie did not seem aware that she was being scolded. She was full of -silly giggles and pleased to find a confidante to share her amusement. -She pushed her way uninvited into Miss Finch's room. - -"I never had so much fun in my life," wheezed Phemie in what she -mistakenly supposed to be a whisper. "Oh, my goodness, I've laughed fit -to bust myself." - -"Where've you been?" demanded Miss Finch, eying her disapprovingly. - -"I've been to a shivaree. Whole crowd of us went. We had horns and tin -pans and Ernie Cox took a cow-bell along. Oh, my goodness!" Phemie -placed her hands on her hips, and rocked back and forth in an ecstasy -of mirth. - -Miss Finch's severity became more pronounced. "I think you might have -been in better business. Deacon Wiggins has been married quite a few -times, I know, but he's a good citizen and a pillar of the church." - -"'Twarn't Deacon Wiggins. 'Twas Jim Doolittle. He just got married to -that cross-eyed old maid who used to work at Phelps' store." - -When Miss Finch could get rid of Phemie she tore the letter she had -so painstakingly composed into the minutest fragments, promising -herself to burn them in the morning before any one was up. Innocent -as her intentions had been, the fact remained that she had written a -compromising letter to a married man, and she could not feel safe till -the sole evidence of her indiscretion had been reduced to ashes. As she -climbed back into bed she might perhaps have been excused for indulging -in pessimistic reflections on masculine perfidy, and the hollowness of -lovers' vows, but in point of fact her mood was eminently Christian. -To her own secret amazement she was chiefly conscious of overwhelming -relief. - -The critical relatives of Deacon Wiggins' three deceased partners were -nothing to her. Mr. Doolittle's tendency to wear his trousers with only -one frail suspender as a support was no concern of hers, except as any -respectable spinster might venture to hope that his rashness would not -carry him too far. That good old name Finch, which had been identified -with her personality for half a century, would not be exchanged for any -unfamiliar polysyllable. Without knowing it, she had been shrinkingly -apprehensive of coming changes, and now everything was going on -exactly as it had before. - -"If Agatha marries Mr. Warren and has a family of children," thought -Miss Finch, "she'll need somebody reliable in the house. And if she -doesn't get a husband, I ought to be around to look after her. And -anyway, nobody can ever say that the reason I never married is that I -never had a chance." - -And so comforting was that concluding thought that even after sleep -claimed her as its own, a complacent, almost a triumphant smile, -hovered about Miss Finch's parted lips. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -ENLIGHTENMENT - - -Warren stamped the snow from his feet, shook himself like a wet dog, -and entering the apartment hotel, passed at a step from the frigid zone -to the tropics. At the desk he gave his name to a businesslike young -woman who ascertained over the telephone that Mr. Forbes was in, and -forthwith Warren was shot to the fifth floor. A smiling Japanese boy -opened the door of Forbes' rooms, and Forbes himself came forward and -gripped his friend's hand. - -For a moment neither man found speech possible. "Congratulations, old -fellow," Warren got out at last. "Best news I've heard for many a moon." - -He gave his snowy coat to the waiting servant, seated himself and -lighted a cigarette as a preliminary to conversation. "Well, how does -it seem to have two eyes again? A bit intoxicating, I fancy. Rather -like too much champagne." - -"You know when a man has suffered enough, his idea of perfect -happiness is to have the pain stop," Forbes answered. "I suppose the -only way to size up a blessing at its real value is to have to do -without it for a time." His words seemed to meet the requirements -in the case, but Warren's quick ear detected in his voice a note -of melancholy, and he thought he knew the explanation. Not being -remarkable for tact, he promptly broached the delicate subject. - -"Well, the fair Julia has done it. I got her cards week before last. -Gosh, when you see the fellows the dear girls marry, it almost seems a -compliment when they turn you down. You'd think it would take more than -the Prendergast money and family connections and all that, to sugarcoat -a pill like Murray." - -"I wish her more happiness than she's likely to have, I'm afraid." -Forbes spoke formally, his manner implying that it might be as well for -Warren to change the subject, but his visitor took his time. - -"Oh, well, Julia isn't capable of real unhappiness. She could be -uncomfortable, or disappointed, or humiliated, or anything that doesn't -go too deep, but unhappiness is beyond her. That other little girl now, -she's different." - -Forbes did not ask what girl was referred to. He kept his eyes on the -floor. - -"Julia looks as soft as a ripe plum," Warren continued. "Most of the -dear creatures do, as if a rough word would crush them. But believe -me, she's made of the same hard, calculating stuff as her old man. You -never heard of old Studley's losing any sleep over the men he'd ruined -on the street, did you? Julia won't have a wrinkle when she's sixty. If -anybody is going to marry Murray Prendergast it ought to be that kind -of woman." - -If Forbes agreed with this frank expression of opinion, he gave no -sign. He had the appearance of waiting patiently for the other to -finish. - -"Our little friend Hephzibah," continued Warren, "is the sort whose -hair turns white in a single night, you know. Not that hers has--God -forbid. You never saw that hair, my boy. You've got something to live -for." - -Forbes made a gesture of impatience. "Do you happen to know Miss Kent's -address at the present time?" - -"Do you happen to _want_ Miss Kent's address at the present time?" -mocked Warren truculently. - -Forbes hesitated. "Yes," he said with a seeming effort at frankness, -"I do. Some of the things that were said, Warren, about her poverty, -you remember, caused me considerable uneasiness. I felt that my leaving -as I did when she had counted on having me until the cold weather, -might have embarrassed her, and whatever ground I may have had for -resentment, I had no wish to add to her financial worries. And so I -sent her a check for the full amount I would have paid for board, up to -the first of November." - -Warren laughed sardonically. "Oh, you did, did you?" - -"Yes, I did." Forbes' manner was a trifle aggrieved. "She returned it." - -"Of course!" - -"Perhaps you are in her confidence," Forbes said in a tone of annoyance. - -"She never mentioned that particular matter to me. But I am glad to -believe that she repays my friendship by a degree of trust." - -Forbes waited a moment before continuing his explanation. "I did not -write her again for some time. I was rather put out by the return of -the check, foolishly, I suppose. But the last of November I sent her a -rather long letter. You know, Ridgeley, when all is said and done, the -girl saved my life." - -"Well?" - -"The letter came back to me from the Dead Letter Office. I thought it -was a trick of some sort. It seemed incredible, you know, that when her -family has been living at Oak Knoll for generations, she should drop -out of sight and leave no more trace than an extinguished candle flame. -I sent Evans down to look her up, and he reported that the three of -them, Miss Kent, her foster brother, Howard, and Miss Finch, had all -left town, and none of the old neighbors could give him any information -as to their whereabouts. The old place has been sold to some one who is -planning to build a summer hotel on the site." - -Warren nodded. "I engineered that deal. It's a good location for such -an enterprise. She sold for twelve thousand. I think I could have got -her two or three thousand more, if she had been willing to wait, but -she wasn't." - -Forbes tried to appear relieved. "Twelve thousand! Well, I am glad to -know she is not in immediate need. At the same time, Ridgeley, I should -like her address." - -Warren eyed him with malevolence. "It looks to me as if she wasn't -particularly anxious for you to have it." - -Forbes reddened. "Nonsense! Don't be an ass, Warren. It's quite -important that I should have a talk with Miss Kent." - -"I suppose you want to be sure that she's sufficiently penitent for the -deception she practised on you." - -"Really, my dear fellow, I can hardly see that it is any of your -business what I have to say to her." - -"Simply that I'm a friend of the lady's. And the only reason that I'm -not her husband is that she's refused me, by letter and word of mouth, -just eleven times by actual count. A singularly consistent character, -our Hephzibah." - -Forbes sat biting his lips. "I'm very sorry, Warren. I needn't say I -had no idea--" - -"Of course you had no idea. You took her devotion as a matter of -course. You let your Julia insult her without speaking a word in her -defense. And it never occurred to you that another man might think her -unselfishness and her courage and her beauty and her wit made her a -woman in a million." - -"I must correct you on one point," Forbes said stiffly. "It is true -the discovery that Miss Kent was not what I supposed her took me by -surprise and I was both hurt and angry. But the engagement between -Miss Studley and myself was broken finally and irrevocably because -I defended--partly at least--the course Miss Kent had taken." He -hesitated before adding, "If you really wish to marry her--" - -"Oh, to hell with your '_ifs!_' I've been on my knees to her from the -first minute I saw her. I'd marry her if she were Hephzibah Diggs." - -"I was only going to say, Ridgeley, that if you are in earnest, you are -pretty sure to win out. I can hardly imagine any woman's continuing to -turn you down." - -Warren did not appear touched by the obvious sincerity of this tribute. -He glowered at the other man ill-naturedly. - -"I dare say she would have married me but for one thing. I came on the -scene too late." - -"Too late?" - -"Another man got ahead of me. She couldn't love me because she loved -him." - -"Do you mean that she's engaged?" - -"Damn you!" Warren shouted furiously. "Don't put on those unconscious -airs with me. You know well enough what man I mean, and you know -whether you're engaged to her or not." - -"You're out of your mind, Warren. You're talking like an insane man." - -"Let it go at that, then. Call it that I'm crazy." - -"If you will remember that I thought Miss Kent an elderly woman, you -will realize that I--" - -"Oh, your immaculate skirts are clean," exclaimed Warren, with -preposterous bitterness. "You didn't make love to the nice old lady who -was your father's boyhood flame. But you were so helpless and so darned -pathetic and so dependent on her that you didn't have to. She's not -like Julia, looking for an easy berth and a through ticket. Her idea of -love is giving, giving without keeping count." - -"You don't know what you're talking about," said Forbes, but with less -conviction. - -"Don't I, though! Do you remember the scheme we hatched to send -Hephzibah to school?" - -Forbes nodded. - -"I came up and had a talk with her. Of course she was playing a part, -but it wasn't all play-acting. She practically told me there was -somebody she cared for. She--hang it all, Forbes, she's not always the -audacious little devil who can palm herself off on an intelligent man -as her own great-aunt, and never miss a cog. There was a look on her -face when she spoke of that man--she was all angel, then." - -"But what possible reason have you for thinking--why, you make me -feel an ass for listening." Forbes' humility was so obvious as to be -disarming. - -"I know you're the man. She was always at me to have a talk with you -and plead her cause, you know." - -"But surely that wouldn't mean--" - -"Yes, if you'd seen her eyes. You know how a dog looks when his master -kicks him. Like that." - -"Good God, Warren--" - -"Oh, I don't suppose you like it," said Warren grimly. "But let me -remind you that if it's unpleasant for you to listen, it's hell for -me to tell you. I suppose you know what brought Julia to Oak Knoll to -rescue you by force of arms." - -"I believe Miss Kent wrote a letter." - -"Yes, under pretense of congratulating Julia on her prospective -engagement, she wrote her that you had been spending the most of your -summer in the company of an attractive young girl. She'd sized up -Julia's disposition pretty cleverly and she reckoned that if anything -would hold her back, it would be a suspicion that there was a flaw in -her title to your life-long devotion." - -"But surely if she had felt as you imagine--" - -"We're talking of Hephzibah, you know," growled Warren. "She was -thinking of _your_ happiness, not of hers. Of course she knew she was -taking a long shot. She was too smart to miss that little point. She -risked exposure to give you what you wanted. That's the sort she is." -He added gloomily, "I don't know why I'm such a fool as to tell you all -this. I suppose it's because I know I haven't the ghost of a chance." - -There was a long, depressing silence. "Well," said Forbes at length, -his voice curiously shaken, "where shall I find her?" - -"Good God, man, I don't know." - -"You don't know?" - -"The last word I had from her was a Christmas card and the blasted -post-mark was so blurred that I couldn't make out where it was mailed. -And in November I had this letter. You might as well read it, I -suppose." - -He took the worn missive from his pocket, handed it to Forbes, and -began to smoke furiously. Forbes, his face very pale, read without -comment. - - "My Dear Mr. Warren: - - "Well, the thing is accomplished. I am a capitalist, a woman of - wealth, and also a wanderer on the face of the earth. But I'm not - worrying about that side of it, it's so delicious to feel that all - this money is mine and that I can have a trunk full of new clothes if - I feel like it. - - "Howard left for school yesterday. He will be a little behind his - class, but the principal thinks he will have no difficulty in catching - up if he is willing to work. Howard is so ambitious and eager that I - know he is going to make me proud of him. - - "You see I am sending you a check. It was awfully good of you to want - to put this deal through because of your interest in me, but I can't - help thinking it's better to be businesslike in business and friendly - in friendship. So this check is for the celebrated lawyer, Mr. - Warren, who has managed this affair so wonderfully, and my heart-felt - gratitude is for my dear friend, Ridgeley Warren, whose kindness and - generosity have been so much more than I deserved. I shall never - forget it. When I am a wrinkled old woman, and can smile at some of - the things that hurt now, it will warm my heart to remember your - goodness. - - "Dear Mr. Warren, I am not going to write you again at present. I - have a feeling that if you keep on seeing me, you are more likely to - keep on wishing for something it is better for you to forget. I am - sure your generosity has more to do with your feeling than you have - any idea of, and that when I am no longer at hand to make a continual - appeal to your sympathy, you will soon be your usual self. I hope you - will love the most beautiful and noblest girl in the world and marry - her, and if you ever have reason to think that she doesn't appreciate - the fact that she has drawn a prize, just send for me and I'll open - her eyes. - - "Words seem such inadequate things, don't they, when one's heart is - full? I wish you could know all I mean when I say, Thank you. - - "Gratefully yours, - - "Agatha Kent. - - "P.S. You will, I am sure, be seeing Mr. Forbes soon. The greatest - favor you can do me is to make him understand how thoughtlessly I - entered on the deception he so naturally resents. You see we were - such good friends in a way--he really liked me and trusted me while - he thought I was somebody else--it hurts to realize how completely I - have forfeited his good opinion. You seem to understand so well that - perhaps you may influence him to think of me a little more kindly." - -Forbes folded the letter and gave it to its owner. "You deserve her if -any man does, Ridgeley," he said with proper humility. - -"I deserve her more than you do, if that's what you're trying to say," -barked Warren. "And now you see what we're up against. Between us -we've lost all trace of her." - -"We must find her again," Forbes said firmly. - -Warren's hostile gaze challenged him. "What for? Do you want to rub it -in how she's outraged the sacred name of truth and all that rot?" - -"No." - -"Perhaps you're going to be magnanimous enough to forgive her?" - -"Possibly," Forbes offered quietly, "I want to ask her to forgive me." - -Warren's unhappy eyes met his full. "I suppose I'm in a rotten humor, -old man. I do think you're a damned sight luckier than you deserve to -be. But let it go. The question is, how are we to find her?" - -As one result of the deliberations protracted over several hours, the -following advertisement appeared in the leading newspapers of a dozen -large cities: - - "Information wanted. Any person acquainted with the present - whereabouts of Hephzibah Diggs will confer a favor by communicating at - once with the undersigned." - -The anxious weeks went by. The two men consulted almost daily, with -growing perplexity and diminishing hope. And Agatha made no sign. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -FELLOW TRAVELERS - - -The hat Agatha was adjusting before the mirror was a black toque with -a quill at the side. On most heads it would have possessed no more -individuality than a clover blossom. It was one of the hats which -apparently are planned with a view to being inconspicuous. But as -Agatha pinned it in place it seemed to assume a certain provocative -quality. It became a challenge to the masculine eye. - -The same was true of the blue serge suit she wore. Nothing can be -imagined more innocuous than a suit of blue serge, embellished with -narrow black braid. Miss Finch could have worn one of the identical cut -and material and it would have looked as if it had been designed for -her. Yet on Agatha the blue serge was alluring. It captured the eye as -though striped with scarlet. - -Mrs. Van Horne, a stout, middle-aged woman who occupied a swivel -chair at a businesslike desk, watched the operation of adjusting the -black toque and rubbed her nose with a flourish indicating mental -perturbation. It had occurred to her that Agatha was a somewhat -colorful person for the task to which she had been assigned, that she -looked undeniably youthful for so responsible an errand, that some one -grayer in tone and of an aspect radiating propriety and decorum, would -have been better fitted for the duty in hand. Mrs. Van Horne looked at -the clock, saw it lacked but thirty-seven minutes to train time, and -brushed aside her scruples. It was now too late to change. - -"You are sure you feel equal to taking charge of the four, Miss Kent?" -she said, more for the reassuring effect of Agatha's self-confident -answer than because she had the slightest doubt what that answer would -be. - -Agatha turned a vivacious face. "I'm really looking forward to the -trip. It'll be such fun." - -"I should hardly use that term to describe traveling in charge of four -children," observed Mrs. Van Horne, with a grim smile. "And one of them -a teething baby. You will naturally attract a good deal of attention." - -"Not a bit," said Agatha briskly. - -"You think not?" - -"Every one will take it for granted that I am a young mother, coming -home with my little family to visit grandpa and grandma." - -Mrs. Van Horne's brow cleared. As the representative of a -serious-minded organization, with an established reputation for -prudence and sagacity, she had been accusing herself of indiscretion -in entrusting this important commission to a young woman of such -butterfly aspect, even though in self-defense she insisted that of her -assistants, Miss Kent was easily the most resourceful and capable. -Agatha's suggestion brought relief. Without doubt she was right. The -traveling public would assume her to be a matron of extraordinarily -youthful appearance. No one would question the discretion of the head -of the Hamilton Orphanage for committing four children to the care of -one who, whatever her capacity, looked a fly-away girl. - -"I imagine you are right, Miss Kent," she said. "And if I were you, -I should take no pains to correct the impression. It will save you a -great many annoying questions." - -A maid appeared with news that the taxi had arrived. A nurse brought -in the baby, hooded and cloaked for its journey. Outside on the steps -waited the three older children, about to be placed in homes which had -been duly inspected and approved by authorized representatives of the -orphanage. As Agatha assembled her charges and led the way to the cab, -little faces appeared at the windows, small hands waved farewells and a -chorus of shrill voices called good-by. An irrepressible little orphan -of a plainness which so far had defied the efforts of the society to -place her in a desirable home, came running to the curb as Agatha was -arranging her charges about her. "I don't want anybody to 'dopt you, -Miss Kent," she quavered. - -"Bless your heart!" Agatha leaned out and kissed her squarely. "No -one's going to adopt me. I'll be back by Saturday." - -As the cab rattled down the street, Agatha turned for a look at the -square, uncompromising building where she had found a haven six months -before. Despite the opulent tone of her letter to Warren, Agatha -had fully realized that twelve thousand dollars does not constitute -wealth. Howard's education was provided for, and that was an enormous -relief, but her responsibility for Miss Finch still lay heavy on her -heart and she was determined not to draw on her principal any more -than was absolutely necessary. The opening at the Hamilton Orphanage -had come to her through a series of fortunate accidents, and Agatha -had flung herself into the work with an enthusiasm which had insured -her immediate success. Agatha loved the orphanage and the orphans. -The maternal instinct, always strong in her, exulted in the swarm of -children on whom she could lavish herself. There was no urchin so -refractory that Agatha could not find excuses for him, no little face -so plain that she could not discern in it something of winsomeness. She -saw the humor in the naughtiness of some unruly youngster where most of -her associates perceived only irrefutable confirmation of the doctrine -of original sin. Mrs. Van Horne, accustomed to aids who did their duty -with automatic faithfulness, found Agatha too good to be true. - -Miss Finch boarded in the vicinity of the orphanage and Agatha -spent with her all the time she was not on duty. It had been hard -to reconcile Miss Finch to being in the same city with Warren and -not acquainting him with the fact. The sudden termination of her own -double romance had intensified her passionate interest in Agatha's -love-affairs. She thought of the subject continually. She dreamed of -Agatha as a bride lovely in creamy silk and floating veil. She harped -on the subject till Agatha's nerves suffered and sometimes she betrayed -her irritation in speech. - -Agatha was not thinking either of Warren or Forbes as she was bounced -to the station, the baby in her arms and the three other children -mixed in indistinguishably with the luggage. Children are an admirable -antidote to unprofitable thinking, because of their capacity for -demanding one's entire attention. There were two little girls between -three and four years, who looked rather like twins, but were not -even sisters, and there was a boy soon to be five. The baby was just -getting old enough to be afraid of strangers and was fretful because -of teething. It did not look as if Agatha would have many minutes for -meditating on the hardships of her own lot. - -At the station, with the aid of two sympathetic porters, Agatha got her -charges aboard the Pullman and settled herself comfortably some minutes -in advance of the other passengers. As they entered by ones and twos, -she was aware of interested glances in her direction, in some cases -the interest blended with apprehension. "Horrors!" she heard one woman -say to her husband as she passed. Agatha looked after her darkly. She -was instantly convinced that the speaker was the owner of a toy poodle. - -A moment before the train pulled out, a man came into the Pullman and -took his seat in the section opposite hers, glancing amiably at the -promising little family across the aisle. Agatha shrank away from the -look, feeling faint and sick. There was an ominous ringing in her ears. -So strong was her sense of panic that if she had had another moment in -which to act, she might have marshalled her brood off the train and -trusted to finding some excuse that would satisfy Mrs. Van Horne. But -before her impulse toward flight had time to crystallize, the last "All -aboard" had been shouted. The train shuddered, groaned and moved out. - -As the clear daylight replaced the semi-darkness of the terminal -station, Agatha blushed furiously. She sat huddled in her corner, -awaiting the outcome like a criminal who anticipates arrest. Gradually -her unreasoning alarm was replaced by coherent thinking. If Forbes were -still blind, she might travel as his fellow passenger to the Pacific -coast without his being the wiser. But he had come on board unattended, -moving freely and fearlessly. If his sight had been restored, she was -still safe, for he had never seen her face. - -After a time she brought her courage to the point of stealing a glance -at him. A newspaper lay upon his knee, and though he was not reading at -the moment, its presence confirmed the impression she had formed as he -entered. He could see again. She found herself trembling for gladness -and swallowing hard at an obstinate lump in her throat. The dark -spectacles he had worn throughout his sojourn at Oak Knoll had been -replaced by a pair of eye-glasses, which, to her prejudiced judgment, -added to his air of distinction. Now that her first unreasonable terror -had subsided, she found his proximity delightfully exhilarating. - -The next thought brought a pang. If he could see again there was no -longer a barrier between himself and Julia. Agatha's duties at the -Hamilton Orphanage left her little time for perusing the society -columns, so prominent a feature of the city journals, and she had -missed the detailed accounts of Julia's wedding, with their emphasis on -the beauty of the bride and the family connections of the groom. If he -were about to marry Julia, Agatha reasoned, he should look very happy. -She peered interrogatively in his direction to settle this important -point, encountered his eyes unexpectedly, and looked away in crimson -confusion. - -Forbes found the domestic group in such close proximity more -entertaining than his newspaper. He thought he had never seen a -prettier picture of radiant motherhood than this lovely young creature -with her little ones around her. It was a pity, he reflected, that none -of the children had inherited her rare beauty. They were all wholesome -little youngsters, bidding fair to grow to commonplace maturity as -far as externals were concerned. He found himself forming a somewhat -uncomplimentary picture of the father of the quartet, a rather heavy, -gross individual with a muddy skin. - -Other people than Forbes found an irresistible attraction in the -family group. The woman Agatha had branded as the owner of a poodle, -an overfed blonde, came down the aisle and paused to settle some -points on which she was uncertain. Agatha, mindful of Mrs. Van Horne's -injunction, gave the desired information as to the sex of the baby and -the brand of artificial food she favored, without any hint that her -sense of responsibility was less than maternal. - -"Are the little girls twins?" quizzed the stout woman, with an arrogant -assumption of having every right to know. - -"No, the curly-haired one is the older." - -"They must have come very close," said the stout woman disapprovingly. - -"There is about six months' difference," replied Agatha unthinkingly. -The stout woman's start told her too late what she had done, but as -no satisfactory explanation occurred to her, she sat stolidly making -a pretense of being absorbed in soothing the fretful baby. Her late -interrogator, assuming the reply to be an impertinent substitute for -telling her to mind her own business, stalked away, her manner implying -that she washed her hands of Agatha and her family. - -Agatha had no time for unavailing grief. Four children under five are -capable of providing abundant occupation for the most strenuous nature. -She was rising for the third time in twenty minutes to minister to the -wants of the oldest boy who had announced emphatically that he was -"fursty," when Forbes stepped across the aisle. - -"Just let me wait on him," he said. "At this rate you will be worn out -before you reach the end of your journey." - -The sound of his clear voice was almost her undoing. She wanted to -laugh; she wanted to cry. She wanted most of all to put her head down -on his broad shoulder and cling to him till he had forgiven her. As -none of these things appeared feasible, she contented herself with -saying, "Thank you," in a voice so faint as hardly to be audible. - -Forbes gave the restless lad a drink of water and took him into his -section. Agatha heard her charge announcing in a penetrating voice -that his name was Charlie Briggs, whether in answer to a question or -not, she was not sure. Then the small boy nestled close to the big -man, and listened raptly. She judged that Forbes must be telling him -a story, and after the manner of her kind, she found this additional -ground for worship. As a matter of fact Forbes was giving in detail -the life-history of a pony he had owned when a boy. This chronicle -concluded, he went on to describe a bear hunt in which he had once -participated, and found his reward in the admiring gaze his listener -fastened upon him. - -Presently Charlie Briggs felt constrained to be entertaining in turn. -"I'm going to get a new papa, pretty soon," he announced. - -Forbes felt an uncomfortable sense of shock. If the woman in the -opposite section were a widow, the age of the child in her arms -indicated that her bereavement was extremely recent. It seemed more -probable that it was one of the cases which prove the frailty of the -marriage bond in America. He did not know why this conjecture should be -responsible for so marked a feeling of discomfort. - -He changed the subject abruptly and proceeded to entertain Charlie with -an imaginary incident in the life of a gray squirrel, taking Thompson -Seton as his model. In the course of the narrative the baby had an -attack of crying and its shrieks distracted Forbes' attention. He -hesitated, lost the thread of his story, became hopelessly entangled. - -Charlie understood his friend's confusion. He looked across the aisle, -scowling darkly. "She's going to get rid of the baby pretty soon," he -informed his companion. "To-morrow it won't be 'round to bother." - -Again Forbes was conscious of a feeling of revulsion. The child's -remark was capable of several interpretations, but to his thinking the -meaning was obvious. This pretty little woman was about to marry for -the second time, and the husband-to-be objected to the size of the -ready-made family. Evidently she planned to give the baby away. Rather -absurdly Forbes found himself thinking that he would not have believed -it of her. - -The baby was behaving outrageously, almost justifying its mother's -unnatural intention. Agatha had become sadly disheveled. Her hair--she -really had wonderful hair, Forbes owned, for all his disapproval--was -gradually slipping down. Her face was crimson from her exertions. The -shirt-waist, immaculate when she boarded the Pullman, was mussed, and -one shoulder damp, due to the baby's repeated experiments to ascertain -whether it possessed nutritive qualities. As Forbes involuntarily -looked at the opposite section, the ear-splitting sounds compelling his -reluctant attention, Agatha transferred the baby's head to the other -shoulder, cuddling the little form close to her heart. There was such -divinely patient tenderness in the gesture that Forbes underwent an -instant revulsion of feeling. - -He did not understand it in the least, but he suddenly felt sure of -the woman. Whatever the shortcomings of Mr. Briggs or his probable -successor, the girlish wife did not lack womanly qualities. He was -unjust enough to feel decidedly vexed with the little boy. Probably -he had listened to discussions of matters he did not understand, and -mixed things up. Forbes told himself that he had never liked precocious -children. - -The baby suddenly decided to go to sleep. Its squalls ceased magically. -Its little body, stiffened in unavailing protest against all the -injustice of the world, relaxed in complete forgetfulness. The feverish -flush receded from Agatha's brow. She sat with drooping eyelids, a -pensive madonna. Forbes' wilful gaze would not observe the bounds of -propriety. Again and again it sought her, and when at length his eyes -encountered hers, he smiled his congratulations. She gave him back a -timid smile with a curious underlying wistfulness. It needed only that -smile to clinch his faith in her. - -When the call for luncheon was given, he crossed the aisle. "Won't you -let me stay with the children while you eat? With the baby asleep, I -think I can safely make the offer." - -In a voice hardly above a whisper, Agatha explained that they had -brought sandwiches. - -"But you'll let me bring you in a cup of tea or coffee, won't you? -You've had a very strenuous morning and you certainly need something in -the way of a stimulant." - -Perversely Agatha declined the offer, though she was longing to say -yes. It was not that she felt the need of tea or coffee or of anything -so gross as food or drink, but there was something ineffably refreshing -in his solicitude for her comfort. His good offices declined, Forbes -touched his hat and was turning away, when Charlie Briggs plunged into -the aisle and seized his coat. "I don't want you to go," he howled. - -Forbes came back, boyishly eager. "Let me take him with me, won't you? -You will have your hands full enough with the three and I promise not -to give him anything a child of his age ought not to eat." - -Agatha had already regretted her obduracy. She gave the desired -permission with a radiant smile, impelling Forbes to think excusingly -how very young she must have been when she married Mr. Briggs. As he -went toward the dining-car, Charlie clinging to his hand, the owner -of the poodle expressed to her husband the conviction that something -or somebody was shameless. She would have characterized herself as -possessing a forgiving disposition but would have added that there are -some things nobody can be expected to overlook. The case of the two -children, six months apart, was one of them. - -Forbes returned from the dining-car looking at his watch. The porter -appeared without warning and brushed him off obsequiously. Agatha's -heart contracted. It needed no prophet to foretell what was about to -happen. - -He came to her side, addressing her pleasantly. "I leave you at the -next station. I expect to meet a friend there. I wish I might have gone -farther and relieved you a little of your responsibilities." - -He checked himself suddenly, thinking that this rather silent young -woman was about to speak. She was looking up at him with a strange, -disconcerting earnestness. Nor had his intuition been at fault. For -a moment Agatha did battle with an almost irresistible temptation to -shout at him, "I am Agatha Kent." - -Almost at once she realized the folly of her momentary purpose. He -was about to leave the train. There was no time for explanations, to -say nothing of coming to an understanding. Moreover it was possible -that the friend he was to meet was Julia herself. This last thought -completed the paralysis of her passing impulse. In a stifled voice she -told him that he had been very kind. - -"You are a very courageous young woman," Forbes replied. "I hope -you won't be too tired when you reach your destination." He patted -Charlie's shoulder and turned away. The obsequious porter was removing -his grips. With a last smile to Agatha he went down the aisle. - -Agatha leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The tears ran down -her cheeks unchecked. Probably this was the last time she would ever -see him and that was no cause for regret since the pleasure of such -encounters was so over-balanced by the pain. And moreover he must be on -the point of marrying Julia, if he had not already made her his wife. -It was better that he should go his way, unaware that again their paths -had crossed. - -Forbes, stepping to the station platform, gave his grips to a station -porter and looked about for Warren. A minute or two passed before he -could distinguish him in the crowd and he was beginning to think -his friend was late, when his eye fell upon him standing at the edge -of the platform and gazing idly at the train which had been a little -behind-hand, and was already beginning to pull out. - -Forbes approached him briskly, the porter at his heels. His lips were -parted to speak the other's name, when Warren started violently and -took a step forward. "Hephzibah!" he shouted. - -Forbes spun on his heel. The coach he had just quitted was passing. -From the window a girl looked out, a girl with disheveled red-gold -hair and tear-stained cheeks. In an instant he understood. The girl in -charge of the four children was Agatha. It could be nobody but Agatha. -He knew now what she had wanted to say when she had looked up at him. -He understood the wistfulness of her smile, the entreaty in her eyes. -He had searched for her vainly all winter, and a moment before he had -talked to her face to face and had not known. - -Forbes' reason was in abeyance. The last car of the long -vestibuled-train was just abreast him, moving with considerable -velocity. With a spring he gained the lower step, seizing the railings -on either side. He was vaguely aware of a shout from the receding -platform and he almost thought he could distinguish Warren's voice -lifted in a bellow of astonishment. But for the time being all other -emotions were submerged by an overwhelming satisfaction in the -realization that Agatha and he were still fellow travelers. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -AN INTRODUCTION - - -Forbes waited for the door to be opened with sensations approximating -those of a naughty boy, caught in mischief. Man of the world as he was, -he recoiled from the prospect before him. He had never been of the -temperament to ignore precedent and defy regulations, and the necessary -explanations to outraged authority were no more attractive because they -were something new in his experience. Hardly more agreeable than his -anticipations of an interview with the conductor was the realization of -the probable comments of his fellow passengers, the smiles that would -be exchanged, the curious conjectures passed from one to another, as to -the occasion for his act. - -As Forbes reflected ruefully on the coming ordeal, his hat was lifted -lightly from his head and sent whirling on an independent journey. His -impulse to snatch after it was checked by the discovery that he needed -both hands for another purpose, needed them imperatively, for the lurch -of the train had nearly thrown him off his balance. He tightened his -grip and gave himself up to irritated reflection. Like most men, Forbes -was pathetically dependent on his hat. He never so much as crossed the -street without it. Now it would be necessary to make the rest of his -journey hatless and leave the train in some unfamiliar city, stared -at by the crowd who would mistake him for a faddist, demonstrating a -protest against conventional garb. Forbes' annoyance gave vent in a -profane ejaculation. - -The next to go were his eye-glasses. Again Forbes' inclination to -clutch for his vanishing possessions was conquered just in time to save -him from following in their wake. The narrow margin by which he had -missed death did not prevent him from grieving over his glasses. He had -no others with him. He would not be able to read till he reached home, -and the strain on his eyes would probably bring on a severe headache. -His hat could be replaced at the first shop, but not his glasses. He -found it hard to be reconciled to such ill luck. - -It was several minutes before the realization was brought home to -Forbes that the loss of these belongings was a very trifling matter. -By that time his feeling of reluctance to have the door opened had -entirely vanished. In his boyhood he had frequently played "crack the -whip." His sensations when the line of runners suddenly halted, and -he, a little fellow bringing up the rear, was sent sprawling over the -grass, were being duplicated in this memorable ride. The express was -playing "crack the whip" with himself as snapper. Once as the train -rounded a curve, both feet flew from under him, and the unexpected jerk -upon his arms almost broke his hold. He could hardly believe in his -good fortune when he found himself still standing on the step, holding -on literally for dear life. For now he knew that in his desperate -determination to see Agatha again, he had taken his life in his hands. - -Oddly enough it was not the likelihood of a sudden and violent -death which presented itself most forcibly to his imagination. -The opportunities he had missed with Agatha were infinitely more -disturbing. If only he had spoken in her defense the day Julia had -exhausted her ingenuity in wounding and insulting the rival she -instinctively feared. But he had stood silent while Julia's malice -spent itself. And later when time had revealed the affair in a truer -perspective, if he had but gone to her and said to her all that was in -his heart, she might have been his wife by now. One inevitably gets -down to realities when life flickers like a candle in the wind, and -Forbes no longer debated the question of Agatha's love for him. In -addition to Warren's testimony, he had the memory of a kiss, a dream -kiss, pressed on his cheeks as he struggled back to consciousness after -the stormy interview with Hephzibah, a kiss salt with tears and sweet -with ineffable promise. Forbes heard his bitter laughter above the roar -of the train. "God!" his voice said, "what a mess I've made of things." - -Forbes had never had a high opinion of the intelligence of that portion -of the traveling public which puts its head out of the window of a -moving train. Indeed he had always classified it with the people who -maim or kill their best friends by playful maneuvers with guns that -are not loaded. From this time on, his ideas on the subject were to be -revolutionized. He was destined to think of the above-named individuals -as philanthropists of a high order. - -A man in the smoking-car, thrusting his head out of the window at a -time when the curving of the track brought the rear coach into full -view, made a discovery which he promptly imparted to the conductor. -That official, properly incredulous, extended his own head from the -window and verified the passenger's astonishing statement. And at the -moment when Forbes' imagination was busy with the gruesome details -relating to the discovery of his lifeless body lying beside the tracks, -the vestibule door suddenly opened and the face of indignant authority -looked down at him. - -They dragged Forbes inside after unclenching his hands for him, his -stiffened muscles refusing that simple service. The conductor failing -to recognize in this disheveled individual with the unsteady knees, -the respectable passenger whose ticket he had punched earlier in the -trip, not unnaturally assumed that Forbes was drunk and acting on that -supposition, proceeded to make himself very disagreeable. As Forbes -regained his shaken dignity, and paid his fare, the man in uniform -became less truculent and in the end, positively congratulatory. - -Forbes' grips were in the possession of an unknown porter at a station -some thirty miles back, and he made as satisfactory a toilet as was -possible without the aid of their contents, before returning to the -coach where lately he had devoted himself to entertaining Charlie -Briggs, unaware that the door of Paradise stood ajar just across the -aisle. Here disappointment awaited him. Agatha, having learned from -bitter experience that activity is the best of balms for a sore heart, -had resolved on washing the hands and faces of her charges and giving -their hair proper attention. To make the toilet of four children in -the limited accommodations of a Pullman, with the certainty that at -any moment the lurch of the train may precipitate you into the wash -basin, or through the hanging curtains out into the aisle, is a process -requiring time and patience. Forbes sat in his former place, biting his -lips for three-quarters of an hour before he saw the little procession -slowly making its way down the aisle. - -Forbes' uncomfortable uncertainty as to whether he had made a fool of -himself or not, vanished at the sight of Agatha. Worn and weary as she -looked, her eyes still reddened from weeping, she had never seemed to -him so infinitely dear and desirable. Such trivial things as corrugated -palms and lost eye-glasses and a narrow escape from death, no longer -mattered. - -Charlie Briggs was the first to discover him. "My man's come back," he -shouted jubilantly and ran into Forbes' arms. Agatha's eyes followed -him, and she stopped short, her flushed cheeks paling. For a moment -Forbes thought her about to faint and started to his feet to assist -her, but immediately she had regained her self-control and walked -steadily to her seat, though as a matter of fact she did not feel the -floor beneath her feet and was scarcely conscious of the child in her -arms. He had come back and intuition told her why. - -Forbes rose and crossed the aisle. "Charlie," he said in a voice of -authority, "take your little sisters to my seat and play with them for -a while." - -Charlie Briggs demurred. - -"Run along," Forbes insisted. "And when I get a chance to buy you some -candy you shall have enough to make you sick for a month." - -"Us too?" asked the curly-haired girl, ready to oppose any unfair -sex-discrimination. - -"Yes, you, too," Forbes promised recklessly. "Enough so all three of -you will need a doctor." - -It was not in human nature to resist such a bribe. The three crossed -immediately to the opposite section. Forbes took the seat at Agatha's -side. - -A silence at once inevitable and ridiculous fell between them. There -was so much to be said that there seemed no rational starting point. He -wanted to ask what she was doing with all those children, but the query -seemed to put her on the defensive. She was longing to know how after -leaving the train, he could possibly be aboard again, but she left -the first move to him. Presently a mutual attraction drew their eyes -together and Forbes lost no more time. - -"Have you had long enough," he said a trifle unsteadily, "to decide on -that proposition I made you nine months ago to a day?" - -"I--I--What proposition do you mean?" - -"That we should set up housekeeping together?" - -Agatha seemed trying to remember. "Wasn't that for last winter only?" - -"No. It's for this summer and next winter and for all the summers and -winters that ever will be." - -She regarded him amazedly. "You're not--you can't be--" - -"But I am, exactly that. Will you marry me, Agatha?" - -"Listen!" A little flutter of laughter escaped her and he loved the -sound of it. "Do you realize those are the first words you've ever -spoken to me--the real _me_, that we've just been introduced? Of -course we had any number of good talks when I was Great-aunt Agatha -Kent." - -"Bless her dear heart!" Forbes interjected gratefully. - -"And we had one rather exciting interview when I was Hephzibah." - -"Yes, I have reason to remember that interview." He looked at her -meaningly and gloated over her blush. - -"And now I'm just Agatha," she went on bravely, ignoring her scarlet -cheeks. "And the very first words you say to me are to ask me to marry -you." - -"And they're the words I shall keep saying till you promise." - -She shot him a side-long glance. "But what--what about Julia?" - -"She was married early in January. They have been spending the winter -in Palm Beach, I understand." - -"Oh!" There was such compassion in her voice, such pitying tenderness -in her eyes that she had a narrow escape from being kissed on the spot. - -He compromised by taking her hand. "Listen, dear girl. Let's clear this -thing up once for all. I've had a narrow escape. The Julia I loved was -no more real than your Hephzibah. I knew my mistake that day when she -attacked you at Oak Knoll. The cruelty of it was a revelation. I can't -understand now why I listened without protest, but you must remember -that I had received a staggering surprise." - -"Staggering and cruel!" Her fingers tightened about his. "I tried so -hard to tell you everything that day in the woods and I was such a -coward that the words wouldn't come. How can you ever forgive me?" - -"Hush, dear love! I shall shock this train-load of people if you are -not careful. I was too dazed and bewildered that first day to be quite -responsible for what I did or left undone. But within twenty-four hours -I spoke my mind so plainly as to terminate the friendship between Miss -Studley and myself. I have never seen nor heard from her since." - -The look she turned on him made him hang his head. The certainty that -elates most men, humbles those of finer mold. - -"Agatha, my dearest, you talk of my forgiving you. Can you ever forgive -me?" - -The train was slowing for a stop before they had settled that delicate -question. Agatha argued that it was preposterous to talk of forgiving -one who in every relation of life was absolute perfection. Forbes -insisted that her attitude proved her an angel. The baby, with a -discretion beyond its years, refrained from offering any interruption -to this absorbing conversation, though occasionally its toothless gums -were revealed in what might have impressed the unprejudiced on-looker -as a derisive smile. - -After the brief stop, a train boy appeared shouting Forbes' name. He -proved to be the bearer of a telegram from Warren. Forbes and Agatha -read it together: - - "If enough is left of you to make the marriage ceremony valid advise - clenching matter at the first stop run no risk of letting her get away - from us again." - -"Warren seems to be laboring under the impression," frowned Forbes, -"that he comes in on this. Except for that slight error--" - -Agatha interpolated irrelevantly that Warren was a dear. - -"He's not half bad," Forbes admitted generously. "And apart from his -erroneous impression that this is a partnership affair, the message -impresses me favorably. What do you think?" - -"How do you know," questioned Agatha interestedly, "that I'm not -already married to a widower with four small children?" - -"I'll own the thought crossed my mind. But I wouldn't consider it. You -looked too sad for a bride." - -Agatha put her hand into his quite shamelessly. "Of course I would look -sad if I had been so silly as to marry somebody else." - -"Who are these children anyway?" Forbes asked, as if he had just -thought of it. - -"Orphans. Orphans who are going to be adopted. The homes have been -investigated and they're all right. Now I'm going to leave the children -for a six months' trial, and if at the end of that time everybody is -satisfied, they will be legally adopted." Agatha added casually that -they would reach the baby's future home at five o'clock and that she -would be rather glad to get him off her hands before nightfall. Forbes -recalled a statement of Charlie Briggs much to the same effect, and was -man enough to apologize mentally to the youngster. - -Agatha's next remark had to Forbes a delicious suggestion of wifely -authority. "Why aren't you wearing your glasses?" - -He explained the fate of those cherished belongings and did his best to -make light of the whole affair. But Agatha was not to be deceived. Her -eyes widened to surprising proportions. Her face grew white. - -"You might have been killed. It's a miracle you weren't killed." - -His distress over the discovery that she was crying was spiced -with ecstasy. She interrupted his clumsy efforts at comfort with -self-accusation. "And if you had been killed, I would have been to -blame." - -"Why, in heaven's name, dearest? My own folly would have been solely -responsible. But when I realized that I had actually spoken face to -face with you, and that you were escaping me again, I lost my head -completely." - -"If I'd told you who I was, you wouldn't have had any reason to risk -your life. And so if anything had happened it would have been all my -fault." - -He took a rather base advantage of her self-reproach. "I'll forgive you -on one condition. As I understand it, after you have made arrangements -about the baby you will spend the night at a hotel and take the train -to-morrow." - -"Yes, that's my plan." - -"And my plan is that you marry me to-morrow morning." - -"I had intended," Agatha answered reflectively, "to take an eight -o'clock train." - -"I suppose a later one will do." - -"Very likely. But a wedding without a trousseau! I am equal to a -trousseau now, you know. I have--or did have a little while ago--a -fortune of twelve thousand dollars." - -"I can't think," Forbes murmured, "of anything I should enjoy better -than helping to select a trousseau--a little later." - -"You know I'm responsible for Miss Finch," Agatha said breathlessly. -"She's not going to be married after all." - -"Miss Finch is a member of my family from now on." - -"And Howard! It was all make-believe that he was a young friend of -mine. He's really my darling brother." - -"And mine as soon as you say the word. Dear little Miss Proteus," -cried Forbes with a laugh that did not disguise the tenderness of his -voice, "I'm afraid to let you out of my sight for fear you'll change -into something else, a mermaid or a fairy, and be lost to me forever." - -"I'm sure it will disappoint Mrs. Van Horne if I come back with a -husband," mused Agatha. "It will seem such a childish performance. And -yet--when you've made up your mind that all that's left in life for -you is to go on doing your duty and trying to be kind to everybody, -and then happiness comes back and knocks at your door, you--you--oh, -Burton--it's not in human nature to keep her waiting." - -After a party, consisting of a smiling gentleman, a radiant girl and -four tired children, had left the train, one of the people who always -know the details of everybody's business, sketched their history for -the benefit of the owner of the poodle. - -"They had a dreadful quarrel, you know, the way young people will, and -she was going home to her father's. Somehow or other he learned what -train she was to take and got aboard just at the last minute." - -The listener knitted blonde brows. "I didn't really feel sure the -woman was in her right mind. She made some absurd statement about those -two little girls. Said there was six months' difference in their ages." - -"She was so excited she didn't know what she was saying," explained the -omniscient traveler. "He sent her messages by the little boy and when -she wouldn't pay any attention, he brought her to time by standing on -the steps of the rear coach for more than an hour. It was a wonder he -wasn't killed." - -The stout blonde expressed the opinion that it was woman's place to -forgive. - -"Well, that melted her, and you can't wonder. The porter in the rear -coach told our porter that when they dragged him aboard he hardly had -strength to stand on his feet. It didn't take them long to get things -fixed up after that. I went for a drink of water after they'd been -talking for half an hour or so, and he'd picked up the baby, and I'm -pretty sure from the way he held that child, he was using it just as a -screen and kissing the mother behind it." - -"Awful fretful baby," commented the stout blonde. "I'm glad it won't be -on the train to-night." - -"Looks as if they'd started out to have a real old-fashioned family," -said the omniscient narrator. "None of the children looks like her but -the curly-haired girl and the boy are the image of their papa." - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGATHA'S AUNT*** - - -******* This file should be named 62516-8.txt or 62516-8.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/5/1/62516 - - -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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(Harriet Lummis) Smith</title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin-left: 10%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.small { - font-size: small} - -.medium { - font-size: medium} - -.large { - font-size: large} - -.x-large { - font-size: x-large} - - - h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} -.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} -.p6 {margin-top: 6em;} - -.ph1, .ph2, .ph3, .ph4 { text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; } -.ph1 { font-size: xx-large; margin: .67em auto; } -.ph2 { font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; } -.ph3 { font-size: large; margin: .83em auto; } -.ph4 { font-size: medium; margin: 1.12em auto; } -.ph5 { font-size: small; margin: 1.12em auto;text-align: center; } -.ph6 { font-size: x-small; margin: 1.12em auto;text-align: center; } - - -.hang { - text-indent: -2em; - padding-left: 2em} - -p.drop:first-letter { - font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif; - font-size: xx-large; - line-height: 70%} - -.uppercase { - font-size: small; - text-transform: uppercase} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%} -hr.full {width: 95%;} - -hr.r5 {width: 5%; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em;} -hr.r65 {width: 65%; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 3em;} - - - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} - - .tdl {text-align: left;} - .tdr { vertical-align: bottom; - text-align: right;} - .tdc {text-align: center;} - -.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ - /* visibility: hidden; */ - position: absolute; - left: 92%; - font-size: smaller; - text-align: right; -} /* page numbers */ - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - - -.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} - -.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} - -.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} - -.br {border-right: solid 2px;} - -.bbox {border: solid 2px;} - -.center {text-align: center;} - -.right {text-align: right;} - -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - -.u {text-decoration: underline;} - - -/* Footnotes */ -.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} - -.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: - none; -} - - -/* Transcriber's notes */ -.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; - color: black; - font-size:smaller; - padding:0.5em; - margin-bottom:5em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; } - -@media handheld { - .hidehand {display: none; visibility: hidden;} -} - - - h1.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 190%; - margin-top: 0em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h2.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 135%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - page-break-before: avoid; - line-height: 1; } - h3.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h4.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 100%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - hr.pgx { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Agatha's Aunt, by Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) -Smith</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: Agatha's Aunt</p> -<p>Author: Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) Smith</p> -<p>Release Date: June 28, 2020 [eBook #62516]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGATHA'S AUNT***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by MFR, Graeme Mackreth,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/agathasaunt00smitiala"> - https://archive.org/details/agathasaunt00smitiala</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<p class="ph3">AGATHA'S AUNT</p> - -<div class="hidehand"> -<p class="center"> -<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="cover" /> -</p></div> - - -<p class="ph1">AGATHA'S AUNT</p> - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 5em;"><i>By</i></p> -<p class="ph3">HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH</p> - -<p class="ph5"><i>Author of</i></p> -<p class="ph4">OTHER PEOPLE'S BUSINESS</p> - - - -<p class="ph4" style="margin-top: 15em;">INDIANAPOLIS<br /> -THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY<br /> -PUBLISHERS</p> - - - - - - -<p class="ph6" style="margin-top: 5em;"><span class="smcap">Copyright 1920<br /> -The Bobbs-Merrill Company</span></p> - - -<p class="ph6"><i>Printed in the United States of America</i></p> - - -<p class="ph6">PRESS OF<br /> -BRAUNWORTH & CO.<br /> -BOOK MANUFACTURERS -BROOKLYN, N. Y.</p> - - - - - -<p class="ph2">CONTENTS</p> - - - - - - - -<table summary="toc" width="55%"> -<tr><td>CHAPTER</td><td></td> <td>PAGE</td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">I</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span class="smcap">Boarders Wanted</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">II</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span class="smcap">The Curtain Rises</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">III</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span class="smcap">A Social Secretary</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span class="smcap">Complications</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_42">42</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">V</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><span class="smcap">Company Manners</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><span class="smcap">Hephzibah Comes to Life</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><span class="smcap">Day Dreams</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">VIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><span class="smcap">The Rescue</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">IX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><span class="smcap">An Embarrassment of Riches</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">X</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><span class="smcap">A Confession</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><span class="smcap">A Wilful Man Must Have His Way</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><span class="smcap">Hephzibah Turns the Tables</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_170">170</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><span class="smcap">Congratulations Are in Order</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_184">184</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XIV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><span class="smcap">Confidences</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XV</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><span class="smcap">Underneath the Bough</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XVI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><span class="smcap">Miss Finch Follows a Classic Example</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_221">221</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XVII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><span class="smcap">The Day of Judgment</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td> -</tr> -<tr><td align="right">XVIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><span class="smcap">Warren Gets a Tip</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XIX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><span class="smcap">The Worm Turns</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XX</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><span class="smcap">The Day After</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_276">276</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XXI</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><span class="smcap">Enlightenment</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_292">292</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XXII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><span class="smcap">Fellow Travelers</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td></tr> - -<tr><td align="right">XXIII</td> <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><span class="smcap">An Introduction</span></a></td> <td align="right"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td></tr> -</table> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - - - - - -<p class="ph2">AGATHA'S AUNT</p> - - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></p> - -<p class="center">BOARDERS WANTED</p> - - -<p class="drop">I<span class="uppercase">t was</span> too early in the season for lowered shades or closed shutters. -The spring sunshine had taken possession of the big, many-windowed -room, repaying the hospitality as other uninvited guests have been -known to do, by its indiscreet revelations. In rooms much lived in, a -rather endearing shabbiness is a familiar characteristic, suggestive, -like a thumbed book, of homely comfort. The room in question had passed -this stage and reached the shabbiness eloquent of poverty.</p> - -<p>The paper on the walls was faded, and stained from a leak in the -roof. The original carpet had been transformed into a rug that shrank -annually and now showed threadbare areas, prophetic of gaping holes -in the near future. The furniture, too,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> though of expensive make, -had arrived at a point where a series of surgical operations seemed -imperative. Yet with it all, a certain plucky defiance was evident -in the shabby room. Pictures or calendars hung over the discolored -spots on the wall, furniture arranged to conceal the weak spots of the -carpet, a crocheted shawl thrown carelessly over the exposed entrails -of a veteran armchair, a general air of putting the best foot foremost -inevitably suggested that the dilapidated building sheltered youth, -ardent and unconquered.</p> - -<p>In the smallest chair the room contained, a rocking chair that creaked -protestingly under its light burden, sat Miss Zaida Finch, darning a -pink silk stocking. Miss Finch's print dress modestly concealed her -diminutive lower limbs, her extremely small shoes scarcely peeping -from beneath its hem. For all that the eye discerned, her anatomical -structure might have been modeled after that of Mrs. Shem in a Noah's -ark. Yet with no evidence to substantiate his certainty, any observer -would have vowed that Miss Finch's painstaking toil was wholly -disinterested. It was impossible to believe that the much-mended pink -silk hosiery formed part of her wardrobe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> - -<p>The industry of Miss Finch was spasmodic. One moment she plied her -needle with an intentness indicating that her task absorbed her. -And again she let the stocking drop into her lap, and lost herself -listening to sounds overhead, footsteps, doors opening and closing, the -murmur of voices. Once, rising, she tiptoed to the window and gazed -for a long breathless moment at the touring car before the gate, the -chauffeur puffing a cigarette with an arrogance characteristic of the -driver of a seven-passenger Packard, who knows that at any moment a -Ford roadster may round the curve ahead.</p> - -<p>Despite occasional lapses Miss Finch was darning industriously when -the voices overhead sharpened noticeably. A light staccato of high -heels tapping the uncarpeted staircase was followed by the slamming -of a door violently enough to shake the building. Miss Finch, groping -vainly for the interpretation of these sounds, found her gaze drawn to -the window as the Packard swept along the highway, its horn bleating an -impassioned farewell.</p> - -<p>The door at the rear of Miss Finch's chair opened emphatically, with -such emphasis indeed, that the door-knobs parted company, one falling -into the hall, the other projecting itself in the direction of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> Miss -Finch as if with hostile intent. And close upon this demonstration -a girl entered the room and flung herself into one of the ragged -armchairs.</p> - -<p>The owner of the pink silk stocking was revealed. It was all in keeping -with her audacious color scheme. Her hair was obviously red, and -instead of modestly disguising the fact, it used every known artifice -to attract attention to itself, curling and crinkling and brazenly -thrusting out tendril-like locks to catch the beholder's gaze. Her -eyes should have been blue, according to all precedent, but instead -they matched her hair, a daring reddish-brown, with yellow flecks like -floating gold-leaf. Ordinarily her skin was creamy till the multiplying -freckles of summer temporarily disguised its fairness, but at this -moment some intense emotion dyed her crimson from her throat to the -roots of her hair. Over a blue house dress she wore a sweater of vivid -green, assumed, if the truth be told, not for the sake of warmth but to -conceal her patched elbows. Her entrance into the room accentuated its -faded dinginess and bleached Miss Finch to the color of ashes. Even the -spring sunshine paled before her rainbow effect.</p> - -<p>"Well, Fritz!" The girl used the incongruous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> nickname with the -carelessness of long custom. "It's all over."</p> - -<p>"All over!" Miss Finch echoed in alarm. The darning egg dropped from -her lap and spun dizzily upon the floor, while its owner blinked -rapidly as if the radiant presence in the armchair dazzled her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Yes. That was Mrs. Leavett, the one who saw my advertisement in the -<i>Onlooker</i>, and wrote and engaged board for herself and two children."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch rolled her eyes heavenward. Under the matter-of-fact -statement she scented calamity.</p> - -<p>"It occurred to her that she'd like to see the place before she came. -And now she's seen it, she's not coming. She says my ad was misleading."</p> - -<p>"It was a very good advertisement, I'm sure," protested Miss Finch. "I -didn't know myself how pleasant the place was till you read me what -you'd written."</p> - -<p>The girl laughed out. The naive defense had the effect of partly -dissipating her anger and bringing an evasive dimple into view.</p> - -<p>"I leave it to you, Fritz, if I told a single whopper. I said the rooms -were large and airy, and I didn't state that the paper was peeling off -the walls.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> I mentioned the lawn and the shade trees, and failed to add -that the house needed painting. It is not the business of the seller, -Fritzie dear, to call attention to any little defects in the article -he is trying to dispose of. Mrs. Leavett overlooked that point. Not a -business woman, evidently."</p> - -<p>"The vines cover a good bit of the house anyway," commented Miss Finch -resentfully. "What does a little paint more or less matter to a summer -boarder?"</p> - -<p>"Mrs. Leavett seemed under the impression that it mattered to her. -She was so very snippy that at last I asked her if she didn't think -that to be <i>un</i>painted in these days was rather a mark of distinction. -Since you didn't see the lady, Fritz, you can hardly appreciate the -insinuating cleverness of that inquiry. The red, red rose has nothing -on her. Such a lovely, fast-color carmine, warranted to go through a -fainting fit without fading."</p> - -<p>"If you're going to have boarders, Agatha," Miss Finch remonstrated, -"you've got to keep a tight rein on your temper."</p> - -<p>"I did, Fritz; I was preternaturally amiable till I saw that the game -was up. Then I thought I might as well relieve my feelings. The woman -seemed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> take it as an affront that I wasn't my own grandmother. She -said for a girl of my age to advertise for boarders was a piece of -presumption, and she wanted to know if I didn't have a guardian—as if -I were weak-minded."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch's contemptuous sniff breathed sympathetic scorn.</p> - -<p>"I'm not ashamed of being only nineteen. Everybody has to be nineteen -some time, except the people who die in infancy. As I said to Mrs. -Leavett, if you're too young, time will mend it. But being too old -isn't so easily remedied."</p> - -<p>"Was <i>she</i> old?" inquired Miss Finch suspiciously.</p> - -<p>"Older than she wants any one to think, Fritz. She's the sort of woman -who talks about her little son when he's a sophomore in college, -smoking an enormous meerschaum." Agatha's angry color had subsided to -a becoming pink, and her eyes were luminous with mischief. "I'm going -to try the frank, open style in ads, since the other doesn't seem to -work. I shall want your opinion on it, Fritz, so prepare to give me -your undivided attention." She flitted to the writing desk and began -scribbling on the back of a convenient envelope and Miss Finch utilized -the pause to recover her elusive darning egg,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> dropping her thimble in -the process. Before she could capture the latter runaway, Agatha was -ready for her services as critic.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Boarders wanted. A spinster aged nineteen, of uncertain temper, -will accommodate a limited number of boarders at her country place, -Oak Knoll. Rooms large and airy, special ventilation secured through -openings in the roof. In case of rain, guests will be furnished with -tubs to catch the drippings, without extra charge. Fine lawn kept in -excellent order by the untiring efforts of two horses and a cow. View -unsurpassed. Meals excellent provided the cook is kept in good humor -by considerate treatment."</p></blockquote> - -<p>She nipped the handle of her pen reflectively. "Do you think it -necessary to mention that the cook and the proprietor are one and the -same?"</p> - -<p>"Agatha," cried Miss Finch with the agonized earnestness of a literal -mind, "you mustn't think of sending that to the paper. Taking boarders -is a good deal like getting married. There's a whole lot you've got to -keep dark, or you might as well give up first as last."</p> - -<p>Her outburst terminated in a sniff. Immediately the tip of her pale, -seemingly bloodless little nose became as red as a cherry, the -instantaneous sequel of tears, with Miss Finch.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You're so smart, Agatha," she quavered. "If only you'd sell this house -and wash your hands of Howard and me, who haven't the least claim on -you, you could go to the city and look around and like enough find a -husband. There's plenty of men who don't mind red hair."</p> - -<p>Agatha ignored the encouragement. "Howard is my brother."</p> - -<p>"Just like children pretend in play. He's your stepma's son. There's -not a drop of Kent blood in him, and not a mite of Sheldon in you. But -instead of giving your mind to getting married like a girl needs to do -in these days, you're all the time worrying about educating that boy."</p> - -<p>"I'm going to send Howard to college if I live, I'd rather do that than -have twenty husbands."</p> - -<p>"Then if that wasn't enough," lamented Miss Finch tearfully, "here I -am, a good-for-nothing cumberer of the ground, for you to fuss and plan -for. Don't tell me! All the reason you keep this place is to have a -home for me and Howard. And it ain't right or fair."</p> - -<p>Agatha crumpled the advertisement inspired by the visit of Mrs. Leavett -into an inky wad, and took aim at the spider-like blotch on the -ceiling. Then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> crossing the room swiftly, she hugged the limp little -woman to her heart.</p> - -<p>"You'll make me cry myself if you're not careful. You want to deprive -me of my family and my chaperon at one swoop, and turn me out into the -world a solitary orphan, you heartless creature." She silenced Miss -Finch's gurgled protests with a kiss. "Hush!" she said authoritatively. -"There comes Howard on the pony. He mustn't know anything about this."</p> - -<p>The beat of hoofs ceased abruptly and a boy's swinging step sounded -on the porch. To save the trouble of walking ten feet to the door, -Howard raised the nearest window of the living-room, and made an -unconventional entry. He was a handsome lad of sixteen, and Agatha's -idol. She had been as ready as most young girls to resent her father's -second marriage, but all her childish hostility vanished at the -sequel, the chubby little boy who was her stepmother's contribution to -the family circle. She had longed for a brother with the passionate -yearning of a lonely child, and just when she had given up hope, a -brother was hers. Agatha's sense of proprietorship had grown with the -years. Nothing irritated her more than the suggestion that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> the tie -between Howard and herself was less binding than that of blood.</p> - -<p>The boy drew three letters from his pocket, slapping them down on the -table.</p> - -<p>"You're getting to be pretty popular, Aggie. Every time I go to the -village there's mail for you. Two letters yesterday and three to-day."</p> - -<p>"How warm you look, Howard." Agatha pushed the boy's heavy hair back -from his moist forehead. "You mustn't get overheated and take cold." -She was deliciously maternal in her solicitude for the sturdy youngster -who already topped her by an inch or two.</p> - -<p>"I'll look warmer before the day's over. I'm going to tackle the garden -now. If you'd ever seen summer boarders eat new green peas you'd know -'twas time to get busy."</p> - -<p>Howard departed as he had come, and his sister, her face overcast, gave -her attention to her mail. The first letter opened was flung petulantly -to the floor.</p> - -<p>"Woman wants to know how many bathrooms we have, and will I please send -her the names of several former patrons as references. Worse than Mrs. -Leavett."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> - -<p>"They're an unreasonable lot, summer boarders," acquiesced Miss Finch.</p> - -<p>The second letter was as unsatisfactory, judging from the impetuosity -of its flight across the room.</p> - -<p>"She's the widow of a missionary and wants board at half rates, and the -younger children not to count."</p> - -<p>"I don't believe you've got the temper for running a boarding-house," -commented Miss Finch. "You're as fiery as red pepper and next to the -married state, keeping boarders calls for a saintly disposition."</p> - -<p>Agatha prying open the third communication with a hairpin, vouchsafed -no reply. But her perturbed air changed magically to breathless -attention. Her eyes moved slowly down the typewritten page, her air -of stupefaction increasingly in evidence. Checking herself with an -impatient gesture, she started again at the beginning and read the -letter aloud:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'<span class="smcap">My Dear Miss Kent</span>:</p> - -<p>"'My attention has just been called to your advertisement in the -current <i>Onlooker</i>. I can hardly hope that you remember me, for it is -over twenty years since our last meeting, and at that time I was an -insignificant urchin of twelve—'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Over twenty years," Miss Finch interjected, "and you nineteen last -week."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'I remember you distinctly, however, and your beautiful old place -with its fine grounds and noble trees. When I explain that I am the -son of John Forbes you will understand that my visit with my father -was a memorable occasion. He died soon after, as you remember, but he -often spoke of our week at Oak Knoll and his affectionate admiration -for yourself.'"</p></blockquote> - -<p>A flicker of understanding illumined Miss Finch's blank face.</p> - -<p>"I'm beginning to see daylight," she interrupted. "The man's fooled -by the likeness of names. He thinks he's writing to your great-aunt, -Agatha Kent. She'd be between sixty and seventy if she were living."</p> - -<p>Agatha had already solved the puzzle. She nodded and read on, too -interested to pause for discussion:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"'I have played in rather hard luck recently. I contracted a severe -form of malaria in my South American trip last year which has -resulted, strangely enough, in a loss of eyesight, only temporary, -the doctors hope. For six months I have gone about with my eyes -bandaged. At present the building up of my general health seems the -most important step in my recovery and I wish to secure board in some -retired country place with a bracing climate, like that of Bridgewater.</p> - -<p>"'In case you were willing to burden yourself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> with a blind boarder, -I should, of course, insist on paying more than the moderate rates -mentioned in your ad. I should also wish to engage the services of -some youth in the neighborhood who could serve as valet and companion. -I could bring an attendant from the city but would prefer a country -boy, who would not be continually pining for roof gardens and like -diversions. His work will be exacting, of course, for no child is as -helpless as I, but I will pay well in addition to his board and will -try to make his labors as agreeable as possible.</p> - -<p>"'I have written at length because I wish you to understand just -what you are letting yourself in for, if you admit me to Oak Knoll. -The remembrance of your benevolent face which even to my unobservant -boy self seemed to express your kindly nature, is my only reason for -thinking that possibly your answer will be favorable.</p> - -<p> -"'Yours very truly,<br /> -<br /> -"'<span class="smcap">Burton Forbes</span>.'"<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Mechanically Agatha folded the letter and returned it to its envelope. -She spoke in a rapturous half whisper. "A blind man. If it had been -planned on purpose, it couldn't have been more perfect. Please don't -tell me I'm dreaming, Fritz."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch rubbed her nose fretfully, a sign of perturbation. "Have you -thought—"</p> - -<p>"He can't see that the paper is peeling off the wall," Agatha continued -ecstatically. "But he'll ap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>preciate the rooms being large and airy. He -won't worry because the house needs painting, but he can enjoy sitting -under the shade of the trees. I can even feed him fried chicken while -the rest of us are eating cod-fish gravy. It's an interposition of -Providence."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch was hectoring her nose again. "But how are you going to -manage—"</p> - -<p>"He wants a boy as an attendant," persisted Agatha jubilantly. "Howard -is the boy. He'll pay him well, and pay me for his board. If only I'm -not delirious. Oh, I want to jump and scream. Howard's next year in -school is all provided for. And if Mr. What's-his-name would only stay -blind till—"</p> - -<p>"I guess you're forgetting one thing." Miss Finch raised her voice -challengingly. "You ain't your great-aunt."</p> - -<p>Agatha regarded the interruption with irritation. "Well!"</p> - -<p>"It's her he wants to board with. He imagines she's a nice, motherly -old soul, who'll pet him up and feed him up. It ain't likely he'd think -of engaging board with a flighty young girl. I don't say<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> you're not as -competent as though you were sixty. But he wouldn't believe it."</p> - -<p>The glow illuminating the girl's face flickered defiantly under this -chilling blast of common sense, and went out, like a candle in the -wind. She drew her arched brows into a meditative pucker and sat -musing while Miss Finch, humanly complacent over having suggested a -difficulty, gave her whole attention to her darning, leaving Agatha to -wrestle with the solution.</p> - -<p>"Fritz," the girl breathed at last, "do you believe in reincarnation?"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch tried to look as if she understood the meaning of the word. -With an adroitness for which few would have given her credit, she -replied, "I won't say I do, and I won't say I don't."</p> - -<p>"Well, it's true, Fritz. I am my own great-aunt."</p> - -<p>"Land alive!" cried Miss Finch, startled into close attention.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Burton Forbes wants to engage board for the summer with Miss -Agatha Kent. Well, I'm Agatha Kent. He imagines that I'm a nice -comfortable old lady with white hair and a double chin. Very well. -It would be a hard heart that would disappoint a blind man in such a -trifle."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You mean," gasped Miss Finch, "that you're going to deceive him?"</p> - -<p>"Heaven forbid. But I'm not going to <i>un</i>deceive him, Fritz. He assumed -certain things about me. Let him keep his illusions, poor soul. He'll -spend a happy summer with his father's old friend, and then go away and -recover, I hope."</p> - -<p>No trace of Agatha's shadowing perplexity remained. Her eyes had the -mischievous brightness of a naughty child's. Miss Finch gazed aghast.</p> - -<p>"He's bound to find out sooner or later. And no good comes of cheating -anybody, least of all a blind man."</p> - -<p>"You're not the stuff for a conspirator, I can see that," Agatha -laughed. "You look positively frightened. But Howard will be delighted. -He'll feel like the hero of a detective story."</p> - -<p>The window by which her brother had made his exit was still open and -Agatha took her departure in the same informal fashion. But little Miss -Finch sat bowed in her chair, as if the responsibility for this newly -hatched plot rested upon her narrow shoulders, and crushed her under -its weight.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE CURTAIN RISES</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> composition of a suitable reply to Burton Forbes' request proved -unexpectedly difficult. Agatha did not lack appreciation of the -histrionic demands of her rôle. She suspected the late John Forbes of -something more than a platonic admiration for her imaginary self and -it was out of the question to write his son the matter-of-fact letter -which would have sufficed for another blind man, desiring board in the -country. As she composed laborious missives only to destroy them on the -second reading, Agatha thanked heaven that the hardships of her lot had -not included the adoption of a literary career.</p> - -<p>The completed letter, however, so far met her exacting requirements -that in satisfied contemplation of her intellectual offspring, she -forgot the pangs attending its birth. With a naive complacency not -unfamiliar among the craft, she read the masterpiece to Miss Finch:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Mr. Forbes</span>:</p> - -<p>"Your letter, just received, both surprised and touched me. Your -memory must, indeed, be tenacious if you recall me, for in the twenty -years which have passed since your visit to Oak Knoll you have, I am -sure, seen much better worth remembering than a quiet, old country -woman the best of whose life is now its golden memories.</p> - -<p>"I hardly need tell you that my door would be open to your father's -son under any circumstances, and the fact of your blindness—which I -sincerely trust will prove temporary—only makes you doubly welcome. -Fortunately I know exactly the person for your attendant, a young -friend of mine named Howard Sheldon. He is thoroughly reliable and -the salary will be a great help to him, as he is ambitious for an -education.</p> - -<p>"Please let me know when to expect you. I am looking forward to -renewing the friendship begun so long ago that it almost seems as if -it must have been in another state of existence.</p> - -<p> -"Very truly yours,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Agatha Kent</span>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Miss Finch did not share Agatha's enthusiasm. Her pinched little face -was wan and worried as she conscientiously did her best to dampen the -satisfaction of the proud author.</p> - -<p>"That letter gives me a dreadful upset feeling, Agatha. I don't know as -I could put my finger on a downright lie, but it certainly ain't true."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It is the truth and nothing but the truth, Fritzie. It is ridiculous -for a little four-page letter to claim to be the whole truth. Take, for -instance, the fact about his being doubly welcome because he is blind. -That's truer than he has any idea of."</p> - -<p>"'Golden memories,'" quoted Miss Finch with severity. "A young girl -like you!"</p> - -<p>"That's the best thing in the letter," cried Agatha, enraptured. "I -don't know how I ever came to think of anything so clever. 'Golden -memories,'" she repeated with the sentimental inflection she deemed -appropriate. "Do you know, Fritz, I don't believe it's as hard to write -books as the authors make out."</p> - -<p>Disappointing as Miss Finch proved in the rôle of conspirator, Howard's -enthusiasm largely compensated for her deficiencies. Howard was in -his element. To share in a plot of this character was rapture beyond -words. The only drawback to his happiness was the fact that Agatha had -described him to his prospective employer as a reliable boy, ambitious -for an education. Howard felt that to live up to such a character -promised an insipid summer. It would have added a tang to existence had -he been cast for a refugee or a cowboy. It was with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> difficulty that -Agatha brought him to relinquish his determination to play some sort of -part.</p> - -<p>"I could pretend to be an awfully ignorant cuss, don't you know, Aggie. -I could say 'betcher life' instead of 'yes,' and, 'not on your tintype' -for 'no.'"</p> - -<p>Yielding to his sister's eloquent representations, Howard reluctantly -consented to confine himself to his normal mode of expression during -Mr. Forbes' stay and bend all his energy toward furthering his sister's -success in the impersonation fate demanded of her. His suggestions -proved an almost startling range of ingenuity. Agatha was to complain -frequently of rheumatic pains in her knees, and keep a cane handy for -strolling about the grounds. Another point on which Howard placed great -emphasis was the necessity of frequently mislaying her supposedly -indispensable spectacles.</p> - -<p>"He'll be sure to suspect something," insisted Howard, "if you don't -keep losing your spectacles. Old folks always do. And when I find them -and bring them to you, you must always say that they are the ones you -use for looking far off and you want your reading glasses."</p> - -<p>The exchange of several letters between Burton<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> Forbes and his -prospective hostess resulted in an arrangement entirely satisfactory -from Agatha's standpoint. Her boarder was to make the trip from the -city without an attendant. Howard would meet him at the station with -the carryall and convey him to Oak Knoll, where Agatha would make -him welcome as the son of a friend long dead. The possibility of Mr. -Forbes' enlightenment through the interference of neighbors she had -met with characteristic decision by disseminating the information -that her home was to serve as temporary asylum for a blind gentleman, -broken in health and with an unconquerable aversion to society. Without -definitely reflecting on Mr. Forbes' mental condition, Agatha succeeded -in conveying the impression that any one attempting to interview her -blind boarder would do so at his own risk.</p> - -<p>Youthful audacity, together with a daring peculiar to herself, carried -Agatha triumphantly through the successive stages of preparation. It -was not until Howard had actually driven to the station to meet the -expected arrival that she began to appreciate her own temerity in -committing herself to so reckless a scheme. To be an old lady for an -entire summer, to be discreet and dignified—sufficiently so at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -to deceive a blind man—began to seem to her a contract impossible to -carry out. Her knees weakened under her. An abnormal acceleration of -her pulses convinced her that she was more frightened than she was -willing to admit. As the time approached for Howard's return, she was -almost on the point of offering a prayer that Mr. Forbes had suddenly -decided on a summer in Canada.</p> - -<p>The carryall drawn by the leisurely bays came in sight just when -apprehension was reaching the point of panic. Agatha strained her eyes. -Howard occupied the driver's place and in the comparative obscurity -of the back seat the outlines of a masculine figure were visible. Her -throat dry and her forehead unpleasantly moist, Agatha went out upon -the piazza to receive her guest.</p> - -<p>Under ordinary circumstances Howard's passenger would not have seemed -a formidable personage. In spite of the disfiguring blue goggles, his -clear-cut features were distinctly prepossessing. Moreover, his air -of helplessness would have appealed to the maternal instinct of any -female five years old, and led her to constitute herself his protector. -Only a guilty conscience accounted for the shrinking with which Agatha -advanced to welcome him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p> - -<p>"How do you do, Mr. Forbes." She spoke in the repressed tones she -imagined befitting age, and her fluttering heart imparted a suitable -<i>tremolo</i> to the greeting.</p> - -<p>Forbes snatched off his hat and put out a groping hand. His abundant -brown hair, cut severely close, showed a well-shaped head. His voice, -too, was in his favor.</p> - -<p>"Have I the pleasure—"</p> - -<p>"I am Miss Kent." Agatha took his hand and quickly released it. "Bring -Mr. Forbes' suit-case, Howard. I suppose you'd like to go to your room, -Mr. Forbes. Shall I help you?"</p> - -<p>She put her hand through his arm to guide him, her face aflame. Yet -her youthful zest for adventure was asserting itself and there was -something contagious in Howard's delight over actually embarking on -the anticipated conspiracy. Agatha's breathing steadied. She caught -Howard's eye and flashed a smile at him. The experience was like a -plunge into a mountain stream, exhilarating after the first shock was -over.</p> - -<p>"This is very good of you, Miss Kent," Forbes was saying as they -ascended the wide staircase, side by side. "I shan't be quite so -helpless as this when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> I've once got my bearings." His voice took on an -interrogative note. "I hardly suppose you would have known me?"</p> - -<p>Agatha threw him an appreciative glance. "I think it would be out of -the question for any one who had known you to forget you."</p> - -<p>"Really?" He seemed pleased. "But surely I have changed."</p> - -<p>"In twenty years? Certainly. Even I"—she smiled in enjoyment of her -own daring—"even I have changed since your last visit."</p> - -<p>Howard, on the stairs behind them, coughed loudly by way of applause, -but Agatha's complacency was destined to be jarred. "Don't make rash -claims," the new arrival said severely, "I feel you're nothing but a -girl."</p> - -<p>"I—I—"</p> - -<p>"At least that is how you impressed me the first time I saw you—the -only time I've seen you," Forbes corrected, "as if you would never grow -old."</p> - -<p>Agatha made a quick recovery. "I try to keep a young heart," she -replied demurely. "Now, Mr. Forbes, remember that when you get to the -top of the stairs you turn toward the front of the house, and the door -of your room is the first on your right."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> - -<p>The big front room for all its appalling shabbiness, was deliciously -airy. Forbes stood between the open windows and drew deep breaths. -"This is what I've been pining for without knowing it," he burst out. -"I have a presentiment that this air is going to be just the tonic I -need, and that I'll be seeing again in a week or two."</p> - -<p>"I hope—so," lied Agatha with the jerkiness of one unused to -falsehood. "Howard, get Mr. Forbes everything he needs and bring him -down to the porch when he is ready, unless he would like to lie down." -She withdrew sedately and then atoned for her unnatural repression by -galloping down the stairs and falling upon Miss Finch, who, having -viewed the arrival from a convenient window, had withdrawn to her own -little rocking chair, a prey to lugubrious forebodings.</p> - -<p>The panting Agatha revealed no traces of her late misgivings. "It's -ridiculously easy, Fritz, and the greatest fun. I believe I'd have made -a star actress. I honestly felt as old as the hills, exactly as if he -were a young fellow I'd known years ago, when he was a little boy. I -was almost tempted to smooth back his hair from his forehead—he has -such a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> nice thoughtful forehead, Fritz—and imprint a benevolent kiss -above his nose."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I saw he was nice-looking," sighed Miss Finch. "Such a pity he -can't see. I've often thought I wouldn't mind marrying a blind man or -a cripple and sacrificing my entire life to making him happy. But I'm -afraid you'd tire of it, Agatha."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure I should. It makes me tired even to think of such a thing," -admitted Agatha shamelessly. "But you don't get my point of view, -Fritz. The kiss was to have been maternal or even grandmotherly. He -thinks I am an old lady and in spite of everything, I regard myself -from his standpoint. I never looked forward to a summer so much in all -my life. It'll be like going to a play morning, noon and night."</p> - -<p>Voices sounded on the stairs, a man's deep notes blending pleasantly -with the fresh tones of a growing lad. Agatha seized Miss Finch's arm.</p> - -<p>"Come out and meet him, Fritz. And I believe I'll begin calling you -Zaida. You're considerably younger than I, you know. Why, what's the -matter?"</p> - -<p>Terror in her eyes, Miss Finch was resisting the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> friendly propulsion. -"I'm afraid to go near him. I'll be letting the cat out of the bag, and -I'm not going to have lies on my conscience even for you, Agatha."</p> - -<p>With a laugh the girl released her. "Poor old Fritz, you never were -intended for a diplomatic career. But you'll get used to it. Train -yourself to think of me as some one venerable and stately, long, long -past the follies of youth." She advanced to the door with a dancing -step borrowed from Mrs. Vernon Castle as depicted on the screen, turned -to kiss her hand to the crushed Miss Finch, and disappeared in the -direction of the kitchen. And presently, mingling with the composite -fragrance of the garden and distant hay-fields, the appreciative -nostrils of Mr. Burton Forbes differentiated the less esthetic but -equally delectable odor of frying chicken.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></p> - -<p class="center">A SOCIAL SECRETARY</p> - - -<p class="drop">I<span class="uppercase">n nineteen</span> observant years Agatha had noted a business man's -invariable interest in the local telegraph service, and the tendency of -lovers to be dissatisfied with the mail facilities of the neighborhood. -The concern manifested by Burton Forbes on learning that the Rural Free -Delivery called at Oak Knoll but once a day, classified him definitely, -in Agatha's estimation.</p> - -<p>"You can always send Howard to the village for the afternoon mail," she -suggested, the new warmth in her voice an unconscious demonstration of -the truth that all the world loves a lover.</p> - -<p>"Thanks, that's fine!" The brightening of Forbes' face quite offset -his immediate conscientious warning that she was not to spoil him just -because she was sorry for him.</p> - -<p>As the Rural Free Delivery brought nothing of consequence on the -morning following Forbes' arrival, Howard was despatched to the village -after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> the mid-day meal, leaving Forbes in Agatha's care. Agatha -conducted her charge to a creaking rocking chair, in the shadiest angle -of the porch, and shoved a foot-stool near. "Now I'll get my knitting," -she said blithely, "and we'll talk."</p> - -<p>Forbes seemed delighted. "It's too good to be true," he murmured. "I -thought they were extinct, the old ladies who sat knitting. It's like -stepping into the heart of an old-fashioned story."</p> - -<p>Agatha smiled tolerantly. "It's clear you're just back from South -America. Up here everybody's knitting, young and old."</p> - -<p>"But not like you," he insisted. "I am sure you have an air about it -that differentiates your knitting from all this kittenish frolicking -with balls of yarn." He turned his wistful face toward her as if it -helped to visualize the picture, and then added, "Just the hour for -confidences, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>Agatha smiled at the dun colored wool in her lap. "A warm day, a cool -porch, an old lady knitting, and a young man in love. Of course it's -ideal for confidences."</p> - -<p>He did not seem in any hurry to take advantage of the opening he had -asked for. "I'm afraid I'm going to impose on you," he said, after -so long a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> pause that she wondered whether he were planning to deny -her charge. "Howard is a bright kid, and I'm sure he'll prove a -satisfactory secretary, but there are a few letters I'd hate to dictate -to a boy." He laughed with rather an engaging air of shyness as he -added, "I imagine it won't be particularly easy to dictate them even to -you."</p> - -<p>"Of course not," agreed Agatha, with ready sympathy. "Love-letters seem -one's own business more than almost anything in the world." His artless -confidences had brought a lovely color to her cheeks. Practical as -Agatha believed herself, she was romance-hungry, and it did not matter -in the least that in this particular love-affair she was cast for a -minor rôle. "And I'll read you her letters, too," she offered joyously. -"It will save Howard some trying experiences. Howard's just at the age -when he's horribly embarrassed by anything in the shape of sentiment."</p> - -<p>"Thank you. I'd any amount rather you read them," returned Forbes -gratefully. "But they won't be sentimental letters, at all. Howard -could read them without finding a word that would bring a blush to his -maiden cheek."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" observed Agatha blankly, and knitted to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> the end of her needle -without speaking. Apparently the path that had seemed so plain led -nowhere, after all.</p> - -<p>Forbes, too, seemed in no haste to speak. "Of course," he explained at -last, "I'm very hopeful. If I make a complete recovery as the doctors -tell me I'm likely to do, there's no reason why things shouldn't be as -they were before."</p> - -<p>Agatha laid down her knitting and regarded him fixedly, an upright -crease between her brows. The tranquillity of his unconscious face gave -the impression that she must have misunderstood him. "How were they -before?" she asked bluntly.</p> - -<p>Apparently he did not question her right to a categorical answer. "We -had planned to be married in January till this came up. But of course I -couldn't hold a girl like Julia when there's a possibility of my having -to grope my way through life."</p> - -<p>"No, of course not," agreed Agatha, with misleading calm. "But if she -were enough in love with you to plan to marry you in January, I should -suppose something would hold her, something you had nothing to do with."</p> - -<p>There was a moment of rather tense silence. Then Forbes laughed out -boyishly:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You dear old soul," he cried, "you don't know how mid-Victorian that -sounds. When you were a girl, women took all that sentimental stuff -seriously; about sacrificing themselves for love, I mean. But you don't -understand the modern girl. She's beyond that."</p> - -<p>"I don't pretend to understand your Julia," agreed Agatha, her eyes -aflame, "I don't want to."</p> - -<p>Forbes laughed again, this time with a reservation in his mirth. "Look -here," he said, "you mustn't criticize Julia, for then I can't talk -to you about her, and that would be a deuced bore. And she's a queen. -A girl of that sort is bound to know her value. Julia was really fond -of me, not desperately in love as I was—as I am—that wasn't to be -expected, but really fond of me and inclined to exaggerate ridiculously -my small achievements. But of course it's out of the question for her -to marry me if the rest of my life is to be a game of Blind Man's Buff."</p> - -<p>"Per—perhaps so," Agatha stammered. One of her ready rages was coming -on. She felt it distinctly. One familiar symptom was that her blood -seemed boiling in her veins, and her ears felt hot and swollen. She had -seen them before when she was angry, flaming like two danger signals, -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> tempering the redness of her hair. Her shaking hands made knitting -quite impossible. "Of course people can't marry if they haven't the -money to marry on," she succeeded in saying finally, in an unsteady -voice, "but there's nothing to keep them from loving each other till -they die, and having that comfort, anyway."</p> - -<p>She had succeeded in making him very uncomfortable. She would have -known that by the way the rocking chair was creaking as he squirmed, -even if his astonished face had not borne witness to the facts in the -case.</p> - -<p>"It—it is not a question of money," he explained stiffly. "I have -plenty, and so has she. We're not extravagant in our tastes, either of -us. The thing that's out of the question—" He seemed to find a little -difficulty in making it clear, after all, and floundered at this point. -"You can't think of it," he protested angrily, "tying a girl like -Julia, a beautiful, queenly creature, to a man who has to be led around -like a poodle dog. God! I couldn't be coward enough to accept such a -sacrifice."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I understand, now." Agatha's anger was past the inarticulate -stage. She pulled a needle from her knitting, and brandished it -dangerously as she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> talked. "You mean that you wouldn't <i>let</i> her -be engaged to you." The affected innocence of her voice was flatly -contradicted by the bitterness of her eyes. "You just insisted that -there shouldn't be anything more between you two till you were sure -that your eyes were going to be all right again. Well, I tell you -frankly that I think you've treated Julia brutally, and that she has a -right to detest you."</p> - -<p>Apparently Mr. Forbes was losing confidence in his ability to make the -matter clear. He sighed patiently as he tried again.</p> - -<p>"No, that isn't it. We were agreed perfectly on the subject. Love -isn't quite so reckless a passion as it was when you were young, Miss -Kent. Julia and I belong to a reasonable generation, tremendously -matter-of-fact. She was really cut up over the whole affair, but she -felt she owed it to herself to break the engagement since my future was -so uncertain, and I felt I owed it to her to release her. So we were -perfectly agreed, you see."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I see." Agatha was glaring at him with the expression of a -vixen. "Just as businesslike as if you had been planning to go into -partnership to raise chickens, weren't you? And so that's what the -modern girl is like. Dear me!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> - -<p>The edge to her voice made her irritation sufficiently plain, and -Forbes, with a gentle deference that touched her, changed the topic -to one unlikely to combat her old-fashioned prejudices. They were -discussing Thackeray and George Eliot when Howard returned. Swinging -himself from his pony, the boy came clattering along the porch, and -deposited a package of mail on his employer's knees.</p> - -<p>"It's lucky I went over," Howard declared. "You've got a regular -windfall, five or six letters beside the things with one-cent stamps."</p> - -<p>In spite of Mr. Forbes' assumption of ultra-modern reasonableness, his -countenance betrayed a boyish ardor that added to Agatha's resentment -against the recreant Julia. She took possession of the letters, saying -to her brother, "You'd better put the pony up, hadn't you, Howard? I'll -attend to Mr. Forbes' mail."</p> - -<p>Her boarder only waited for the beat of the pony's hoofs to tell that -Howard was out of hearing, before he leaned toward her, his face -pathetically eager. "Is there one from her?"</p> - -<p>"What's the post-mark?"</p> - -<p>"She's probably at the Briercliff Manor, this week. She writes a -striking hand, not the old-time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> idea of feminine, but full of -character and strength. You'll always recognize it after you've seen it -once."</p> - -<p>Unfortunately it appeared that Agatha's education in this important -branch of knowledge was not to begin immediately. There was no letter -from Julia. This fact established, the light went out of Forbes' face, -and it remained blank during the reading of several communications of -varying degrees of interest. For the first time he seemed an embodiment -of all the pitiful helplessness of the blind.</p> - -<p>"I suppose," he ventured hesitatingly, when she had finished, "that -you're too busy to take a letter for me to-day. Got to go on with that -knitting, haven't you?"</p> - -<p>Agatha longed to say yes. In her present mood, to transcribe an -impassioned letter to the object of Forbes' regard, seemed well-nigh -intolerable. Inexorably she forced herself to reply that she was not in -the least busy. "I'll get Howard out of the way by sending him to the -garden," she added. "He'll be perfectly willing to change jobs with me."</p> - -<p>Howard, who had the average boy's aversion to the use of a pen, bore -out her statement and joyfully agreed to picking peas in place of -acting as an amanuensis. He went his way, favoring her with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> an almost -ribald wink, a natural reaction from the profound respect he was now -required to show her. With an expression that would have befitted Queen -Elizabeth, when signing the death-warrant of Lady Jane Grey, Agatha -began her task.</p> - -<p>Forbes' mood, though disappointed, was not reproachful. His pale face -flushing slightly at the novel experience of giving voice to such -tender sentiments in the presence of a third person, he dictated the -letter with only those pauses necessary to enable Agatha to keep pace -with him.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p> - -"<span class="smcap">My Dearest Girl</span>.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"The afternoon mail has just been brought from the village, and I was -disappointed at not receiving a letter from you. Disappointed I am, -but not surprised, for I am sure that wherever you are, you will have -little time to yourself unless you take it by main force, so to speak. -That is the penalty I pay for being in love with one so charming.</p> - -<p>"I wish you could look in on me here, at the home of my father's old -friend, Miss Agatha Kent. Oak Knoll is a fine old place. The house is -spacious, comfortable and homelike, the last characteristic doubtless -due to the personality of the owner. As Miss Kent is good enough to -write this for me, I must wait some other opportunity to tell you how -delightful I find her. Her type is disappearing, unluckily, which -makes me all the more ready to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> congratulate myself on this chance of -renewing a friendship which might almost be regarded as an inheritance.</p> - -<p>"The troublesome eyes pained me a little last night, but lying awake -was not altogether fruitless, as in the stillness I could bring your -dear face before me almost as vividly as if I saw it in the flesh. -To-day I feel much better. I am convinced that this wonderful air is -going to make me over, and then in a few weeks I shall again have a -right to indulge myself in the dreaming of those dreams which need no -Daniel to interpret them."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Forbes' deep voice came to a halt at this point. He turned his face -toward Agatha, the involuntary movement showing that his blindness was -not of long duration, and smiled with that winsome boyishness which -made it impossible to believe him past thirty.</p> - -<p>"I believe I'll take my pen in hand for the wind-up, if you please, -Miss Kent. I think I can manage a line or two, without making it -illegible."</p> - -<p>She brought the sheet to him, put the pen in his hand, and indicated -where he was to begin to write. And then suddenly as she watched him, -the outline of his fine profile was blurred by angry tears. Something -in his expression gave her an inkling of the tenderness compressed in -those few straggling lines,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> and all for the girl who had "owed it to -herself" to break her engagement because of his misfortune.</p> - -<p>"She owes it to herself to break with him," reflected Agatha, "but she -doesn't owe it to him to make it final, and give him a chance to get -over it Oh, no! He can go on to the end of his life dreaming about -her, and making love to her, and feeding her vanity by his devotion. -And then he calls that deliberate heartlessness reasonable, and makes -himself believe that she's the type of the modern girl. The cat!"</p> - -<p>Agatha's righteous indignation was getting the best of her. She said -the last two words aloud.</p> - -<p>"Beg pardon!" Forbes turned, showing a puzzled face.</p> - -<p>"The cat is rather near the chickens," Agatha explained. "If you'll -excuse me, I'll run down and drive her away." She started at a pace -which would have been reckless for rheumatic knees, recalled herself, -and slowed down till beyond his hearing. Then she stood quite still and -stamped her foot upon the gravel like a restive horse, till she felt -better.</p> - -<p>When she returned, flushed but calm, the letter was completed and -folded. "Haven't any asbestos<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> envelopes, have you?" questioned Forbes, -trying to make a joke out of his bit of sentiment. "I've made it -hot stuff, I assure you." And then he acknowledged that an ordinary -envelope would probably retain his ardent effusion without bursting -into flame, and Agatha wrote the name she already hated, eying each -letter malevolently, as she set it down:</p> - -<p class="center"> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;"><span class="smcap">Miss Julia Studley</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Briercliff Manor</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Briercliff, New York</span></span><br /> -</p> - -<p>Howard took her aside that night to thank her for relieving him of an -obnoxious task. "It's the only part of the work I mind, writing those -darned letters. Does he make 'em long?"</p> - -<p>"A great deal too long," said Agatha, "and I don't blame you for hating -that job. It's rotten."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></p> - -<p class="center">COMPLICATIONS</p> - - -<p class="drop">F<span class="uppercase">or</span> a week Forbes' spirits were fitful. Morning after morning, the -Rural Free Delivery brought a variety of offerings, and disappointment -along with the rest. Each afternoon Howard rode to the village, and -though he never returned empty-handed, he might as well have done so, -since he failed to bring the right letter. Had it not been for Agatha, -Forbes' depression might easily have become serious. She spent with him -all the time she could spare, even shelling peas and whipping cream -upon the porch within arm's length of his chair. Whatever opinion he -expressed, she promptly disagreed. She railed at modern institutions. -She professed unbounded contempt for the modern girl. She was as -prickly as a chestnut burr, as puckery as an unripe persimmon, as -ruffling as a January gale. But she gained her point. Forbes did not -mope.</p> - -<p>In that week of waiting, she wrote at his dictation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> three letters to -Julia, all of them ardently tender, and quite uncomplaining. Though he -confessed to disappointment over not hearing from her, he did not seem -to question that it was her privilege to keep him waiting her pleasure. -His humility aroused Agatha to a fury of protest. She dotted her "i's" -as if she were stabbing the paper, and crossed her "t's" with a sweep, -like the slash of a knife. Her valorous instinct to champion the cause -of the under dog had never been so constantly in evidence.</p> - -<p>The table at Oak Knoll was extremely good that week. In addition to -distracting Forbes' thoughts by continually opposing him, Agatha -concentrated her attention on making him eat. The fundamental common -sense, underlying like granite her girlish caprices and audacity, -assured her that an aching heart was in some mysterious fashion -relieved by a full stomach. The price Forbes had insisted on paying -for his board had seemed to her excessive, and now it justified her in -trying her choicest recipes. And while Forbes' mood would have made it -easy for him to be quite indifferent to what was set before him, thanks -to these tactics he ate with a rather shamefaced relish, and assured -Agatha that cooks of her sort had all been born before the Civil War.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> - -<p>At the end of a trying week, the looked-for letter arrived. Agatha -herself took it from the mail box at the end of the long drive, and she -eyed it as if it had been a new species of noxious insect. Though she -had never seen Julia's chirography, she instantly recognized it, even -without the aid of the post-mark. The letter was a long one, evidently, -for it had called for double postage.</p> - -<p>Agatha walked rapidly back to the house, congratulating herself that -her duties would be less onerous, at least till the stimulating effect -of this letter had worn away. She beckoned to Howard, who was escorting -Forbes about the grounds on his morning constitutional, and despatched -him on some unnecessary errand, while she took his place at Forbes' -side. "It's come," she said briefly.</p> - -<p>Though terse, the statement was quite intelligible. Forbes put out his -hand eagerly, and she saw it was trembling. She gave him the letter, -conscious of a pity that had a mixture of contempt. "Shall I read it to -you?" she asked.</p> - -<p>"Why, of course. What am I thinking of! Shall we go to the porch? It -seems like a fat fellow, and I don't want to keep you standing."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> - -<p>Agatha put her hand through his arm and steered him in the direction -of the house. She noticed the shadow on his face had lifted. A little -color had come to his cheeks, and his sensitive mouth seemed on the -point of smiling. She felt that she despised his weakness in letting -himself be played upon by the caprices of a heartless girl, but at the -same time, she wanted to cry. And Forbes, as if suspecting her mood, -entertained her as they walked, by making fun of himself and of the -rapture he could not hide.</p> - -<p>"What do you think, Miss Kent? Will you be equal to reading this to me -every day till the next one comes?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose," said Agatha with resignation, "that I can stand it if you -can."</p> - -<p>"Oh, there won't be any difficulty as far as I'm concerned. In fact, -if my eyes were normal, I should probably read it several times a day, -whenever I had a minute to spare. But I haven't the nerve to impose on -you to that extent."</p> - -<p>"Heaven forbid!" cried Agatha devoutly, and he broke into hilarious -laughter. Agatha reflected that if this was the result of falling in -love, the longer that catastrophe was postponed, the better.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> - -<p>Forbes had been quite correct in saying that Julia's letter would -not be sentimental. Howard could have read it without the slightest -embarrassment. She apologized casually for not having written earlier, -and by way of explanation gave a list of her engagements for the past -two weeks, a device which lent her letter the effect of the society -column in a Sunday newspaper, and accounted for the double postage. -The names of several men appeared frequently in her record, and it -was evident that Forbes was not the only one of his sex to recognize -her charm. She even quoted one or two compliments she had received, -as if certain of his sympathetic pleasure in her popularity, and his -expression as he listened seemed to justify her confidence.</p> - -<p>On the last page of the fifteen, Julia detached herself from this -fascinating theme, and touched on his affairs. She was glad he was -better and she was sure he must enjoy Oak Knoll. She thought those old -colonial houses simply lovely and from his description, Miss Kent was a -perfect dear. It was good of him to write so often for she was always -glad to hear, and she was very cordially his friend, Julia.</p> - -<p>Agatha laid down the letter, hardly able to keep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> back the scornful -comment that rushed to her lips like a hemorrhage. She was rather in -hopes Forbes would say it himself. The shallowness of the missive, its -unabashed vanity, its colossal selfishness were so apparent to her -intelligence that she half expected to have Forbes break the silence by -congratulating himself on his escape from marrying Julia in January. -With this thought in her mind, the fatuous complacency indicated by -Forbes' tone came in the nature of a shock.</p> - -<p>"She's a bit irregular as a correspondent, but when she does write, you -see it's some letter."</p> - -<p>Agatha digested this in silence.</p> - -<p>"You can gather from this," continued the unconscious Mr. Forbes, "how -popular she is. Wherever she goes, she's the center of attention."</p> - -<p>Since it gave him pleasure to continue in this strain, and Agatha was -not really hard-hearted, she composed herself to listen till Howard's -return. But the sight of her brother's slender figure in the distance -was peculiarly welcome. By dint of vehement gestures, she induced him -to exchange his sauntering gait for a run, and so shortened her ordeal -perceptibly.</p> - -<p>Howard looked from the frowning girl to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> smiling young man with -perplexity. For several days Forbes' depression had weighed on the -boy's spirits. And now Mr. Forbes was grinning like a chessy cat, -and Aggie looked mad enough to bite a nail in two. Howard continued -to stare till by a sweeping gesture Agatha indicated her wish to be -left to herself. For some time Forbes had gone through the program -of exercise his physician had outlined with a listlessness which -proved his lack of interest. Now as Howard suggested continuing their -interrupted walk, he clapped the boy on the shoulder, seized his arm -and the two went off laughing. And Agatha, recalling his boast that he -was a representative of a generation remarkable for its reasonableness, -smiled sourly and significantly after his departing figure, and asked -herself whether all men were fools, or only the nice ones.</p> - -<p>In her valiant effort to sustain Forbes' spirits, Agatha had for some -days neglected her household duties, and she profited by his temporary -accession of cheerfulness to despatch a number of pressing duties, -aided by Phemie Tidd, the daughter of a neighboring farmer. The most -notable characteristic of Phemie was her stupidity, and though Agatha -had sometimes found this trying, in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> present emergency she derived -satisfaction from the certainty that nature had rendered it impossible -for Phemie to find out anything on her own initiative. Whether she was -positively weak-minded or not was a question on which the community did -not agree, but under careful supervision she accomplished rather more -work than would have seemed possible, considering her mental equipment.</p> - -<p>As there was no immediate prospect of another letter from Julia, -Howard was excused from his afternoon trips to the village, and left -to discharge his secretarial duties unassisted. For this reason Agatha -was several hours late in learning an important bit of news. It was -approaching noon on Friday when she came out upon the porch flushed and -weary, after a strenuous morning, and dropped into a chair near that -which Forbes was occupying. Though the young man was alone, his mood -was evidently cheerful. As she approached him, his smile challenged her -attention, and she pondered with frank amazement on the extraordinary -effect of Julia's inane letter.</p> - -<p>"It's Miss Kent, isn't it?" Forbes looked boyishly pleased over having -guessed correctly. "I am beginning to enjoy some of the perquisites of -blind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>ness. I can recognize the footsteps of all of you. Do you know -you walk with wonderful lightness for a woman of your age?"</p> - -<p>Agatha immediately resolved to begin wearing a pair of Howard's -slippers, which could be kept on only by dragging her feet.</p> - -<p>"I've been wanting to see you all the morning," continued Forbes -light-heartedly. "I've great news for you. We're going to have company."</p> - -<p>"Company!" Had Forbes' sense of hearing reached the stage of acuteness -he fondly imagined, he would have recognized instantly a note of -wildness in Agatha's exclamation.</p> - -<p>"Had a letter this morning from a pal of mine, fellow I knew in -college. He's coming to-morrow to spend Sunday with me."</p> - -<p>"To spend Sunday!" Even though Forbes was unable to perceive the frozen -horror of Agatha's countenance, her appalled tone convinced him that -something was wrong. His smile gave way to an expression of anxiety.</p> - -<p>"It won't inconvenience you to put him up, will it, Miss Kent?"</p> - -<p>Agatha found herself unable to reply. Her cas<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>tle in the air was about -to topple. A friend of Forbes was coming, and his would be as eyes to -the blind. Through him Forbes would learn that the house was in need -of painting and shingling and papering, that the furniture was in all -stages of dilapidation, and that she herself was not an elderly lady -with a motherly interest in youth, but a mere girl with a surprising -facility in falsehood. And while these agonized forebodings flitted -through her brain, Forbes was offering dismayed apologies.</p> - -<p>"I beg your pardon a thousand times. I should have realized—Of course, -this isn't a boarding-house, but the fact that you advertised for -boarders, misled me, don't you see? If Warren's coming is going to put -you out at all, I'll have Howard telegraph him at once."</p> - -<p>Agatha came to herself. There was risk, of course, in granting -permission for his friend's visit, yet anything was better, even -discovery, than that she should appear inhospitable. Her cheeks grew -hot as she recalled his generosity and saw him confused and apologetic -over having asked a friend to solace his loneliness for a week-end.</p> - -<p>"Indeed you shall do nothing of the kind," she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> said with authority. -"You didn't understand me. I'm only sorry not to meet your friend. I -expect to be away over Sunday."</p> - -<p>"Oh, but that's bad. I particularly wanted Warren to see you. We might -telegraph him to make it Sunday week."</p> - -<p>Agatha vetoed the suggestion. It was better that Mr. Warren should come -as he had planned. "And besides," she added with swift return of her -normal audacity, "if he is here you won't miss me so much."</p> - -<p>"I shall miss you under any and all circumstances, dear lady." Forbes' -air of animation had returned, and it was so great a relief to see him -smiling again, that she resolutely shut her eyes to the pitfalls ahead.</p> - -<p>"I shall get a girl from the neighborhood to do the cooking," explained -Agatha. "And Miss Finch will mother you all in my place."</p> - -<p>"But not in your way." Forbes had a confused but unflattering -impression of Miss Finch, due to the fact that she never dared trust -herself to converse with him for more than a minute at a time, for -fear of making some unfortunate revelation. "And I'm sorry," he ended -regretfully, "that Warren's not to taste your cooking."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Hephzibah is exactly as good. I trained her."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Good Heavens! You don't mean there's a living woman with a name like -that."</p> - -<p>"Oh, do you think Hephzibah an odd name? It wasn't uncommon when I was -a girl." Agatha felt that she had taken leave of reason as well as of -principle. "Hephzibah Diggs," she repeated thoughtfully. "I suppose it -would have rather a quaint sound to any one not used to it."</p> - -<p>"It's a name for the vaudeville stage," said Mr. Forbes with -conviction. He returned to the subject of Agatha's other substitute. "I -suppose Warren will have a chance to get more of an impression of Miss -Finch than I have succeeded in doing, for he'll have his eyes to help -him out. All I have been able to discover is that she never finishes -her sentences."</p> - -<p>"She's shy with men, poor girl," said Agatha, and then as he looked -puzzled, "Of course she seems quite elderly to you, but to me she's -only a girl."</p> - -<p>Forbes whistled softly, shaking his head. "A blind man would credit you -with immortal youth, and convict her of never having been less than -middle-aged. I begin to believe that eyesight is misleading."</p> - -<p>Agatha broke away from him before her mood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> of reprehensible -recklessness should have implicated her still further. Then in the -seclusion of her own room, she wept. "It's bad enough to stretch the -truth when I positively can't help it," she told herself, "but this -morning I simply wallowed in falsehood. And now I must live up to -Hephzibah Diggs. Why couldn't I have called her Mamie Thompson? It's -all the fault of that atrocious Warren person, and I wish something -would happen to him on the way down. I suppose it's too much to hope -for a railway accident, with only one passenger killed, but that would -serve him exactly right."</p> - -<p>Agatha's courage did not revive until she undertook to prepare Miss -Finch for the responsibilities which would devolve upon her in the -absence of the mistress of the house. Her pale eyes became unnaturally -prominent as Agatha explained.</p> - -<p>"Agatha, I can't. I'd go through fire and water for you, but I can't -have a lie on my conscience. At my age I've got to prepare for death, -any day, and I can't be loading my soul down with mortal sin."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Fritz, don't be so foolish. It's not necessary to lie." Agatha's -conscience gave a twinge like an uneasy tooth, as she recalled her -entirely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> gratuitous inventions of the morning. "All you have to do is -to keep from telling the truth."</p> - -<p>"You can do it all right, you're so quick-witted, but I have to have -time."</p> - -<p>Agatha had an inspiration. "If he says anything you don't know how to -answer, pretend you're hard of hearing. And make him keep repeating it -over till he gets tired, or you've thought of something to say."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch showed no inclination to rejoice over this simple solution -of her difficulty. Her thin nose reddened as abruptly as if it had been -pinched, and her eyes filled.</p> - -<p>"I know I'm going to make a mess of things. I've felt from the start -that no good could come of cheating a blind man. And after you go -to-morrow—"</p> - -<p>"But I'm not really going, Fritz. Somebody must do the cooking. I shall -be in the kitchen, and my name will be Hephzibah Diggs."</p> - -<p>"Hephzibah Diggs!" Miss Finch repeated, appalled. "You're going to be -somebody else?"</p> - -<p>"Only till Mr. Warren gets out of the house."</p> - -<p>"And you picked out that name yourself, just for the fun of it?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> - -<p>Agatha reddened under her old friend's accusing gaze. "I had to have -some name," she protested weakly.</p> - -<p>"You didn't have to have that. It almost looks to me as if you were -getting where you took pleasure in deception."</p> - -<p>As this only echoed Agatha's self-accusation, she exclaimed, "The -idea!" with an air of indignant protest.</p> - -<p>"It keeps me awake nights," Miss Finch continued mournfully, "the way -things are in this house. It seems as if there might be an explosion -any minute. You're young and light-hearted, Agatha, and you can't -understand my feelings."</p> - -<p>"Can't I, though," mused Agatha, as her old friend tottered toward the -house. "And what's more, I shouldn't wonder if the explosion came off -in just about twenty-four hours."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></p> - -<p class="center">COMPANY MANNERS</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">gatha</span> took leave of Forbes about two hours before Warren's train -was due. She had worked valiantly most of the morning to render the -room he was to occupy approximately presentable. She had patched -the worst places in the carpet, provided two chairs with seats of -cretonne, and brought all the pictures from her own quarters to help -disguise the defaced condition of the guest-room walls. Her feeling of -dissatisfaction with the result, rather than her labors, had tired her, -and she had no heart for making the most of the dramatic possibilities -of the farewell. In her faded print dress, with a dusting cap drooping -limply over one ear, she presented herself on the porch, hastily -drawing on a kid glove, her sole make-up for her rôle.</p> - -<p>"Well, good-by, Mr. Forbes. I'm going now."</p> - -<p>Forbes took her gloved hand in both his. "I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> hope you'll have a -delightful week-end," he said cordially. "Nobody deserves it more."</p> - -<p>"I'm not anxious to get my deserts," Agatha assured him with truth, and -then to head off inconvenient questionings, "Give my apologies to Mr. -Warren, and say that if it had been possible I would have been here to -receive him myself. But I am sure that Miss Finch and Hephzibah between -them will make you perfectly comfortable."</p> - -<p>She released her hand and pulling off her glove as she went, betook -herself to the kitchen, where Phemie was still washing the dishes from -the mid-day meal. Left to herself, Phemie could be trusted to stretch -that uninspiring task over the better part of the afternoon. Thanks to -Agatha's presence, the splashing at once became animated.</p> - -<p>Deprived of the stimulating companionship of his elderly hostess, -Forbes decided to accompany Howard to the station. From the kitchen -window Agatha watched the carryall pass and recalled the sensations -with which she had first seen Forbes approaching in the same shabby -vehicle. Perhaps her present apprehensions would prove as groundless -as those. Agatha whistled a martial tune, as she beat up her cake, -and sought diversion in addressing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> Phemie with that disregard of -grammatical precedent to be expected from a girl named Hephzibah Diggs.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The usual number of loungers was in evidence at the Bridgewater -station, and the approach of Howard and his passenger was the signal -for animated comment. The rumors Agatha had been at such pains to -disseminate had taken on new and startling details as the village -gossips rolled them under their tongues. It was stated on indisputable -authority that Forbes had been the victim of sunstroke during his South -American sojourn, and that this had left him blind and with his mind -permanently affected. Another equally authoritative version pictured -him the slave of an appetite for liquor and accounted for his presence -at Oak Knoll by the fact that the village was "bone dry." All the -rumors agreed, however, in emphasizing Forbes' aversion to society, -and though Howard was surrounded and questioned as soon as he stepped -on the platform, it was not till the train was in sight that any one -ventured to approach the vehicle where Forbes sat alone.</p> - -<p>Howard, absorbed in the responsibilities connected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> with the -recognition of Mr. Warren, failed to notice the intrusion on Forbes' -privacy, but a number of other people were more observant. For once the -arrival of the four o'clock express had a rival in the public interest. -The unconscious Forbes was the target for a dozen pair of curious eyes, -as Jim Doolittle slouched toward him.</p> - -<p>Jim paused by the carryall and looked Forbes over with the agreeable -certainty that he could make his scrutiny as prolonged and insolent as -he pleased, without being called to account. Then as the noise of the -approaching train warned him to make the most of his conversational -opportunities, he ventured a remark: "How do you find yourself to-day?"</p> - -<p>Forbes' face showed no change of expression. Though Jim's nasal tones -reached him distinctly, it did not occur to him that he was the object -of solicitude. Jim waited vainly for a reply, and then, spurred to -persistence by his grinning audience, he tried again, this time lifting -his voice to a bellow, as if Forbes were deaf as well as blind. "Air -they treatin' you right out to Kent's?"</p> - -<p>Forbes turned with a start. "Beg pardon! I didn't know you were -speaking to me."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You're stayin' out to Kent's ain't you, for the summer? Folks say you -came for your health."</p> - -<p>"Yes." Forbes spoke stiffly, sharing the impression of most men who -have always been robust, that illness is a disgrace. "The doctors -advised a change of air."</p> - -<p>"And does Aggie Kent take good care of you?"</p> - -<p>The formality of Mr. Forbes' manner became more pronounced. "Miss -Kent," he replied, with marked emphasis on the prefix, "has made me -most comfortable."</p> - -<p>"Glad to hear it, glad to hear it," Mr. Doolittle assured him affably. -"Seems as if takin' boarders was pretty risky for anybody of her age."</p> - -<p>Forbes' irritation deepened. "Miss Kent is perfectly capable and -extremely vigorous. I believe she could tire me out."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I shouldn't wonder," Jim agreed, rather to Forbes' annoyance. -"And I guess Zaida Finch steadies her down when there's a chance of her -doin' something flighty."</p> - -<p>As this suggested to Forbes the weakening of his hostess' intellect -through age, necessitating the guardianship of Miss Finch, he contented -himself by a disdainful silence. The approach of Howard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> with a -stranger in tow checked further conversational angling on Jim's part -He tore himself away with a genial, "See you later," to which Forbes -responded by a non-committal grunt. But he forgot his annoyance as -Warren shouted his name, coupled with those abusive epithets with which -his sex are wont to disguise sentiment toward one another.</p> - -<p>Mr. Ridgeley Warren took an unaffected pleasure in his own society, -which as a rule proved contagious. He was an inveterate talker, noisy, -slangy, in every way Forbes' antithesis. Warren admired Forbes' -dignity, and Forbes found diversion in Warren's flow of spirits. And -beneath this mutual admiration was one of those steadfast affections -which springing up between two men is more lasting, in nine cases out -of ten, than the love between men and women.</p> - -<p>It was fortunate that the staid bays knew the way home, for though -Howard sat with the lines in his hands, he left to the horses all -responsibility for keeping to the road, and turning at the right -crossing. Warren told stories steadily all the way, and roared his -appreciation of each. Howard laughed too, and Forbes shared their -amusement, though less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> boisterously. Though the horses moved with -deliberation, the five-mile drive seemed short.</p> - -<p>As they turned up the driveway at Oak Knoll, Forbes said with the pride -of a proprietor, "Fine old place, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"You bet," agreed Warren, his eyes upon one of the splendid oaks which -had given the place its name. Then beyond, he caught sight of the -house, and he leaned forward for a better look. "House been standing -for some time, from appearances."</p> - -<p>"Built by Miss Kent's grandfather," Forbes replied boastfully, "and -she's well on to seventy. I imagine the house is a hundred years old."</p> - -<p>Warren, staring at the sagging roof of the old building, looked as if -he could easily believe it, but unaware of his lack of enthusiasm, -Forbes continued: "I'm sorry you're not going to see Miss Kent, as -she's away for over Sunday. You'd fall in love with her on sight."</p> - -<p>Warren shrugged his shoulders. "Seventeen is nearer my style than -seventy. Can't you trot out some pretty girls for me to fall in love -with?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid Miss Finch is all we can offer you in the way of feminine -society, old man, and I've found<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> her 'uncertain, coy and hard to -please.' But you always had a way with the ladies. You might do better."</p> - -<p>The carriage stopped at the door. Howard alighted and possessed himself -of the visitor's suit-case. Miss Finch, who from the window of the -living-room had watched their leisurely progress along the driveway, -appeared on the porch, prepared to do her duty as hostess if it killed -her. Miss Finch's nose was red and her lips were blue. Despite the -warmth of the mild summer day, her teeth chattered.</p> - -<p>Warren's hilarious air had disappeared with his first view of the -dilapidated country house where his friend was spending the summer. -His introduction to Miss Finch completed his undoing. He stared at -the tremulous little figure in silent stupefaction. What on earth -was Forbes doing in this tumbledown building with two old women for -company? And the extraordinary part was that Forbes seemed contented -with his quarters. Warren ascended the stairs to his room, trying to -make up his mind how to handle the situation. He had an uneasy feeling -that his friend was being imposed on.</p> - -<p>The appearance of his quarters confirmed his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> worst apprehensions. -Warren looked around him, shook his head, and rejoined Forbes on the -porch, feeling the necessity of immediate action. But Forbes' air of -tranquillity made him hesitate. After all, if Forbes himself were -satisfied, that was the main thing.</p> - -<p>He broached the topic cautiously. "I judge your friend, Miss Kent, -isn't what you'd call opulent."</p> - -<p>"Hardly, or I shouldn't be here. She advertised for boarders. Some one -was reading me a few of the promising ads from the <i>Onlooker</i>, and I -recognized her name. You see I visited her once when I was a boy, and -I've always remembered the beauty of the place."</p> - -<p>"Trees are fine," agreed Warren with reserve. "But the buildings all -seem rather seedy. Need paint badly."</p> - -<p>"Do they?" Forbes spoke indifferently. "Paint is the least of my -troubles."</p> - -<p>"I suppose so. But say, Forbes, are you sure it's a good thing for you -to be cooped up here all summer with two old hens?"</p> - -<p>He had fancied he was being tactful, but to his surprise Forbes seemed -irritated.</p> - -<p>"You haven't seen Miss Kent. If you had, you'd<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> know that she's a -regular beef, iron and wine combination."</p> - -<p>"If she's like Miss Finch," Warren was beginning, when Forbes -interrupted him with such spontaneous laughter that he dropped his -sentence unfinished.</p> - -<p>"She's about as much like Miss Finch as a collie pup is like those -Teddy bears the kids lug around. She's an old lady in years, but -otherwise she's as young as you or I. She's so full of vitality that -you can't be near her ten minutes without feeling braced up. She's like -a mountain breeze."</p> - -<p>"Pity a woman of that sort didn't marry," commented Warren dryly.</p> - -<p>"That's what my old dad thought. Miss Kent was his first love, and he -stayed single on her account till he was well on to forty."</p> - -<p>"Maybe that's why you're ace high with the old lady. She's trying to -make up to the son for turning down the father."</p> - -<p>"Can't say, I'm sure. I imagine it's her disposition to be kind to the -crippled and disabled and generally good-for-nothing."</p> - -<p>His tone was suddenly bitter, and Warren's look sharpened. "How's -Julia?" he asked with seeming irrelevance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Julia's well and enjoying herself." Forbes' manner seemed to defy his -friend to criticize, and Warren, who would have enjoyed nothing better -than expressing his opinion of Julia, changed the subject abruptly. -If Forbes liked this gone-to-seed place and the society of old women -it was no concern of his. Queer how differently men were affected -when their love-affairs went wrong. Some took to drink and some were -women-haters. With Forbes it had developed a craving for the atmosphere -of an Old Ladies' Home. Every man to his taste.</p> - -<p>Supper partly dissipated Warren's concern. The dining-room was as rusty -as the rest of the house. Miss Finch at the head of the table looked -tinier and more frightened than ever. The girl who waited on the table -was, without exception, Warren decided, the most unattractive specimen -of youthful femininity he had ever come across. But the supper was -unique. As Warren ate, his high spirits returned. Old Forbes knew what -he was about, after all. A homely waitress need not trouble a blind -man. Warren was almost inclined to believe that he himself could put up -with the sight of Phemie's vacant face for the rest of his life, if he -could be sure of three such meals every day.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the relief from his anxiety regarding Forbes, Warren turned his -attention to Miss Finch. She looked so helpless over all his jokes, -that he realized the necessity of strict literalness in dealing with -her. "I suppose you've known Miss Kent for a long time," he said by way -of beginning.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch paled over the shock of being addressed, but answered with -unusual promptness, "Yes, ever since she was a teething baby."</p> - -<p>In an instant she knew what she had done even before Forbes, turning a -perplexed face in her direction, asked, "But you're the younger of the -two, are you not?"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch opened her mouth like a newly-landed fish, and closed it -again without speaking. The device Agatha had suggested and which -she had mentally dismissed as "acting a lie," thrust itself upon her -recollection, and she clutched it with the avidity of the desperate. -Putting her hand to her ear with the immemorial gesture of the deaf, -she quavered, "What did you say?"</p> - -<p>"I asked if you weren't the younger of the two. Miss Kent said to me -the other day that she thought of you as a mere girl."</p> - -<p>"I didn't quite catch what you said," faltered Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> Finch, but before -Forbes could again repeat his inquiry, Phemie created a diversion. -She had taken the water pitcher to refill it, and as she advanced -to the kitchen door, her tray extended before her, she looked back. -It was characteristic of Phemie to walk in one direction and look -in another. Agatha was beginning to congratulate herself on having -at last eradicated this tendency, but she had not reckoned on the -effect of a handsome and lively young man on Phemie's susceptible -temperament. As she turned for another look at Warren, Phemie's tray -came into collision with the door and the pitcher, overturning, broke -in fragments.</p> - -<p>As was inevitable, every one turned to look. Warren, who was in range -of the door, saw it open, apparently of its own accord. A figure stood -in the passageway, fairly dazzling in its effect after the gray tints -of Miss Finch, the subdued tan and tow of Phemie. His eyes drank in the -colorful apparition for some ten seconds and then a rounded arm closed -the door. Phemie picked up the fragments of the broken pitcher, and -tearfully withdrew.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch sat through the remainder of the meal without tasting a -morsel, waiting in an agony of apprehension for Forbes to ask her again -whether she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> was older or younger than Miss Kent. She might have spared -her anxiety, for Warren's flow of conversation gave no chance for -settling such minor perplexities. Warren was one of the men to whom the -propinquity of a pretty woman is as stimulating as champagne. He did -not think it probable that the apparition in the kitchen could hear his -witticisms, but he assumed that she must realize who was responsible -for the hilarity at the supper table. And even without this confidence, -he would probably have talked and jested in the same breezy fashion, -this form of responsiveness to beauty being instinctive with him rather -than deliberate.</p> - -<p>The moment he was alone with Forbes, Warren broached the subject -engrossing his thoughts. "Burton, you have my sympathy. You don't know -what you're missing. Under this roof there's as pretty a bit of flesh -and blood as ever wore petticoats. Take it from me, she's a peach."</p> - -<p>"Phemie?" exclaimed Forbes. "The waitress?"</p> - -<p>Warren's derisive yell effectually settled Phemie's claims. "Gosh, no! -That girl would stop a clock. This one was out in the kitchen, but I -could see her peeking through after the smash-up."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, yes," exclaimed Forbes, recollecting. "I know. That's Hephzibah."</p> - -<p>Warren positively staggered. "Lord, forbid," he ejaculated piously, -"she can't be."</p> - -<p>"She is, though, Hephzibah Diggs."</p> - -<p>Again Warren's stentorian tones shattered the peace of the night. -He used his first spare breath in announcing his intention to get a -nearer view and see if a girl named Hephzibah Diggs could possibly be -the beauty she had seemed. The announcement of this intention rendered -Forbes uneasy.</p> - -<p>"You let Hephzibah alone," he warned his friend. "These self-respecting -country girls think themselves as good as anybody—they <i>are</i> as good -as anybody. And I'm responsible to Miss Kent for your behavior."</p> - -<p>"I don't want anything of the girl except to see her by daylight. She's -not too self-respecting for that, is she?" And then seeing that Forbes -was really annoyed, Warren dropped the subject of Hephzibah, though -without the least alteration in his intentions.</p> - -<p>It did not prove so easy as he had anticipated to get a satisfactory -view of the girl whose face,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> glimpsed in the half-light of the -previous evening, had seemed so alluring. At breakfast time Phemie met -with no accident, and though Warren watched the swinging door that led -to the kitchen with the alertness of a cat at a rat hole, it swung open -and shut without revealing anything more seductive than a corner of the -kitchen table. The day was warm, but the outside kitchen door remained -obstinately closed, and on the rare occasions when it opened, it was -Phemie who emerged.</p> - -<p>Warren was not a man who readily surrendered. Indeed, difficulties -were likely to stiffen a careless desire into adamantine resolution. -When his watch showed noon and Hephzibah Diggs continued invisible, he -decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He rose from -his chair on the porch stretching his sinewy length lazily. "I believe -I'll walk about a bit," he said, "and work up an appetite for dinner. -With meals like these, a man wants to be able to do himself full -justice every time he sits down to the table."</p> - -<p>"You ought to try Miss Kent's cooking," boasted Forbes. "She trained -this girl, and she does well, but she's not a patch on her teacher."</p> - -<p>Warren's stroll took him no farther than the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> kitchen door. He ascended -the steps jauntily and knocked. After waiting vainly for an invitation -to enter, he decided to assume that it had been spoken, and pushing the -door ajar, he walked in.</p> - -<p>Over in the corner Phemie was chopping something in a wooden bowl, but -in spite of the insistent tapping of the knife upon the wood, he was -hardly conscious of her existence. A girl stood at the table rolling -out biscuit, and her sleeve turned back almost to the shoulders, -revealed a faultless arm, white and rounded and tapering to the -finger-tips. She turned her head at his step and he thrilled with -amazed pleasure. His glimpse of the previous evening had not been -misleading. Indeed his impression had fallen short of the actuality. He -was looking at the handsomest young woman he had ever seen.</p> - -<p>Mr. Ridgeley Warren did not lack self-confidence. His momentary silence -was due to wondering admiration, not to any doubt of his power to -please. With smiling self-possession he advanced into the room. In her -corner Phemie chopped on steadily, without removing her fascinated -eyes from his face. Hephzibah—it was preposterous that this radiant -creature should be encumbered with such a name—continued to roll -biscuit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You seem busy here," remarked Warren in his most ingratiating manner. -"Don't you want an assistant?"</p> - -<p>He was sorry to discover that the voice of Hephzibah Diggs was not in -accord with her bodily perfection. She talked through her nose and that -fact impressed him so painfully he almost lost the force of her reply, -"Guess me and Phemie kin manage."</p> - -<p>"I'm quite a little cook myself," continued Warren, saddened but not -discouraged. "In my last place they said my parboiled cauliflower beat -anything they had ever tasted. And my string-bean <i>parfait</i> has become -popular in the best New York restaurants."</p> - -<p>Phemie's delighted gasp was his sole applause. Hephzibah Diggs gave her -attention to her biscuits.</p> - -<p>Warren seated himself on one corner of the immaculate table and began -to talk with his customary volubility. His remarks took the form -he imagined would please a country farmer's daughter, lacking the -rudiments of education. He soon realized, and with some irritation, -that he was making an impression on the wrong girl. Phemie chortled -joyfully over her chopping. Hephzibah Diggs listened as if it were -against her principles to smile.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> - -<p>She brought three eggs from the pantry presently and broke them in a -workmanlike manner, whites in one bowl, and yolks in another. "Got to -have three more," she said to Phemie in that unpleasant nasal voice -which helped to reconcile Warren to her continued silence.</p> - -<p>A little flicker of triumph crossed Warren's face. Her sending Phemie -for eggs was obviously a ruse to be alone with him. When Phemie had -departed on her errand, with obvious reluctance, he leaned toward -Hephzibah, his smile so confident that it was almost a smirk. She -looked up with a directness rather disconcerting and he reflected that -her eyes even in a face like Phemie's, would have given her a certain -claim to beauty.</p> - -<p>"I don't like men folks hangin' 'round when I'm busy." Her speech, it -appeared, was as direct as the gaze of those adorable, reddish brown -eyes.</p> - -<p>"Then what do you say to a little walk when you've finished your work?"</p> - -<p>"I ain't got the time."</p> - -<p>"You mean you've got another fellow up your sleeve, don't you? Say, -let's give him the slip. You ought to be nice to me after I've come so -far to see you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> - -<p>She turned her attention again to the cooking, drawing her arched brows -into a frown. He noticed with approval that her beauty lost nothing of -its distinction by her look of ill temper. But perhaps that was because -the ill temper was a make-believe.</p> - -<p>He leaned toward her persuasively, losing his head a little in her -proximity. His pulses quickened. He thought he had never seen anything -prettier than the way her hair crinkled away from her creamy neck. -It occurred to him that he would like to kiss the cheek whose vivid -freshness seemed an invitation to such temerity. Country people were -primitive and direct. With a girl of the type of Hephzibah Diggs, a -kiss was simply a natural expression of admiration.</p> - -<p>As his lips brushed that blooming cheek, she reached for the bowl -containing the egg yolks. She did not look in his direction as she -flung the contents in his face, but her aim was true. He sprang to his -feet with a gasp and a sputter. There was an incredible quantity of -that sticky yellow stuff, matting his hair, dripping from his eyebrows, -trickling in sickening streams down his neck.</p> - -<p>"You little vixen. Does this stuff spot?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> - -<p>Hephzibah ignored his inquiry. Warren backed away, laughing nervously, -his mood divided between anger with her and shame for himself. Then -panic seized him at the thought of encountering Phemie and he took a -hasty departure, mopping himself with his handkerchief as he ran.</p> - -<p>Howard had driven Miss Finch to church and Forbes was alone on the -porch. "You didn't walk far," he said, recognizing his friend's step.</p> - -<p>"No—o. Had an encounter with a wasp. I'll be down in a minute when I -repair damages."</p> - -<p>He hoped Hephzibah would not tell Miss Kent of the episode, but he -decided to take the chance, and suggested to Forbes his coming up again -in two or three weeks. To his surprise Forbes was not enthusiastic.</p> - -<p>"It was awfully good of Miss Kent to take me in," he explained, -apparently forgetful of the advertisement which was responsible for -his presence at Oak Knoll. "And I don't want to bother her with too -much company. I think she finds it upsetting to have strangers around, -and it's not singular when you come to think of it. For all she's so -wonderful, she's really getting to be an old lady."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></p> - -<p class="center">HEPHZIBAH COMES TO LIFE</p> - - -<p class="drop">M<span class="uppercase">iss Kent's</span> company at breakfast Monday morning was an agreeable -surprise to Forbes, his pleasure chastened only by his regret that -Warren had left on the late train the previous evening. "I particularly -wanted you to meet him," Forbes complained. "If I'd known you were to -be back so early I should have insisted on his staying over."</p> - -<p>"It's only the young who can make a good impression at breakfast," -Agatha responded. "Old people need twilight and candles." She raised -her eyebrows in the direction of Howard, who was indicating his -approval of her answer by a soundless show of spirited applause.</p> - -<p>"I'd risk the impression you'd make any hour in the twenty-four," -rejoined Forbes gallantly. "But it is too late now. Serves Warren right -for being in such a rush to get back to his confounded business. Tell -us all about your good time, Miss Kent."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I didn't have one." Agatha felt the statement to be indiscreet, but -her imagination was not equal to lending any glamour to her nightmare -of a Sunday.</p> - -<p>"You didn't enjoy yourself?" Forbes' voice indicated sympathetic -surprise. "Why, what was wrong?"</p> - -<p>"I didn't say I was going away to enjoy myself. I didn't expect to. You -took that for granted."</p> - -<p>"I see. One of those formal visits that are even more deadly than -formal calls, because they're longer."</p> - -<p>"And it turned out worse than I expected." Agatha was finding a certain -melancholy pleasure in speaking her real sentiments. "Because I had -a disagreeable encounter with a perfectly obnoxious person. But it's -over, thank heaven, and I don't want to talk about it."</p> - -<p>This topic being tabooed by mutual consent, it was natural that Forbes -should begin to talk about Julia, as a theme eminently calculated to -cheer the despondent, and lend interest to the most tedious hour. -Agatha, listening, realized that her week was to be a hard one. It was -time for Forbes to expect another letter from Julia, and of course -Julia would not write so promptly as he expected, and it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> be -increasingly difficult to keep him in good spirits. Over her coffee -Agatha laid plans for distracting her boarder's thoughts from his -elusive correspondent.</p> - -<p>Her apprehension proved correct. That afternoon Howard was sent to -the village to do one or two little errands for his employer, and -incidentally to get the mail. The next day the same program was -followed and the third brought no change. And meanwhile the arrival of -the Rural Free Delivery wagon was daily awaited with an anticipation -not justified by results.</p> - -<p>Agatha starting down the long driveway one morning, as the fateful hour -approached, saw Forbes and Howard on ahead, evidently bound on the same -errand. Before she could turn back, Howard caught sight of her and -abandoning his charge, he came toward her on the run.</p> - -<p>"You were starting for the mail, weren't you, Aggie? Would you mind -taking him along while I see if I've got a rat in my trap?" Then -dropping his voice to a scornful undertone, "He's got to go himself -because he's expecting a letter from his girl, and can't wait for it to -be brought up. See?"</p> - -<p>Agatha accepted the commission without com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>ment. She joined Forbes, -and taking his arm, guided him the length of the shaded drive. Neither -had much to say. Forbes was evidently bracing himself for possible -disappointment and Agatha was not in a talkative mood. They had hardly -reached the main road before Agatha's observant eyes detected in the -distance a significant cloud of dust. "He's coming," she said with -a reservation in her tone intended to warn her companion not to be -over-sanguine. "We won't have long to wait."</p> - -<p>The wagon approached and halted. The driver produced a miscellaneous -assortment of letters and one good-sized package, the latter he -scrutinized as if reluctant to part with it. "Do you know anybody -around here," he brought out with irritating deliberation, "by the name -of Diggs—Hep—Hephzibah Diggs? Ain't that a name for your life?"</p> - -<p>Agatha gazed at him wild-eyed, incapable for the moment of speech.</p> - -<p>"It's addressed to Oak Knoll," the speaker continued. "But I thought -mebbe there was some mistake. I never knew any Diggses in these parts."</p> - -<p>Agatha recovered herself and extended her hand. "Yes," she said -hurriedly. "It's all right. I'll take it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> - -<p>The mail-carrier surrendered the collection. "You're getting to have -quite a raft of boarders," he commented affably. "Feller has to have -his wits about him to keep track of so many new names." He clucked to -his horses and the wagon rattled on.</p> - -<p>Oblivious to her responsibilities as temporary post-mistress, Agatha -stood quaking. To her guilty conscience the significance of the -mail-carrier's inquiry was unmistakable. He had never heard of a -family in the vicinity named Diggs. He assumed that Hephzibah was -a summer boarder. Agatha did not doubt that Forbes was pondering -these extraordinary facts, and that his first words would demand -an explanation. With hanging head she waited for him to begin his -cross-examination, but his voice when he spoke was anxious rather than -peremptory. "Well?"</p> - -<p>Agatha gasped. "I—why—you see—"</p> - -<p>"You know her handwriting, don't you?" asked the lover. "I'm not sure -where this letter will be posted."</p> - -<p>Agatha reflected that love is sometimes deaf as well as blind. So -engrossed was Forbes in his own anticipations that the compromising -conversation with the mail-carrier had made no impression on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> -consciousness. After a hasty survey of the handful of letters, Agatha -announced in a stifled voice that there were two letters for Forbes, -but neither seemed to be from Julia. Her face betrayed an emotion due -not to the tragedy of Forbes' disappointment, but to the discovery that -there was a letter as well as a package, addressed to Hephzibah Diggs. -That young woman, the fantasy of a day, had taken on a terrifying -vitality. There was no way of estimating her possible activities. -Agatha's emotions were those of Frankenstein when he discovered that -his monster was alive.</p> - -<p>They made their way back to the house, Forbes valiantly explaining why -it was foolish to have expected a letter before afternoon, and Agatha -making irrelevant replies. She turned her companion over to Howard -and escaped to her room with the mail addressed to Hephzibah Diggs. -An absurd scruple regarding the opening of other people's letters -temporarily paralyzed her efficient right arm, and she stood staring at -the address of the communication without coming any nearer a knowledge -of its contents. It was impossible to rid herself of the feeling that -she was on the point of attempting something dishonorable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What a fool I am," she groaned in exasperation. "Hephzibah Diggs -isn't anybody, but if she were anybody, she'd be me." She tore open -the letter without giving herself a chance to evade the inevitable -conclusion of this bit of logic.</p> - -<p>It was from Warren, of course. She had been prepared for that, -even without the testimony of his bold signature. With a curiosity -that momentarily made her oblivious to the menacing aspects of the -situation, Agatha read the brief communication:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Miss Diggs</span>:</p> - -<p>"I am writing you a line to apologize for my conduct Sunday. You were -all right, and I was all wrong. At the same time, you'll have to take -a little share of the blame for being so distractingly pretty that a -man's likely to lose his head when he comes near you.</p> - -<p>"I am sending you by this mail a package which I hope you will accept -as indicating my regret for having offended you, and my sincere wish -to be</p> - -<p> -"Your friend,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Ridgeley Warren.</span>"<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Agatha turned her thoughtful attention to the package which bore -Hephzibah's name. She proceeded to strip off the wrapping paper with -a haste indicating that her scruples were finally set at rest.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> Then -as she took the cover from the five-pound box of chocolates, and gazed -enraptured at the triumph of the confectioner's art, she temporarily -laid aside the feeling of age due to the faithful impersonation of her -great-aunt, and became nineteen or a trifle less.</p> - -<p>"Chocolates," murmured Agatha. "And millions of them. In the person of -Hephzibah Diggs I accept the apology."</p> - -<p>When she reappeared upon the porch, her manner was cheerful, and a -number of yawning cavities marred the symmetrical arrangement of the -topmost layer of chocolates in the box up-stairs. Forbes greeted her -with more animation than she had looked for, considering his recent -crushing disappointment.</p> - -<p>"That's you, isn't it, Miss Kent?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Here's a letter Howard has just read me. I want you to look it over -and tell me what you think of it."</p> - -<p>"Very well." Agatha seated herself comfortably and took the letter from -his extended hand. But Forbes was evidently desirous of preparing her -for its contents.</p> - -<p>"It will be a surprise to you, I imagine, Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> Kent. What is your -opinion of Hephzibah? Is she really such a stunning beauty?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose she would be considered fairly good-looking if anyone -liked the type." Agatha flattered herself that she had spoken with a -creditable lack of prejudice.</p> - -<p>"According to Warren she's considerably more than that. The fact is, -he—but you'd better read the letter. That makes it plain enough."</p> - -<p>With a return of her previous misgivings, Agatha followed his -suggestion.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Forbes</span>:</p> - -<p>"If you had shown a little more enthusiasm over my suggestion of -dropping in on you again soon, I should have run down at the end of -the week, and had a good talk with you. Owing to your inhospitable -reluctance I'm obliged to trust to writing, which I sometimes think -was invented, as somebody said about speech, for the purpose of -concealing thought.</p> - -<p>"To come straight to the point, I must confess that I had a short and -not wholly satisfactory interview with the fair Hephzibah on Sunday, -in the course of which my earlier impression of her beauty was more -than confirmed. By jove, Burton, she positively is a dream. And the -idea that a creature of that sort should spend her days amid pots -and kettles is obnoxious to any right-thinking man. We've got to do -something about it, Forbes. What<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> do you think of sending her to -school somewhere, and having her educated? It would be virgin soil, -I imagine, for the poor girl can't open her mouth without taking a -bite out of the king's English, and her voice is like a guinea hen's. -But that could be trained out of her. For all her ignorance, she's -nobody's fool. You can see that by looking at her.</p> - -<p>"Now I'm putting the thing up to you because I suppose it would be -better to have Miss Kent act for us in the matter. Judging from my -brief experience Hephzibah—can't we find some euphonic substitute -for that name?—is as self-respecting as the devil. Explain to Miss -Kent that I'm a respectable man of philanthropic tendencies—hitherto -unrecognized—and ask her what would be the best way to go about -taking the girl in hand, and giving her an education, or enough of one -so she can make a reasonably good appearance. And then we can decide -on the next step. A few hundred a year will be enough to do the job -properly, and if you feel like going into it with me, it might help to -reassure Miss Kent as to the impeccability of my motives.</p> - -<p>"Lord! What a letter! I haven't written so much with my own fist since -I was in college, and at the same time I feel as if fifteen minutes of -chinning would have made the matter a heap clearer. If the girl should -prove to have enough head for the legitimate stage she ought to make a -hit as Katharine, in <i>Taming the Shrew</i>. She's exactly the type, red -hair and all.</p> - -<p>"Regards to the voluble Miss Finch, to Howard, and of course to Miss -Kent.</p> - -<p> -Yours,<br /> -<br /> -"R.W."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> - -<p>Agatha was glad the letter was a long one, as this gave her time to -think. And yet the result of her thinking was but a confused jumble -of varying apprehensions. Her recollection of Warren's face as he -leaned toward her, was that of a man not easily turned aside from a -purpose. But somehow or other he must be forced to surrender his absurd -philanthropic intentions in behalf of Hephzibah Diggs.</p> - -<p>Forbes was waiting for her verdict. "Well?" he said at last, when she -showed no inclination to speak. "What do you think of it?"</p> - -<p>Agatha cleared her throat. "It's out of the question," she shot at him -so violently that he looked startled.</p> - -<p>"I'm ready to vouch for Warren," he hastened to say. "I don't mean -that he would be as ready to help a plain girl as a pretty one, but I -assure you that your protégée would be perfectly safe as far as he's -concerned. And I suppose he's right in thinking that beauty is one of -the talents, and it's hardly fair to keep it wrapped in a napkin."</p> - -<p>"But she doesn't want to be educated," Agatha protested. "She's -perfectly satisfied just as she is."</p> - -<p>Again Forbes seemed to find her vehemence perplexing. "Perhaps her -ignorance explains her in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>difference," he suggested. "Do you think -she's capable of learning?"</p> - -<p>"I suppose she's capable enough."</p> - -<p>"If she's really a strikingly handsome young woman with a fair mind, -and Warren is sufficiently interested in her to give her an education, -doesn't it seem that she should be encouraged to accept his offer? -Surely if she is what he thinks, she is capable of something better -than the work she is doing at present. Unless you have some good reason -for feeling that it would not do—"</p> - -<p>"But I have," flashed Agatha. "I have."</p> - -<p>"Oh, indeed!" He seemed to be waiting for her to explain, and she -floundered on with a horrible sensation of being caught in a quicksand.</p> - -<p>"She doesn't wish to be educated. She doesn't wish any notice taken of -her; she only asks to be let alone."</p> - -<p>"To be let alone." He said the words over as if they had a hidden, -mysterious meaning. "Oh, I think I begin to see."</p> - -<p>Agatha sighed her satisfaction. She had no idea what explanation had -presented itself to the perspicacious Mr. Forbes, but she perceived -that at length her protests had taken effect and he was pre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>pared to -relinquish the argument. So great was her relief that the processes of -his mind failed to interest her.</p> - -<p>Unluckily Forbes was one of the people who insist on certainty. "I -suppose," he said, a note of sympathy in his deep voice, "that the poor -girl has been unfortunate."</p> - -<p>Agatha blanched. He waited for her avowal, then tried again: "You -mean, I suppose, there's some unhappy episode in her past life and she -doesn't want to attract attention for fear of its bobbing up again."</p> - -<p>Agatha stared at him aghast. Her first impulse to defend the character -of Hephzibah Diggs at any cost yielded to a less worthy caution. If -she gave Hephzibah a clean bill of health, figuratively speaking, -what other reason could she invent for her invincible repugnance -to attracting attention? With fascinated horror she realized that -Forbes' conjecture exactly filled the requirements of the case. There -was no help for it. The fair name of the blameless Hephzibah must be -sacrificed to that most merciless of the divinities, the exigency of -the moment.</p> - -<p>"You have expressed it," faltered Agatha with an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> unnerving sense of -rank injustice, "as well as I could have myself."</p> - -<p>"Poor girl!" Forbes repeated, "and so young, too. At least I suppose -she's young, from Warren's idea of educating her."</p> - -<p>Again he waited for an answer, and Agatha stammered, "Ni-nineteen."</p> - -<p>"And all this happened some time ago, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"Oh, a long time." Agatha was crimson to her ears.</p> - -<p>"It seems a shame," mused Forbes aloud. "Her whole life to be -sacrificed for one step aside from the straight and narrow path. You -and I know the world, Miss Kent. And we know—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, please," protested Agatha faintly, "I don't know anything about -it."</p> - -<p>He leaned toward her quickly, touched by the appeal in her voice.</p> - -<p>"Excuse me, Miss Kent. I know you belong to a generation whose women -were trained to shut their eyes to a great many things. I don't believe -in that theory of life, but I haven't any intention of violating your -prejudices. All I wanted to say was that you and I have lived long -enough to know that thousands of our respected citizens, prominent -socially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> and otherwise, are every bit as guilty as that poor girl. And -since this is the case, isn't it a pity that her morbid sensitiveness -should shut her out of making something of herself?"</p> - -<p>It was unbelievable. Hephzibah's reputation had been blackened in -vain. Even now he was unwilling to leave her in the seclusion her -sensitiveness craved. He was determined to drag her into a garish -publicity. Iphigenia had been sacrificed and still the winds were -unfavorable.</p> - -<p>"Oh, I wish you would not talk of this any more," cried Agatha, the -intensity of her feeling showing in her moved voice. "I understand -Hephzibah's case a great deal better than you do, better than you ever -can. And I know that the thing you're talking about is out of the -question."</p> - -<p>His face reflected her agitation in the shape of profound sympathy. -"You're sure that if we talked it over, we wouldn't find a way out? Two -heads are better than one, you know?"</p> - -<p>"I'm absolutely certain."</p> - -<p>"Then I won't distress you any further. Of course Warren has barely -seen the girl, and it's evident that his head was a little turned -by her beauty. You know her, and I'm sure you appreciate the -re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>sponsibility of deciding a question that concerns her so closely, -without even consulting her."</p> - -<p>"I can speak for her as I would for myself."</p> - -<p>"Then I'm sorry if the suggestion has worried you. I'll see you're not -bothered again." He spoke confidently, and Agatha hoped he did not -overestimate his influence where Ridgeley Warren was concerned. When -she remembered the square chin of the last-named young man, she did not -feel sure.</p> - -<p>In her heart she gave Forbes credit for having done his best. Later -in the day Howard showed her a letter he had written to Mr. Ridgeley -Warren at Forbes' dictation. Without explanation but in the most -emphatic manner possible, Warren was assured that his scheme was -impracticable. "I can not very well go into details," the letter ran, -"but Miss Kent, who knows the case thoroughly, has convinced me that -the kindest thing, as far as the girl is concerned, is to leave her -alone." And to this sentiment Agatha sighed a tremulous amen.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></p> - -<p class="center">DAY DREAMS</p> - - -<p class="drop">F<span class="uppercase">or</span> the first time since she could remember, Miss Finch felt herself -living in an atmosphere of romance. If a young man's fancy turns to -thoughts of love only under the allurements of spring weather, Zaida -Finch surpassed the average youth by full three seasons. Love and -matrimony occupied her thoughts twelve months in the year, and to an -extent inconceivable in view of her general colorless and withered -aspect.</p> - -<p>Though as far as possible removed from the designing spinster of -the comic stage, Miss Finch had not as yet surrendered the hope of -changing her name. From her point of view the unmarried woman was a -self-advertised failure. Husbands, as far as she had been able to -observe, were always disappointing, and not infrequently obnoxious, -yet to lack one somehow proved one's self less than a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> woman. In those -dreams which never passed the bounds of maidenly reserve, she sometimes -imagined herself addressed by the prefix which indicates the dignity of -wifehood—she would have died sooner than have coupled it with the name -of any man of her acquaintance—and then in the words of a simpler and -more direct age, she felt that her reproach among men had been taken -away. The secret weighing heaviest on her heart was the knowledge that -no man had ever indicated that he wanted her.</p> - -<p>Needless to say, Miss Finch's present mood of sentiment was entirely -vicarious. Agatha's prospects absorbed her almost to the exclusion of -her own timid dreams. Miss Finch was constitutionally incapable of -realizing Agatha's vivid beauty, though she sometimes told herself that -if it were not for her red hair, which she innocently assumed to be a -misfortune, Agatha would be a really pretty girl. Forbes had no sooner -made his appearance than Miss Finch had inventoried his qualifications -for Agatha's future husband, and had not found him altogether wanting. -His blindness was a misfortune largely offset by his amiability, -and free use of money, and in her association with him, Agatha had -developed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> a sympathetic patience her old friend could not regard as -characteristic.</p> - -<p>"And it looks to me as if he were taken with her," Miss Finch had -congratulated herself. "He chirks up as soon as she comes near him. If -he likes her so well when he thinks she's an old woman, he ought to -like her better when he finds she's a young one."</p> - -<p>There was, to be sure, one serious difficulty to be met in the -readjustment of Forbes' ideas on the important subject of Agatha's -identity. At this point Miss Finch's dreams ended in chaotic confusion -and with her oft-repeated lament, "There's no good going to come from -cheating a blind man."</p> - -<p>After Warren's visit, Miss Finch's match-making tendencies took -another direction. If Warren had failed to make an impression on the -unsusceptible Hephzibah, he had nothing to complain of as far as Phemie -and Miss Finch were concerned. In spite of the agitation induced by her -unwonted responsibilities on the occasion of Warren's visit, Miss Finch -had been keenly alive to the young man's cheerful good humor, and his -naive self-enjoyment had communicated itself to the one of his audience -who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> seemed least responsive. "Exactly the one for dear Agatha," -declared Miss Finch.</p> - -<p>With the discovery of the source of the box of chocolates, Miss -Finch's smoldering hopes leaped into flame. Caution had dictated -Agatha's concealment of Warren's tangible apology, but to a girl -of her temperament the solitary consumption of a five-pound box of -confectionery was a moral impossibility. Her innate generosity forced -her to share the sweets with Forbes and Miss Finch and Howard and -even with Phemie. Three of her beneficiaries accepted their shares -as unthinkingly as the lilies of the field, but Miss Finch showed a -troublesome tendency to ask questions.</p> - -<p>"Agatha, you don't mean you've been wasting your money on candy? A box -of that size must have cost something awful."</p> - -<p>"No, Fritz, I didn't buy it."</p> - -<p>Experience had taught Miss Finch to be on her guard when Agatha -wore that look of wide-eyed innocence. She pondered the seemingly -straight-forward reply.</p> - -<p>"Having things charged is the same as buying 'em, Agatha. You've got to -pay for 'em some time."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> - -<p>"But these were given me, Fritz dear. They were an apology."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Forbes!" gasped Miss Finch, and at once the strains of the wedding -march rang in her ears.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Forbes! The very idea! The only trouble with him is that he never -did anything in his life to apologize <i>for</i>. He's so perfect that -people mistake him for a worm and trample on him."</p> - -<p>"I didn't mean to make you mad, Agatha," Miss Finch protested timidly, -shrinking from the flame in Agatha's eyes. The inexplicable girl stared -for a moment and then to Miss Finch's great relief, burst into a laugh.</p> - -<p>"Fritz, you're funnier than a box of monkeys. If you must know, Mr. -Warren sent the chocolates."</p> - -<p>"To you?" Miss Finch almost screamed it. And forthwith the summer -breeze brought to her nostrils the odor of orange blossoms.</p> - -<p>"That's the question that's troubling me, Fritz. The box was addressed -to Hephzibah. But as I am her nearest living relative—you might almost -say her mother—"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch swept these fine points aside. "I didn't know he'd ever seen -you."</p> - -<p>"He walked into the kitchen while you were at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> church. That's exactly -his style, I imagine. And when he saw me there rolling biscuits, he -talked a lot of nonsense and ended by kissing me."</p> - -<p>"Agatha!" gasped Miss Finch. Her emotions were confused. She was under -the impression that this recital confirmed her wildest hopes and at the -same time outraged her finer sensibilities. Possibly her reprehensibly -exultant feeling was due to an overwhelming certainty that this at -least was life.</p> - -<p>Her face aflame as if she and not Agatha had been the recipient of that -kiss, Miss Finch attempted to discharge her responsibilities as mentor -of youth. "Agatha, I can't understand it. I'm afraid you must have -acted bold. I never heard of a gentleman's walking into a kitchen, and -kissing a young lady he'd never seen before."</p> - -<p>"Nor I, Fritz. And that leads me to the conclusion that Mr. Warren -isn't exactly a gentleman. At the same time," Agatha added, helping -herself to another chocolate, "he apologized very sweetly."</p> - -<p>"Is he coming to see you?" demanded Miss Finch, who in her ignorance of -the ways of the great world assumed that so spontaneous a tribute must -be merely preliminary to an ardent courtship.</p> - -<p>"He had an idea of taking my education in hand."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> Agatha briefly -outlined Warren's philanthropic scheme in behalf of Hephzibah Diggs, -and Miss Finch turned all colors as she listened. Now at last she knew -that the romantic novels with which she solaced her leisure hours had -not misled her. There really <i>was</i> such a thing as love at first sight.</p> - -<p>"Agatha!" she ventured tremulously, "you could marry that man to-morrow -if you liked. It's as plain as the nose on your face that he's dead in -love with you."</p> - -<p>"If it were as plain as the nose on <i>his</i> face, that would settle it. -But as nothing would induce me to marry him to-morrow or any other day, -the state of his feelings doesn't matter."</p> - -<p>"But I'm sure, Agatha," remonstrated Miss Finch, "that you wouldn't -want to break his heart."</p> - -<p>Agatha's reply was a paroxysm of laughter that left her gasping and -tearful. "Oh, Fritz," she half sobbed, as she wiped her eyes, "I'm so -glad you didn't die when you were little."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch was on her dignity. "I know you're making fun of me, Agatha. -But it's no laughing matter to wreck a man's life."</p> - -<p>Again Agatha yielded to mirth. "You've seen Mr. Warren and yet you say -that."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I can't see why you take that tone, Agatha. I'm sure he's a nice young -man and so lively."</p> - -<p>"I'll admit the liveliness but not the heart, at least not the broken -heart. That young man owns a good, tough, thoroughly seasoned organ, -take it from me."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch sighed but with less dejection than her manner indicated. -Little as she had learned of the ways of men and women in her guileless -spinsterhood, she had somehow gathered the impression that girls -occasionally abused the admirers who stood highest in their maidenly -affections, for the pleasure of hearing them defended. And though she -could not be sure that this explained Agatha's slighting references -to a most agreeable young man, Miss Finch resolved to lose no -opportunity of sounding Warren's praises. In his case, too, there was -an unfortunate confusion of identity to be cleared up, but from Miss -Finch's point of view, a young man who could give a kiss and a mammoth -box of chocolates to a pretty girl, under the impression that she was -a servant, would not hesitate to lay his heart at her feet when he -discovered that her blood was as good as his own.</p> - -<p>Developments convinced Miss Finch of the wisdom of her chosen tactics. -She overlooked no op<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>portunity to speak a good word for the absent -Warren, acquiring a certain irrelevant eloquence on the theme. And -though Agatha gave no indication of agreeing with her, it was evident -that she enjoyed her earnestness and was more inclined to lead her on -than to check her fluency.</p> - -<p>Whether because of Miss Finch's judicious opposition or some less -obvious reason, Agatha was in noticeably high spirits. She entered into -playing her rôle with a whimsical abandon that at times moved even Miss -Finch to laughter, in spite of her conscientious misgivings. Indeed the -spirit of cheerful animation pervaded the entire household. Whether -because Forbes had at length resigned himself to hearing from Julia -only once in two or three weeks, or whether the improvement in his -health furnished the necessary elasticity for resisting disappointment, -his moods of depression were becoming very infrequent. He spent less -time on the porch and more on long jaunts with Howard. The two went -fishing frequently and sometimes Agatha made a third, in which case -the pace was regulated strictly according to Forbes' view of what was -due her advanced years. Agatha was sure she would find more enjoyment -on the occasions when the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> males went as fast and as far as they -pleased, undeterred by consideration for the aged.</p> - -<p>One exhilarating morning Forbes and Howard left soon after breakfast, -taking their luncheon with them, and advising Agatha to expect them -only when she saw them. With her customary knack for utilizing the -moments, Agatha improved their absence to despatch a number of tasks -awaiting her attention, and wound up by washing her hair. She made -her appearance on the lawn in the early afternoon, her splendid mane -falling almost to her waist and reflecting the sunshine like burnished -copper. Already the little tendrils were beginning to curl about her -face while the water dropped from the long ends.</p> - -<p>Agatha seated herself in the sun, lifting the coppery mass strand by -strand, that it might dry more quickly. Had Miss Finch been versed in -classical lore, she might have been reminded of the golden fleece for -which men risked so much. As it was she said chidingly, "Agatha, you -will freckle terribly if you're not careful."</p> - -<p>"This sun is worth a peppering of freckles," Agatha answered -recklessly, but she pulled her hair over her face and then she -resembled Danäe veiled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> by a shower of gold. It was several minutes -before she made a peek-hole in the screen, and looked at Miss Finch -apprehensively.</p> - -<p>"Fritz, I hear wheels. Don't tell me that in spite of my repeated -warnings, we're going to have callers."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch stood up. The very slight advantage due to an upright -position was sufficient to enable her to recognize the occupant of the -approaching vehicle. "It looks to me like Jim Doolittle."</p> - -<p>"Jim Doolittle!" exclaimed Agatha, amazed. "Why, what can he want? He -must be coming to see you, Fritz."</p> - -<p>"Agatha!" quavered Miss Finch, and flushed a painful purple.</p> - -<p>"Well, he certainly isn't coming to see me, and I find it hard to -believe that Phemie is the magnet. He doesn't know Mr. Forbes and -Howard is a trifle young to attract him. Please see what he wants, -Fritz."</p> - -<p>"I—I'd rather not, Agatha."</p> - -<p>"Why, Fritz, what ails you? You can see for yourself that I'm in no -condition to interview Mr. Doolittle. His modesty would never survive -the shock. Send him away as soon as you can. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> won't do to have all -the busybodies of the neighborhood dropping in whenever they feel like -it."</p> - -<p>Reluctantly Miss Finch departed on her inhospitable mission. But it -seemed that Agatha had done Mr. Doolittle an injustice. He had come on -an entirely altruistic errand.</p> - -<p>"There was a telegram at the office for Aggie's boarder, and I offered -to bring it out, being as I was driving by."</p> - -<p>"A telegram for Mr. Forbes!" fluttered Miss Finch, forgetting her -shyness in sympathetic concern. "I hope there's no more trouble in -store for that poor young man."</p> - -<p>"Wal, the Bible says to him that hath shall be given, and I've noticed -that's likely to come true, as far as trouble's concerned. How's the -poor feller getting on? I had a little talk with him one day, and I -made up my mind he warn't the June-bug sort of crazy, just the glum, -hold-your-tongue kind."</p> - -<p>"I guess Mr. Forbes' brains would hold their own alongside yours or -mine!" Miss Finch spoke with some heat and realized her mistake in time -to add, "Though of course he thinks a lot of things that aren't so." -It soothed her conscience to realize the absolute truth of her closing -statement.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I know, hallucinations they call 'em," said Mr. Doolittle, proud of -his mastery of the polysyllable.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch was not sure whether Agatha could be reckoned a -hallucination or not and she evaded the issue by adding pointedly, -"He's got quite an aversion to company."</p> - -<p>"I could see that. You'd have thought it would be a real relief to -him to talk with me, man to man, after being shut up with a passel of -women-folks, but no! I couldn't scarcely get a word out of him." Mr. -Doolittle shook his head in sad wonder over the vagaries of a mind -distraught, and then his attention wandered to a patch of color on the -lawn. "Is that Aggie Kent in the brown dress with her hair hanging?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Looks like a haycock struck by lightning." Again Mr. Doolittle shook -his head. "Aggie's a lucky girl to have you on hand to steady her and -keep her acting sensible. I guess everybody 'round here knows who's the -backbone in this house."</p> - -<p>"Agatha's an awful capable girl," said Miss Finch. She was aware that -she did not deserve the compliment, yet because of that contrary twist -in human nature from which the most exemplary are not al<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>together free, -it gave her pleasure. "Agatha don't need any backbone but her own," she -insisted.</p> - -<p>Mr. Doolittle straightened his sagging figure and tightened his lines. -"Wal, if the young man should get vi'lent any time just call on me." He -clucked to his horse and the ramshackle buggy creaked away.</p> - -<p>The great moments of life come and go while we remain oblivious. As Mr. -Doolittle jogged down the shaded drive, he said to himself that Zaida -Finch would make some man a good wife. He even turned his head to look -back, and the prim little figure hurrying across the grass seemed to -his elderly eyes to radiate a certain maidenly charm.</p> - -<p>All unconscious of this momentous occurrence, Miss Finch carried the -telegram to Agatha, and that young woman shared her apprehension, -though for a somewhat different reason.</p> - -<p>"It's not so likely to mean trouble for him as for me. Perhaps some -more of his city friends are coming to visit him. If they do, I think -I'll have an attack of smallpox and quarantine the place." She stood up -extending her hand for the message. "I must hunt him up right away and -find out."</p> - -<p>"You're not going that way, are you, Agatha, with your hair all down? -You look like a crazy girl."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> - -<p>"What's the difference? Mr. Forbes won't be scandalized, because he -can't see me. And the birds and the squirrels won't mind. It's not dry -enough to put up yet."</p> - -<p>Telegram in hand, she started up the slope behind the house. Miss -Finch's faded, troubled eyes saw her silhouetted in glowing relief -against the intense blue of the summer sky, and then lost her as she -passed out of sight over the brow of the hill.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE RESCUE</p> - - -<p class="drop">F<span class="uppercase">orbes</span> and Howard had spent the morning in the open. They had tramped -miles under the genial sun, had eaten a luncheon which disproved the -accepted theory as to the capacity of the human stomach, and at the -conclusion of the meal had rested in the shade, Forbes smoking, and -Howard sprawled upon the turf, idly watching the woolly clouds that -like a flock of sheep grazed across a pasture of luminous blue.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Howard leaped to his feet, and the next moment the report -of his shotgun shattered the lazy hush of the summer day. To Forbes' -secret annoyance, his nerves betrayed him into a violent start. He had -not been aware that firearms were included among his young companion's -impedimenta. "Hello!" he exclaimed disapprovingly. "What are you -shooting at this time of year, boy? You'll get yourself into trouble if -you're not careful."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It's a chicken hawk. They're awful thick around here. Much as ever -Ag—Miss Kent raised any chickens this spring."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" Forbes subsided, with a smile. "Every season's open for chicken -hawks, I suppose."</p> - -<p>"Well, there's one robber out of the way," Howard boasted. "He went -down like a stone. Say, Mr. Forbes, would you mind staying alone a few -minutes while I run down the hill and see if I can find him?"</p> - -<p>"Go ahead, my boy." Forbes smiled again, as Howard's headlong rush told -how promptly he had acted on the permission. Forbes' mood was hopeful, -and therefore indulgent. There was something tranquillizing in the -atmosphere of the summer day. It was easy to believe in his ultimate -and complete recovery, and even that Julia would wait for him instead -of engaging herself to one of the men who were helping to make her -summer enjoyable. Young Prendergast was the rival he had most reason to -fear, and that was a sore spot with him, for Murray Prendergast had his -father's money to recommend him, and little besides. Forbes was ready -to defend Julia for breaking their engagement, but though tortures -could not have elicited the avowal,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> in his heart he was humiliated by -the possibility that Julia might turn from him, to throw herself into -Murray Prendergast's arms. Eyes or no eyes, Forbes knew himself the -better man.</p> - -<p>Yet to-day in the sunny peace of this Arcadia, the thought of -Prendergast had lost its power to sting him. He could reflect on -Julia's love of admiration with a tolerant smile. Flirtation was -the feminine equivalent of masculine wild oats, and he would be a -fool to put an exaggerated importance on a beautiful girl's innocent -coquetries. Miss Kent was hard on Julia. That was the way with the best -of women. They did not know how to be fair to one another.</p> - -<p>"Bless her dear heart!" Forbes was not thinking of Julia now. His smile -had become tender. "What a champion she is! She never can see but one -side, and that's yours—if you happen to be the fellow she likes."</p> - -<p>His fancies, tenuous as the smoke of his cigar, wove themselves into -pictures as he sat dreaming. He saw himself restored to health, and in -a home of his own. He saw Julia beautiful as ever, but with matronly -dignity replacing her girlish charm. And there were little shapes -whisking in and out of that dreamland, creatures half sprite, half -human, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> his cigar went out as he watched their capers. An observer -would have noted a hint of pathos in his smile as well as a whimsical -humor.</p> - -<p>He roused himself from his long reverie to wonder what had become of -Howard. Making all due allowance for the ardor of the chase, Howard's -absence had been protracted beyond all reason. Forbes whistled long and -shrilly, shouted Howard's name, and waited with growing uneasiness. He -could only make a rough estimate of the time that had elapsed since the -boy's departure, but he knew it must be nearer an hour than the few -minutes Howard had asked for. And it was not like Howard to forget him.</p> - -<p>He had no way of measuring the time as it dragged on, but he ceased at -length to assure himself that he was becoming a fidgety old woman, and -frankly admitted he had reason for alarm. It was impossible to explain -Howard's continued absence on the ground of boyish thoughtlessness. -There was another and possibly a sinister explanation. His heart -sickened as he realized that Howard might be seriously injured and with -no aid near. As the thought suggested itself, he sprang to his feet in -furious rebellion against his helplessness.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I've got to get to the road somehow. Then I can hail the first wagon -that passes, and send some one over here to look for that boy." He -realized that the thing was simpler in the statement than in the doing. -The last road they had crossed was at least half a mile from where he -stood, and to grope his way unguided over half a mile of open country -was a desperate undertaking. He was not even sure of the points of the -compass.</p> - -<p>Forbes was angry to find himself trembling. He took a stronger grip -upon his self-control, and racked his brain for any information that -would be of service. Howard had spoken of a south wind that morning and -Forbes was under the impression that when they returned home from their -jaunts up into the hills, they walked toward the setting sun. He wet -his finger and held it up to test the direction of the breeze. He was -likely to go wrong, he knew, but anything was better than inactivity.</p> - -<p>Stumblingly and with his hands outstretched, he started on his way. -His progress was slow. At first he was continually halted by imaginary -obstacles from which he shrank till his groping hands convinced him -that the way was clear. Resolving on bolder tactics, he marched along -at a swinging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> pace till a collision with a stalwart pine sent him -reeling back, gasping and half stunned. Again he tried caution and -after an interminable half-hour abandoned it, as intolerably slow. He -picked up a rotting branch over which he had stumbled, and waving this -before him to make sure that no tree barred his way, he found himself -making very creditable speed for a blind man without a guide.</p> - -<p>After a little, again he halted, thinking he heard a faint, wailing -cry. He strained his ears, his heart thumping. "Howard!" he shouted. -"Howard!" He wondered if his nerves were playing him a trick, or -whether he really did hear a second time, that faint sound of distress. -He started on at a reckless pace, brandishing his stick before him, and -occasionally shouting Howard's name.</p> - -<p>So utterly had the thought of his own safety passed from his mind that -a second collision was only to be expected. But this time it was not -a tree, whose impact sent him staggering backward, but a human form. -Involuntarily he dropped his stick, catching at the nearest object to -save himself, and was aware that two hands had seized him in a clutch -as desperate as his own. For a moment they clung together in an embrace -like the locked clasp<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> of two drowning swimmers. Then a voice deep down -in Forbes' consciousness said, "Good God, it's a woman."</p> - -<p>As his head steadied he knew he was not mistaken. There was a -smothering quantity of hair for one thing and it seemed to be -everywhere at once. When he moved just a little to get away from it, he -put his cheek against another cheek of exquisite smoothness. Surprise -rendered him incapable of moving, and standing like a statue, he made -other interesting discoveries. The woman in his arms was breathing in -long-drawn gasps like sobs. He could feel the convulsive straining of -her chest against his, as her breath came and went. Under his hand her -heart plunged like some frantic creature in a trap. Then he realized -that she was trying to speak.</p> - -<p>"You fool," she could only whisper it, with that strange sobbing -breath. "You fool! Oh, you fool!"</p> - -<p>"My dear girl!" Forbes remonstrated. He could not have told why he was -so sure of the fitness of this form of address, except that the curves -of the pliant body, that lay limp against his heart, were somehow -eloquent of youth. "I don't understand you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> - -<p>His protest had an immediate and in some respects an unwelcome effect. -At once her relaxed form stiffened and withdrew from his arms. A strand -of hair rasped across his cheek producing a curious tingling like a -mild electric shock. But she had not gone far, for he could distinctly -hear her difficult breathing.</p> - -<p>"You were walking to your death. In another minute you would have been -over the cliff."</p> - -<p>"Is it possible!" No normal man can escape death by a hair's breadth -and remain unmoved. Forbes' face paled. For a moment he was intensely -conscious of the myriad fragrances steeped in the sunny air, of the -myriad sounds, significant of teeming life. But he had no time to waste -on himself.</p> - -<p>"I knew I ran a risk but it was necessary. As you see I am blind, and -my attendant, a young fellow named Sheldon, left me for a few minutes -while he hunted for a hawk he had shot. That must have been two hours -ago. I'm afraid the boy is hurt."</p> - -<p>She murmured something he failed to understand and he did not ask her -to repeat it. "As soon as you are able to walk, please go somewhere and -get help. He may be seriously injured."</p> - -<p>"I said he was coming—I see—him coming." She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> still whispered but her -breathing was obviously less painful.</p> - -<p>"Howard coming? Do you mean Howard?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Are you sure you know him?"</p> - -<p>"Yes."</p> - -<p>"Does he seem to be hurt?"</p> - -<p>"Not that I can see—he's running."</p> - -<p>"Thank God!" Forbes exclaimed. He had time now to think of himself and -his deliverer. He took a step nearer her, and it seemed to him, though -he could not be sure, that she drew back a little.</p> - -<p>"As I understand it, you saw me from a distance, and realized I was in -danger. And you ran to help me."</p> - -<p>"Yes." The monosyllable was hardly more than a breath.</p> - -<p>"I thought I heard a cry once. Did you call?"</p> - -<p>"I tried—to. Running up hill—I didn't—have breath."</p> - -<p>There was a hysterical catch in her voice. Forbes seized her by the -arm. "Oh, you're crying. Please don't."</p> - -<p>"I'm not." She sobbed aloud as she denied the charge and continued -to sob to his immense distress.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> He found her hand and patted it -soothingly as if she had been a child.</p> - -<p>"Poor girl! I can see how unnerving all this has been. But won't it -help a little if you remember that you've saved my life?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't! Don't!"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid you'll have to let me say it, but I'll wait till another -time if you'd rather. Please tell me your name."</p> - -<p>"It d—doesn't matter."</p> - -<p>"It matters a great deal to me. It isn't every day, you know, that a -man has his life saved by a beautiful girl." He felt singularly secure -regarding his adjective. "And of course I want to know who you are."</p> - -<p>She trenched her hand away with disconcerting energy. "It—doesn't -matter about me," she said as well as she could for weeping. "But don't -take such risks again. Good-by."</p> - -<p>"Now this is positively absurd," exclaimed Forbes in real annoyance. -"You've done me a tremendous service, the biggest one human being -can do another, and I'm not the sort of man to remain ignorant of my -benefactress. I want a chance to show that I'm not unappreciative."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> - -<p>Silence!</p> - -<p>"Are you there?" Forbes demanded sharply. So vivid and illuminating -were his recollections of the woman his arms had enfolded that it -seemed preposterous he should never know how to address her.</p> - -<p>Continued silence.</p> - -<p>Forbes bit his lip and waited. And behind his back, a singular -pantomime was being enacted. A young woman whose heavy red hair -fell about her like a cloak, ran into the arms of a breathless boy -approaching from the opposite direction. She put her lips to his ear -and whispered, "Don't tell him who I am."</p> - -<p>"All right, but what's the matter, Aggie? What are you crying for?"</p> - -<p>"Never mind. Nothing. Don't tell him my name."</p> - -<p>"But what if he asks me?"</p> - -<p>"Don't tell him, that's all." She drew herself away from him and -started by a circuitous route for home. Howard approached his waiting -employer with a new perplexity superimposed on his former perturbation.</p> - -<p>"Mr. Forbes, I don't know what you'll think of me—but down there I ran -into the game warden."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh, did you!" Forbes' attitude was a trifle absent-minded. "Then you -weren't hurt."</p> - -<p>"No, sir, I'm all right. But he'd got hold of a partridge some one had -shot and he was bound I'd done it. And he made me go along with him and -I thought I would never get away."</p> - -<p>Howard's voice showed strain. Forbes' groping hand found his shoulder -and patted it.</p> - -<p>"All right, old man. No harm's done. I own I was anxious when you -didn't show up, but no harm's done."</p> - -<p>"Are you ready to go home now, Mr. Forbes? It's nearly four o'clock."</p> - -<p>"Yes, we'd better go." Forbes took the boy's arm. "By the way, Howard, -did you see a girl talking with me a few minutes ago?"</p> - -<p>"Ye—es, I saw her." Howard's manner betrayed reluctance.</p> - -<p>"What is her name?"</p> - -<p>An incomprehensible silence followed. Forbes repeated the question with -more than his customary peremptoriness.</p> - -<p>"I—I don't think I can tell you, Mr. Forbes."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean you don't know?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> - -<p>Howard was a truthful boy. "Yes, I know it," he replied hesitatingly. -"But she"—a sudden inspiration came to his aid—"Miss Kent don't want -me to talk about her."</p> - -<p>"I shall ask Miss Kent myself," Forbes rejoined coldly.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir," said Howard, brightening. "That would be better." He felt -that it really was up to Aggie to get out of the difficulty as best she -could. It was all very well to say to a fellow that he was not to tell -a certain thing, but she didn't take into account that he would feel -like a fool when he was asked a plain question.</p> - -<p>As it proved, however, Forbes did not appeal to Miss Kent for -enlightenment. As they neared the house Howard proved the youthful -resilience of his spirits by making a little joke. "It's a good thing -you're not married, Mr. Forbes."</p> - -<p>Forbes did not agree with him, but he forced himself to smile amiably, -and ask the reason for the conjecture.</p> - -<p>"Because there's a long red hair on your coat collar."</p> - -<p>Forbes saw the point and much besides. Under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>standing came in a flood. -The girl was Hephzibah, of course, poor unfortunate Hephzibah, ashamed -even to give her name and yet more sinned against than sinning, he was -strangely sure. Without seeing it, he had felt the spell of her beauty, -that beauty that had enthralled Warren. As he thought of his friend, -Forbes was instantly convinced that he had too readily yielded to Miss -Kent's insistence, regarding Warren's offer. He even felt a certain -tempered irritation with his old friend for having taken on herself the -responsibility of deciding for another so vital a matter. Now that the -girl had saved his life it was unthinkable that he should leave her -to her fate just because of an old-fashioned theory that there was no -future for a woman who had once gone wrong.</p> - -<p>He felt so strongly on the subject that he might have spoken his mind -to Miss Kent on reaching home had he been given the opportunity. But -Zaida Finch met him with the information that Miss Kent had gone to bed -with a severe headache, and that a telegram had come for him about the -middle of the afternoon. She hoped it was not bad news.</p> - -<p>The telegram proved to be from Forbes' physician, who was going away -for his vacation, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> wished to look his patient over before leaving. -It gave him his choice of coming to the city on Wednesday or Thursday, -and Forbes chose Wednesday. He had decided to waste no time before -having a talk with Warren.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></p> - -<p class="center">AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES</p> - - -<p class="drop">N<span class="uppercase">o human</span> being expects to die and all expect to marry. Observation -continually proves the groundlessness of one or both of these -anticipations, without altering the attitude of the survivors. In the -background of the consciousness of the most confirmed bachelor or -spinster, stands the shadowy form of the possible wife or the possible -husband.</p> - -<p>Mr. James Doolittle, at fifty-five, had no idea of escaping the -matrimonial yoke. He thought of himself always as an eligible young -fellow, waiting for the right girl to come along. On two or three -occasions earlier in life he had temporarily congratulated himself on -finding the right girl, but as the ladies in question had disagreed -with him, there had been no escape from the conclusion that he was -mistaken. These disappointments he had accepted with an edifying -equanimity, reminding himself that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> there were still as good fish in -the sea as had ever graced a frying pan.</p> - -<p>Just why, on a certain summer afternoon, Jim's vague and groping -expectations should suddenly have focused upon Zaida Finch, and why her -familiar, faded features and diminutive, gnome-like body should have -taken on the quality of allurement, is one of the mysteries which will -remain a mystery when the riddle of perpetual motion has been solved. -As the memory of Miss Finch hurrying across the grass continually -recurred to him, Jim said to himself that though a trifle more flesh -would not hurt her, she was a cute little thing. And forthwith he -was conscious of a feeling of youthful irresponsibility, flatly -contradicting the testimony of the family Bible.</p> - -<p>Yet it was with no very definite purpose in his mind that on the -Wednesday following his brief call at Oak Knoll, Mr. Doolittle resolved -on a second visit. Even incipient love is fertile in excuses. He argued -that the most elementary sense of courtesy demanded his ascertaining -the nature of the telegram of which he had been the bearer, and -extending his sympathy in case it had brought bad news. With the lack -of candor with himself, fre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>quently manifested by wiser men in his -condition, Mr. Doolittle failed to explain the fact that he assumed -for the call the necktie which for thirty years he had worn on dress -occasions, hand-painted daisies on a pink background. The silk was -faded now and the daisies had lost much of their original perky luster, -but with the hand-painted necktie tied under his chin, Mr. Doolittle -felt himself a figure to appeal to the exacting feminine taste.</p> - -<p>His state of mind pleasantly indeterminate, Mr. Doolittle jogged -through the dust in the direction of Oak Knoll. As yet his ardor had -not reached the point where the leisurely pace of the gray nag got on -his nerves. The droning peace of the mid-summer world was reflected in -the serenity of his spirit. But as he neared Oak Knoll, the sound of -wheels halted him at the foot of the long driveway, and waiting there, -some intuition ruffled the placidity of his mood, and left him alert -and uneasy.</p> - -<p>Jim knew his suspicion justified when suddenly upon his startled and -hostile vision emerged another buggy, smarter than his own, and newly -washed. The driver, Deacon Wiggins, looked up from the contemplation of -his sorrel mare to bark a gruff greeting, "Afternoon, Jim."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> - -<p>Deacon Wiggins was eminently a marrying man. He had married early, -and as often as a complacent Providence, assisted by pneumonia, heart -disease and typhoid, had permitted. A rather rusty band of crępe around -his hat, preserved with commendable thrift from one bereavement to -another, bore witness to his latest loss some three months earlier. And -with a lover's quick suspicion, Mr. Doolittle leaped to the conclusion -that the deacon's errand to Oak Knoll was the same as his own, that -in his eyes, too, Zaida Finch had found favor. His voice rasping as -he realized the insatiable greed of some of his sex, Jim Doolittle -returned the deacon's greeting with a sneering, "Wasn't looking to see -you here."</p> - -<p>Deacon Wiggins at once drew rein. His errand had not been a sentimental -one. He had called to collect from Miss Finch the amount of her very -modest subscription to the cause of foreign missions, and had been met -by Phemie with the news that the blind boarder and Howard had gone to -the city on the early train, and that the ladies of the family were -celebrating by spending the day with friends. Whereupon the deacon had -replied that he would call again, and had gone his way unruffled, till -halted by Doolittle's challenge. Though Deacon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> Wiggins was well past -fifty and had been thrice married, he had not outgrown that instinct -which impels two young cockerels to assault each other with murderous -intent.</p> - -<p>"You wasn't looking to see me, eh?" repeated Deacon Wiggins, -ponderously sarcastic. "Well, I don't know as that matters, Jim, as -long as I didn't come for the sake of seeing you."</p> - -<p>Doolittle reddened violently. "No, it's plain enough what you've come -for."</p> - -<p>The note of unreasonable jealousy was unmistakable. And while the -deacon was quite in the dark as to the other's meaning, all his -masculine dignity was in arms over the realization that another man -was attempting interference with his doing as he pleased. "Whether I -came for one thing or another," he retorted, "I don't have to ask your -leave."</p> - -<p>"Must make Zaida Finch feel terrible proud to know you are thinking of -her for Number Four."</p> - -<p>The introduction of Miss Finch's name into the conversation took the -deacon by surprise, but he made no attempt to allay the groundless -suspicion. Instead he replied, "A good many women would rather be -Number Four with some men than Number One with others I could mention." -The mag<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>nanimity which kept him from giving names was clearly a -pretense, for his significant smile pointed his meaning unmistakably.</p> - -<p>"There's no accounting for tastes," acknowledged Mr. Doolittle, -transformed by his fury to an unbecoming turkey red. "But sometimes -folks have better taste than we give 'em credit for."</p> - -<p>The deacon's smile was as belligerent as a blow.</p> - -<p>"You're right there, Jim. You're right. I've always said that the sort -of men who die old bachelors show the women ain't such fools as some -folks take 'em to be."</p> - -<p>He clucked to his horse and drove on. Doolittle, breathing hard and -unable to think of a sufficiently crushing rejoinder to this final -insult, waited till the deacon was out of sight before turning up -the drive. To him Phemie repeated her story of the blind boarder's -departure for the city, escorted by Howard, and the consequent gadding -of the ladies of the family.</p> - -<p>Mr. Doolittle drew a long breath as he realized that the fell designs -of Deacon Wiggins had been temporarily foiled. He was not the man, -however, to underestimate the gravity of the situation. His rival was -notable for prompt action, as his previous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> marriages had abundantly -proved. Left to himself, Doolittle might have meandered through several -years of more or less ardent courtship, before reaching the point -of asking Miss Finch to change her name, if indeed, he ever reached -it. But the certainty that Deacon Wiggins would waste no time in -such preliminaries forced him to realize that he, too, must act with -promptness, or resign himself to loss. Jim's vague intention became -definite in view of the purposes with which he credited the deacon. -With mingled sorrow and indignation he wondered at the man's grasping -nature.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Deacon Wiggins, jogging homeward, was undergoing a very -similar psychological experience. The most pronounced trait in the -deacon's character was his obstinacy. He was an ardent Democrat, for -the reason, it was generally believed, that he lived in a community -of devout Republicans. He had been drawn irresistibly to the -Congregationalist body because, as his acquaintances were certain, -he sprang from Methodist stock. In all his dealings Deacon Wiggins -could be safely counted on to take the off-side. But it had been long, -indeed, since anything had so whetted his native stubbornness as his -brief interview with James Doolittle.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> - -<p>In a general sense it might be said that Deacon Wiggins was looking for -a wife. He was always looking for a wife in those interruptions to his -marital bliss, whose brevity shocked the finer sensibilities of Mr. -Doolittle. But at present his attitude was one of critical observance -rather than active search. Mentally he had inventoried the attractions -of several unattached females of the community, though the thought of -Zaida Finch, as designed by Providence to solace his loneliness, had -never crossed his mind. But now that Doolittle's indiscreet opposition -had turned his thoughts in her direction, Deacon Wiggins said to -himself that he might go further and fare worse. Miss Finch was a fine -woman, a little undersized and scrawny for his taste, but a woman -of good temper and good principles, eminently qualified to make a -satisfactory wife. Seemingly the newly-awakened ardor of Jim Doolittle -was like a searchlight, illuminating virtues hitherto unnoticed. The -deacon reached for his whip and surprised the sorrel mare by a cut -across the flank. Mentally he had crossed his Rubicon.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch, placidly ignorant of the designs of Destiny, had passed a -pleasant day. She had found it an immense relief to have Mr. Forbes -away, even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> for twenty-four hours, for she never lost the sense of -walking amid pitfalls while he was in the house. Agatha, in the rebound -from the necessity of acting the rôle of an elderly maiden lady, had -been more whimsically childish than usual, and had imparted to her -faded little friend something of her own irresponsibility. Accordingly -Miss Finch passed a pleasant day, and a peaceful night, and woke in the -morning quite unprepared for what fate had in store.</p> - -<p>In Forbes' absence, the arrival of the Free Delivery was only an -ordinary incident in the day's routine. Miss Finch went down the drive -to get the mail a half-hour or so after the wagon had passed. And when -in another half-hour it occurred to Agatha to inquire as to the results -of that expedition, it took her a good five minutes to locate Miss -Finch. At length her search brought her to a weather-beaten bench under -the trees, where Miss Finch had seated herself as if to rest from the -fatigue of the walk up the drive. At her feet were scattered various -items of mail, which had slid off her lap in the stress of her emotions -and lay on the grass unnoticed.</p> - -<p>"Well, Fritz, you must have found some absorbing reading," Agatha -began. "I've screamed myself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> hoarse calling you." She paused, -regarding her old friend with sudden concern. Miss Finch's face was -singularly flushed and her pupils dilated like those of a sleep-walker. -In either hand she clutched a letter.</p> - -<p>"Fritz, what it is?" Agatha exclaimed in real alarm. "Aren't you -feeling well?"</p> - -<p>Much to her relief, Miss Finch's head turned in her direction. Up to -this time she had seemed oblivious to her presence.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I feel all right, Agatha," she replied, her voice dreamy and -unnatural. "I—I'm going to be married."</p> - -<p>The violence of Agatha's start indicated an almost uncomplimentary -incredulity.</p> - -<p>"You are—what did you say, Fritz?"</p> - -<p>"I'm—I'm going to be married."</p> - -<p>"For heaven's sake! Who is it?"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch's manner lost something of its assurance.</p> - -<p>"I haven't quite—made up my mind."</p> - -<p>Agatha's expression of astonishment changed quickly to consternation. -She came close to the little lady, slipping a hand through her arm.</p> - -<p>"Fritz, dear, hadn't you better come to the house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> and lie down? The -sun is awfully hot, and you shouldn't have gone out without a hat." She -studied Miss Finch's unnatural color with a sinking heart. Was it a -touch of the sun or something worse?</p> - -<p>Miss Finch, though perfectly aware of the nature of Agatha's -apprehensions, showed no resentment. Indeed the difficulty she had -experienced in combating her own incredulity enabled her to sympathize -with her young friend's perplexity.</p> - -<p>"When I say I haven't made up my mind, I mean I haven't decided which -one to marry."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I see, Fritz. Now let's go to the house. Just lean on me." Phemie -would have to go for the doctor, Agatha decided. She herself would not -dare to leave.</p> - -<p>"If you don't believe me," exclaimed Miss Finch, a sense of injury at -last making itself manifest in her voice, "you can read the letters for -yourself."</p> - -<p>Agatha snatched the extended missive, thankful for anything that would -throw light on Miss Finch's singular hallucination. Her stubborn -incredulity received its first shock when she saw Miss Finch's name -written across the yellow envelope in an unmistakably masculine hand. -The contents of the letter completed her undoing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Miss Zaida Finch</span>:</p> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Friend</span>—I have always believed the truth of those words -of Scripture that it is not good for man to be alone. (Gen. 2:18.) -Three dear companions have I taken to myself only to yield them to the -cold and silent tomb. Have you ever thought of changing your state? -You are so much in my thoughts that it seems a leading to show that -it is you who should fill the place of my three lost companions, till -you, too, shall be called from battle to reward.</p> - -<p>"I hope you will make this matter a subject of prayer, and will see -your way clear to accept me as your husband. Write me how you feel -about it. I enclose stamp.</p> - -<p> -"Yours truly,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Hiram L. Wiggins</span>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Agatha read the unusual document breathlessly, too relieved by the -discovery that Miss Finch's mind was not seriously affected to -appreciate to the full the unique literary quality of the composition. -Deacon Wiggins actually was proffering Miss Finch his hand and so much -of his heart as had not been consigned to the tomb along with the three -deceased ladies who had borne his name. Agatha's impressions of the -deacon were vaguely hostile, yet she realized that from Miss Finch's -standpoint, the occasion called for congratulations. Agatha was not -unaware of the little spinster's attitude of wistful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> anticipation -where matrimony was concerned. And though it was difficult to think -of Deacon Wiggins as the realization of a romantic dream, she warned -herself that she must not be a kill-joy.</p> - -<p>"I'm sure, Fritz," Agatha said, with no trace of her usual mischief, -"that the deacon will be very fortunate if you decide—" She checked -herself, for Miss Finch was extending a second letter.</p> - -<p>"For the love of Mike," Agatha gasped, borrowing from Howard's -vocabulary as her own seemed inadequate. "You don't mean there's -another?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, there are two, Agatha," said Miss Finch, and under the -circumstances her flitting expression of complacency was quite -excusable.</p> - -<p>The dreadful suspicion flashing through Agatha's mind, that the -guileless Miss Finch had been made the butt of a peculiarly obnoxious -practical joke, vanished as she read Jim Doolittle's letter. It was too -characteristic for her to doubt its authorship.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Zaida</span>:</p> - -<p>"Please excuse me calling you Zaida, for as Zaida you are enshrined in -my thoughts, and I think of you very often when I am sad and lonely -and I wish I had a wife like you to cheer me, and to be a help-meet to -me like the Bible says, and while I have not married again and again -like some people I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> name it has not been because I do not have -a high opinion of women. And if I should be left alone I should not -go looking for some one to take your place right away, for with me to -love once is to love always, and, dear Zaida, my heart beats for you -alone.</p> - -<p> -Yours truly,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">James Doolittle</span>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p>Agatha was seized with a paroxysm of coughing, the businesslike -conclusion of the letter seeming decidedly inconsistent with its -impassioned prelude. Then, recovering herself, she went over to Miss -Finch and kissed her.</p> - -<p>"Well, Fritz, you're a lot too good for either one, but women are, as a -rule. Which is it to be?"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch looked down at her first love-letters with an anxious -expression, hardly befitting the occasion.</p> - -<p>"Well, Agatha, I'm not sure. There is a great deal of sentiment in Mr. -Doolittle's letter. It's almost poetical in spots. I wouldn't have -thought he had so much poetry in him?"</p> - -<p>"Nor I," admitted Agatha.</p> - -<p>"But the deacon's letter shows a beautiful religious spirit, and when -you are choosing a husband you have to think of the things that are -really important."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> - -<p>"The deacon is better off than Mr. Doolittle," suggested Agatha. -"Though I've always heard he was inclined to be close."</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't let such things weigh with me, Agatha. I can't imagine -marrying a man because he had more money than somebody else. It's what -a man is himself that counts with me."</p> - -<p>"Then I suppose it's the deacon," said Agatha, with youth's -characteristic readiness to jump at conclusions.</p> - -<p>"I don't know, I'm sure. Don't hurry a body so, Agatha." Miss Finch -spoke more sharply than was her wont. "If you were picking out a -husband at my time of life, you wouldn't want to be rushed so that, -like enough, you'd pick the wrong man."</p> - -<p>Agatha shook her head. "No, Fritz, if I ever became such a -heart-breaker that I had a batch of proposals in a single mail, I'd -take as long as I could to make up my mind. I'd make the sweetness last -like an all-day sucker."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch's brief irritation vanished as she heard herself referred to -as a heart-breaker. She blushed not unbecomingly.</p> - -<p>"The names might help you in making up your mind," continued Agatha, -bent on giving all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> assistance in her power. "Which is the -more—what is that word—mellifluous in your ears, Mrs. Wiggins, Mrs. -Deacon Wiggins, or Mrs. James Doolittle?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid you're not as serious-minded as you ought to be, Agatha," -chided Miss Finch. "Marriage is 'most anything you like except a joke, -and you can't make a joke of it, no matter how hard you try." As she -moved toward the house with her two letters, leaving Agatha to collect -the widely scattered mail, her face wore a troubled, anxious look, as -if the fateful solemnity of the married state already had reached out -from the future and enveloped her.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></p> - -<p class="center">A CONFESSION</p> - - -<p class="drop">B<span class="uppercase">ecause</span> of her absorption in Miss Finch's engrossing problem, Agatha -gave the travelers of the household less of her attention on their -return that afternoon than those rather spoiled individuals had reason -to expect. Not till the following morning when she read Forbes a letter -from Julia, even more egotistic than the average communication of that -self-centered young woman, did Agatha realize that something was amiss -with her boarder. He seemed tired and low-spirited, disinclined to -conversation, in decided contrast to Howard, who was bubbling over with -items of interest relating to their brief trip. Clearly the jaunt had -been too much for the convalescent's strength.</p> - -<p>A little conscience-stricken that she had not earlier made the -discovery, Agatha set herself resolutely to the task of reviving -Forbes' drooping spirits,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> though with less than her usual success. -And when late in the afternoon she suggested a walk, pleading that her -knees were growing stiff from lack of exercise, he turned the tables -on her unexpectedly by insisting that she go for a stroll with Howard -as an escort, leaving him at home. And as her protest stirred him to a -most uncharacteristic irritation, she yielded the point without further -argument.</p> - -<p>"Of course, if you really want to get rid of us, we'll go. Only I hate -to leave you alone."</p> - -<p>"I'm better company for myself than for others, dear lady. I'd rather -be alone for a little. I'll try to sleep and perhaps I'll wake in a -better humor."</p> - -<p>Her only thought an impatient haste to have the ordeal over, Agatha -started out, Howard in attendance. But her dejection yielded by degrees -to the magic of the summer afternoon. It vanished completely when she -challenged her brother to a race across a green stretch of pasture. -They reached their goal laughing and breathless, Agatha in the lead, -and climbing the low stone wall they dropped panting in the shade of -a guardian elm. Agatha snuggled back against the huge trunk, tucking -her feet under her, while Howard sprawled happily at her side, laying -his head in her lap. Agatha's con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>tented sigh as she ran her fingers -through his hair, told of relaxed nerves.</p> - -<p>"What a pity Mr. Forbes wouldn't come! It's so restful here. What did -he do yesterday to tire him so?"</p> - -<p>"He didn't do much of anything. Saw the doctor and Mr. Warren and -then—"</p> - -<p>"Warren? Did he see him?"</p> - -<p>"Sure. Telephoned the first thing when we got to the city and Mr. -Warren came up to the hotel for lunch. They let me go out and look -around for a couple of hours while they talked. Say, Aggie, I wish you -knew Mr. Warren. He's a dandy."</p> - -<p>Agatha's expressive face betrayed no especial impatience to meet -the object of Howard's eulogy. Indeed a grim tightening of her lips -indicated that on this theme her brother and herself were far from -agreement. But before the boy had time to be impressed by her lack -of responsiveness, his attention was distracted by a cough from the -direction of the road, eminently a stagey cough, due not to a tickling -in the throat, but to some one's desire to announce his presence. -Howard turned sharply, then sprang to his feet with a shout of mingled -pleasure and astonishment.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Why, hello, Mr. Warren! Did you come out to find us? It's the funniest -thing but I was talking about you this very minute."</p> - -<p>Warren, immaculate in a gray business suit and spotless panama, gave no -indication of sharing the boy's pleasure in the unexpected encounter. -He looked at him with disconcerting steadiness, and Howard, turning to -his sister, saw her unconcealed consternation and realized that the -game was up. He had momentarily forgotten the necessity of explaining -Aggie. Mr. Warren would have to know the truth and undoubtedly would -take it on himself to acquaint Mr. Forbes with the surprising state of -affairs. Yet after all, Mr. Warren was a good sport. Perhaps if the -thing were put up to him—</p> - -<p>Warren's peremptory speech broke in on the boy's confused thoughts. -"Chase along, Howard. I don't want you at present."</p> - -<p>"What do you want me to do, Mr. Warren?"</p> - -<p>"I don't care what you do as long as you don't stay here."</p> - -<p>"I—but I—" Without understanding his sense of discomfiture, Howard -blushed an angry scarlet, and faced the intruder with instinctive -defiance. Then Agatha spoke wearily.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> - -<p>"It's all right, Howard. Run along, please."</p> - -<p>She was not easily daunted, but something in Warren's manner was -accountable for a singular chill at her heart that was like fear. She -had forgotten how big the man was, and his nose was so unexpectedly -long and his chin so heavy, and his eyes bored into her like augers and -were of a steely gray besides, which made the figure more impressive. -He seemed quite another person from the silly young man who had talked -nonsense in the kitchen that Sunday morning and ended by kissing her -cheek.</p> - -<p>She heard Howard stumble away, muttering angrily to himself. Very -deliberately Warren moved toward her. She forced herself to lift her -eyes. He was looking down at her with the air of one who has the -whip-hand and knows it. For some undefined reason she felt herself at a -tremendous disadvantage.</p> - -<p>"Look here," said Warren with the same hardness in his voice she had -noticed when he spoke to Howard, "this won't do, you know."</p> - -<p>Agatha remembered that she was Hephzibah Diggs just in time to drawl -the inquiry through her nose. "What won't do?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> - -<p>"You mustn't be putting ideas into the kid's head. He's a nice kid. -Forbes is tremendously interested in him and so is Miss Kent. On Miss -Kent's account if there were no other reason, you ought to let the boy -alone."</p> - -<p>She glared at him, fury growing with understanding. Her baleful gaze -fought its way to him through tears of pure rage.</p> - -<p>Her unexpected emotion softened him perceptibly. He laid aside his air -of judicial sternness as easily as he would have removed his coat.</p> - -<p>"Come now," he said, seating himself beside her. "We mustn't quarrel. -And I dare say you meant no particular harm. Only keep in mind that -it's hands off where the boy is concerned."</p> - -<p>"Have you got anything to say to me?"</p> - -<p>"You bet I have. I've come clear from town to say it, Hephzibah. By the -way, isn't there something I could call you for short?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Miss Diggs."</p> - -<p>He eyed her approvingly. A tear had splashed upon her burning cheek, -and was making its leisurely way toward her chin, but tears with Agatha -seldom gave the impression of feminine softness. Warren had the usual -masculine horror of weepy women.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> It was a relief to perceive that for -all her tears, Agatha's mood was murderous.</p> - -<p>"No indeed, we mustn't quarrel," he repeated. "Because I've come on -purpose to see you, and do you a good turn. I'm interested in you, and -want to help you."</p> - -<p>"I don't want none of your help."</p> - -<p>"That's because you don't understand, little girl. This world is a -pretty big place and so far you've seen only a measly little corner."</p> - -<p>"It suits me." He saw an added enmity in her eyes, over this aspersion -on her native village, and smiled tolerantly.</p> - -<p>"I wouldn't waste any loyalty on this burg if I were in your place. -I asked half a dozen people where I could find you and every one -pretended he'd never heard of you."</p> - -<p>Agatha's look showed her taken aback and Warren was not slow to follow -up his advantage.</p> - -<p>"Of course I knew they were lying. Even in this unobservant community, -my dear Hephzibah, you could hardly escape notice any more than on -Broadway. I assume these young men were protecting their reputations by -denying the pleasure of your acquaintance."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh," murmured Agatha, "I never thought I could hate anybody the way I -hate you."</p> - -<p>"You shouldn't feel that way, my child. I'm not trying to hurt your -feelings. I'm perfectly ready to let bygones be bygones and give you a -hand up. I only mentioned this to show the narrowness of these little -country places. They never forget, Hephzibah, and believe me, they -never forgive."</p> - -<p>The fire of her wrath had dried her tears. Her eyes bright with hate, -she met his gaze in silence.</p> - -<p>"There's something about you, Hephzibah," continued Warren, a slight -uneasiness of manner showing that his <i>sang froid</i> was not quite proof -against her silent hostility, "something which makes me certain that -it would pay to educate you. You could learn, I'm positive of it. And -you'll take on polish. You say you're satisfied with things as they -are. That only shows your ignorance, my dear child. Instead of being -a poor little drudge, slighted and snubbed by a lot of country jays, -you could make a place for yourself in the big world. I can't tell you -now just what will open up for you, but at the least it would be like -fairyland compared with what you have to expect here."</p> - -<p>Her anger seemed to have moderated to tranquil<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> contempt. She sat aloof -and disdainful, waiting for him to finish and take his departure.</p> - -<p>"I own you don't know me well enough to feel sure of my motives in -making this offer," Warren went on almost humbly. "But you can ask Miss -Kent about the blind man who's boarding with her this summer, and see -what sort of reputation she gives him. And he's in this thing with me. -In fact it was at his suggestion that I came down here to-day."</p> - -<p>At last he had succeeded in interesting her. Although she did not speak -she turned with a quickness that had the effect of an interruption, and -the recent disdainful calm of her expression was replaced by a rather -wistful look.</p> - -<p>"Yes, Forbes is in for this, tooth and nail." Warren was pleased at the -altered demeanor of his audience. "When I first suggested it to him, -he talked it over with Miss Kent, and the old lady discouraged him. I -imagine she's a good sort but about as broad as a knitting needle. She -insisted that it was better for you to be let alone, and she talked old -Forbes over, and I thought the whole thing was settled. But after you -saved Forbes' life—"</p> - -<p>"Why," cried Agatha. "How—how—." Her usu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>ally ready tongue failed -her, and in her blushing confusion Warren thought her adorable.</p> - -<p>"I suppose you wonder how he knew you were his rescuer," Warren -continued, enjoying to the full the pleasing effect of his revelation. -"It came to him by a sort of intuition. He quizzed the kid, but Howard -wouldn't tell. It simply goes to show how strait-laced the old lady -is. She'd forbidden him even to talk about you. But something you said -or did fitted in with what I had told Forbes about you, and he decided -that he couldn't rest easy under such an obligation."</p> - -<p>"It's only a guess." Agatha had found her voice. "You don't know -anything about it."</p> - -<p>"It was a safe bet, even before I told you and watched your face. Now -it's a dead certainty. Listen! Forbes came to see me yesterday and we -cocked up this scheme. See how it strikes you."</p> - -<p>He had her attention now, close and serious, with no suggestion of -disdain. Painstakingly he explained the plan. They had selected a woman -both knew to act as Hephzibah's tutor. They would send her to some -quiet place where there would be little to distract the girl's thoughts -from her work. Her tutor, an impoverished gentlewoman, would under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>take -the cultivation of manners befitting the best society, and would mold -her literary taste by reading to her from the English classics, in -addition to her regular instruction.</p> - -<p>"I don't say it will be so very much fun for six months," Warren owned -frankly. "But we both think it would be a good idea for you to work for -all you are worth at the start, and make all the progress possible. And -when once you—well, when the rough edges are smoothed off a little, -you can come to town and mix in a little fun with the day's work. What -do you think of the idea?"</p> - -<p>Agatha's answer was a shake of her head.</p> - -<p>"Too strenuous a program, is it?" Warren looked disappointed at her -lack of ambition. "Well, it isn't necessary to travel at such a pace. -Both Forbes and I felt it would be more encouraging to you in the long -run, if your advancement was so rapid that you couldn't help realizing -it."</p> - -<p>"Yes, that would be better if—but it won't work. Thank you. It's kind -of you, but I—I can't go away."</p> - -<p>"Away? Do you mean away from this hole in the woods?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> - -<p>Agatha nodded with no attempt to defend her native place against his -sneers.</p> - -<p>"This home of yours, where a nice kid like Howard is forbidden to speak -of you, and where older men look scared when your name is mentioned and -say they never heard of you?"</p> - -<p>"You said all that before." Agatha had turned rather white. "And it -won't do any good to say it again."</p> - -<p>Warren studied her averted face, a pensive face at that moment. He had -a confused certainty that he had been too hard on her. He had only -spoken the truth and for her good, but he had overdone it. He had been -brutal.</p> - -<p>"Hephzibah," he said suddenly, a new gentleness in his voice, "I know -what's the matter with you. You're in love."</p> - -<p>There was something so virginal in her protesting recoil that he had to -stop a moment for breath. Yet a quality in the movement gave him an odd -conviction of her innate fineness, in spite of that chapter in her past -he found it hard to forget.</p> - -<p>"There's no other explanation, Hephzibah." He tried to speak lightly -without any great degree of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> success. "When a girl of your sort sticks -to a place of this sort, like a barnacle to a ship's bottom, it's as -sure as shooting that there's a man in the case. Come, Hephzibah, own -up."</p> - -<p>She lifted her chin in a regal way she had—an incongruous motion in -a country girl who "worked out"—and looked at him squarely. With a -little thrill he saw that her eyes had filled again. And though she did -not speak, those brimming eyes seemed a brave, frank avowal that his -surmise had hit the mark.</p> - -<p>"Well, Hephzibah, I'm glad you aren't going to need our help—Forbes' -and mine—in order to be happy. I hope your young man knows he's -lucky." He was astonished at the keenness of the pang which marked this -formal renunciation. "When is it to be, Hephzibah?"</p> - -<p>"Why, it's not—you don't understand—I'm not going to be married."</p> - -<p>Warren sat up straight. "The devil, you're not," he said, his voice -harshly cynical.</p> - -<p>The girl rose and stamped her foot on the grass. The soft turf -swallowed the sound, but the passionate gesture was not less impressive -because noiseless. "You hush!" she said. "Don't you dare to think<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> -things like that about him. He's perfect. He never harmed anybody, -never! And for you to dare to blacken him with your beastly thoughts -just because I've been fool enough to care."</p> - -<p>Swayed by unprecedented emotion, Warren rose to his feet. In her -earlier anger the girl had been merely a lovely virago. Now, in her -furious defense of the man he had apparently misjudged, she was superb. -Warren felt himself swept from his moorings.</p> - -<p>"Very well, Hephzibah. I'll take your word for it that he's all right."</p> - -<p>"He doesn't know. He doesn't even dream. There's—He loves some one -else."</p> - -<p>"Don't, Hephzibah. Poor little girl! What a damned muddle life is." He -was fumbling for his card.</p> - -<p>"Can you write, dear?"</p> - -<p>"After a fashion." All in a minute she was another woman, with radiant -mischief peering out of her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Here's my address on this card. If you should change your mind, write -me. I hope and believe you will. Just because one man is blind, it -doesn't follow that there's nothing else in life."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> - -<p>She gave a slight start, looking at him obliquely, the mischief -quite gone from her eyes. But she accepted his card, and then of her -own accord gave him her hand. "You have been good to take so much -trouble," she said. "Thank you." The two had changed markedly since the -dialogue under the elm tree began. The girl's hostility had vanished as -completely as the man's condescension.</p> - -<p>On his way back to the city that night, Warren evolved the theory -that Hephzibah was originally of gentle blood. That accounted for the -quality of her beauty, for something in her manner suggesting one -accustomed to homage rather than to service. Warren was inclined to -believe it also explained a singular fact which impressed him more as -he thought over the events of the afternoon than it had at the time. -There could be no question but that in moments of extreme excitement, -a certain uncouthness disappeared from her speech and manner, and -she lapsed, so to speak, into the idioms of her presumably cultured -forebears. In Warren's opinion this cast a most interesting side-light -on the subject of heredity.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></p> - -<p class="center">A WILFUL MAN MUST HAVE HIS WAY</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">hough</span> there was no likelihood of another letter from Julia for a week -at least, Forbes showed an abnormal interest in the contents of the -mail bag, and Agatha guessed he was expecting to hear from Warren. -She, too, found herself anxiously anticipating the arrival of the -letter addressed in the vigorous hand which in some obscure way was so -suggestive of the man's personality. When it came four days after that -unique dialogue under the elm tree, and the duty of reading it devolved -upon herself, Agatha's heart beat suffocatingly.</p> - -<p>But as it proved, all her thrills were anticipatory. The letter itself -contained nothing she did not already know, and that little was told -tersely and obscurely, evidently with the intention of preventing Miss -Kent, the probable reader, from learning that her counsel had been -ignored. With<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> businesslike brevity Warren stated that he attended -to the matter they had discussed the previous week. He, Forbes, was -correct in his conjecture as to the identity of the party who had -done him the service he had spoken of, but said party had turned his -proposition down flat. "And now that our consciences are clear," Warren -wrote, "the only thing left is to drop the whole matter. Hope the -unpleasant effect of your treatments has worn off and that your eyes -are feeling better.</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">"R.W."</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>It was plain from the expression of Forbes' face that he shared -Agatha's uncomplimentary opinion of the communication in question. The -remainder of the day he was frowningly contemplative, resisting all -efforts to draw him into conversation. For the first time Agatha saw in -his face lines suggesting a determination akin to stubbornness.</p> - -<p>By morning his manner showed the relief of having reached a decision. -Agatha was not unprepared to have him say at the conclusion of the -morning meal, "Miss Kent, when you have a little time I would like to -have a talk with you."</p> - -<p>"I can come now."</p> - -<p>"There's no hurry—no especial hurry, that is. Any time this forenoon."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> - -<p>But Agatha's curiosity was awakened. She conducted him out upon the -porch, ensconced him in a comfortable chair, and seated herself beside -him. As a preliminary, he took her hand and kissed it.</p> - -<p>"I must begin with a confession, my dear lady. I have been keeping a -secret from you, in fact more than one."</p> - -<p>"Dear me! And I thought you had accepted me as mother confessor."</p> - -<p>"So I have. I decided not to tell you for fear of worrying you. But the -truth is that I came near walking over the cliff one afternoon, when I -was out with Howard, and ending my troubles by breaking my neck."</p> - -<p>Agatha succeeded in expressing a sufficient degree of shocked horror in -her exclamation.</p> - -<p>Forbes patted her hand reassuringly. "But I didn't, you see. My life -was saved in a conventionally romantic way. A beautiful girl flung -herself into my arms, and when she could get her breath, gave me a -terrific scolding."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" Agatha looked at him with unfeigned interest. "How did you know -she was beautiful? Did Howard tell you?"</p> - -<p>"No, Warren."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Oh!" She seemed a little disappointed. "But he wasn't there, was he?"</p> - -<p>"No, but he'd told me about her. And I think I should have known -anyway."</p> - -<p>"How?" Again he noted the animation in her tone.</p> - -<p>"I'm not quite sure. Perhaps a blind man develops a sort of sixth -sense. Anyway, as I stood there with my arms about her—it was -necessary in the circumstances, and you needn't look shocked as I -suspect you're doing—I had as vivid an impression of youth and beauty -as if I'd seen her."</p> - -<p>"More so, probably," amended Agatha joyously.</p> - -<p>"No, not if Warren's right. He says she's something extraordinary. -Can't you guess who it was?"</p> - -<p>"I believe that Mr. Warren"—Agatha seemed to be searching her memory -for details—"talked rather extravagantly about Hephzibah."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Hephzibah was the girl. And that puts quite a new light on -Warren's plan for educating her, don't you see?"</p> - -<p>"No, I don't." Agatha's brevity implied distaste for the subject.</p> - -<p>"Well, I do. A man's chance interest in a pretty girl may be perfectly -innocent and unobjectionable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> but you can't compare it with what one -feels for the woman who has saved one's life."</p> - -<p>"I told you that she wanted to be left alone. I told you that it would -be kinder."</p> - -<p>"Wait, please." Under the deference of his manner, she perceived a -resolution that was adamant. "I've told you only one of the secrets -that I have kept from you. Here's the other. When I was in town I saw -Warren and we laid plans for taking Hephzibah's case in hand, regular -uplift proposition, don't you know. Warren was to see her and arrange -matters. We had everything settled. We had a governess selected and -had decided on a little sea-side place for them to stay until she was -presentable. Warren was going to ask a girl he knows to buy her a -suitable outfit."</p> - -<p>"I don't wonder you've been blue," Agatha said in tones of soft -reproach. "Planning all this out and not a word to me."</p> - -<p>To her surprise he blushed high. "No," he said after a moment, "I've -been down in the depths, God knows, but not for that reason. I -thought—well, you seemed to feel so strongly on the subject of not -interfering with Hephzibah, that I didn't want to bother you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And now you do? Is that why you're telling me about it?"</p> - -<p>"I'm telling you because I want your help." He set his jaw grimly as he -faced her. "I left Warren to engineer the thing and he's bungled it."</p> - -<p>"It wasn't his fault." Agatha evinced a commendable eagerness not to be -unjust to the absent. "When Hephzibah has made up her mind, trying to -change it is like going against a stone wall."</p> - -<p>"Possibly. But I shan't feel satisfied till I've tried my persuasive -powers on her." Forbes sat waiting for some comment from Agatha, and -when none was offered, explained firmly, "I want an interview with her."</p> - -<p>Still Agatha did not speak. She was beginning to feel an aversion to -Hephzibah Diggs which amounted to positive hatred. That talk with -Warren had been trying enough, with his repeated references to some -scandalous episode in her past. But for reasons perfectly clear to -Agatha herself, the interview with Forbes promised to be vastly worse.</p> - -<p>"Well?" Forbes was puzzled by her silence. "Had she better come here? -Or shall I have Howard take me to her home?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, no." The dismay in Agatha's voice nega<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>tived the last suggestion -conclusively. Forbes found her tremors a trifle irritating. He had -to remind himself that she was an old lady, and that for many years -her will had been supreme in her little circle. He found her hand -and patted it affectionately. He was beginning to think that these -sentimental attentions counted more with elderly women than with -younger ones.</p> - -<p>"Well, then, we'll have her here. Will you send her word, some time -to-day?"</p> - -<p>"I'm not sure she'll come."</p> - -<p>"Then I'll go to her." His obstinacy showed in his voice. "I tell you -I'm going to talk to that girl. She's got a chance at last. She's young -and it's inconceivable that she should turn down such an offer if she -really understood it."</p> - -<p>"That's the sort of girl she is. Worthless, trifling."</p> - -<p>Forbes withdrew his hand from hers. To her amazement Agatha saw she had -really offended him. And now to her dislike of Hephzibah was added a -preposterous jealousy. She, Agatha Kent, had devoted herself to Forbes -all summer only to have him act like a spoiled child when she ventured -a criticism of a girl he had met only on one occasion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> a girl with a -past, at that. What was Hephzibah to him or he to Hephzibah, that for -her sake he was ready to affront his father's old friend and his own?</p> - -<p>"I shan't need Howard this morning," remarked Forbes pleasantly but -with a relentless holding to his purpose which forced her to realize -the hopelessness of altering his intention. "So if you please, ask him -to take the message. The girl may be all that you say, and my interest -and effort may all be wasted, but I prefer to see for myself."</p> - -<p>"Very well," said Agatha swallowing. She perceived that he considered -her a narrow-minded old person, who thought it impossible for a woman -to return to the paths of rectitude, after once stepping aside. He -would not take her word for Hephzibah. He was determined to interview -her for himself. Agatha looked at him with narrowing eyes. Very well! -Let him take the consequences.</p> - -<p>"I'll see that Hephzibah gets the message," she said with dignity. "I -can't answer for results."</p> - -<p>"Of course not." Now that he had gained his point, his manner was -thoroughly friendly. "I'll take the entire responsibility for the -outcome."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> - -<p>Agatha realized that she was dismissed. She went up-stairs feeling -out of sorts with Forbes and positively murderous where Hephzibah was -concerned. She even played with the thought of having that obtrusive -young woman smitten with mortal illness, too sick for the interview -Forbes insisted on, and in a few days reaching the end of her brief -and troubled life. She dismissed the thought when she realized that -Forbes was capable of summoning a physician from the city to attend the -patient.</p> - -<p>The door of Miss Finch's room was ajar. Miss Finch sat at the table -with a sheet of paper spread out before her and a pen in hand. The -seriousness of her expression suggested that she was on the point of -making her last will and testament.</p> - -<p>"Fritz," exclaimed Agatha, appearing in the doorway, "I have a message -for you to give Hephzibah Diggs."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch looked at her wildly.</p> - -<p>"Will you please say that Mr. Forbes would like to see her some time -to-day. Say it's very important."</p> - -<p>As Miss Finch continued to stare, Agatha showed signs of impatience. -"Well, why don't you begin?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Begin what, Agatha?"</p> - -<p>"Why, say what I've just told you, that Mr. Forbes wants to see me this -afternoon."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch groaned and shook her head. "Oh, Agatha, it seems so wicked."</p> - -<p>"Wicked! If that's not unreasonable. Here I am taking all the pains to -come up-stairs to you, to have you give me the message so I won't need -to stretch the truth the least little bit, and then you talk as if I -were an ordinary prevaricator, without a conscience."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch quailed before Agatha's simulated indignation. "Oh, if you -look at it that way," she replied feebly and made an effort to recall -the message. "Hephzibah, Mr. Forbes wants to see you to-day."</p> - -<p>"Tell me it's very important," prompted Agatha.</p> - -<p>"It's very important," Miss Finch repeated, and looked on the point of -bursting into tears.</p> - -<p>"I'll be there at three o'clock," replied Agatha in the person of -Hephzibah. Then her gaze fell on the letters lying open on the table -and she temporarily forgot her own perplexities in the perennial -feminine interest in a love-affair.</p> - -<p>"Oh, Fritz," she exclaimed, coming closer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> "You're writing the letter, -aren't you? Which one is it to be?"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch looked at the blank sheet before her with an expression -equally blank.</p> - -<p>"Agatha," she hesitated, "it almost seems to me—at least don't you -think Mr. Doolittle is rather the best-looking?"</p> - -<p>Agatha pondered the question with the seriousness its importance -deserved.</p> - -<p>"I rather think he is, Fritz. The deacon is much too fat. My ideal of -manly beauty isn't broad enough to include a fat man. It's surprising -how some people thrive on bereavement."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch fidgeted with her pen. "But perhaps the deacon is a little -more careful about his appearance."</p> - -<p>Again Agatha acquiesced. "Mr. Doolittle is far from particular. I've -seen him in the village with only one suspender, and the usefulness of -that dependent on one anemic-looking safety-pin. I've honestly trembled -for fear of what might happen. The deacon's away in the lead in the -matter of clothes."</p> - -<p>Again Miss Finch looked nervously at the paper before her and then -surprised Agatha by laying down her pen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I rather thought I'd write them to-day," she said. "It's been—well, -not long, but quite a time since their letters came, and I thought—"</p> - -<p>She fell into an indeterminate silence, and Agatha finished the -sentence for her. "Of course they're getting impatient. It's cruel to -keep them on the rack this way. Why don't you put them out of their -misery, Fritz?"</p> - -<p>"Why, I don't want to hurry, Agatha. I must wait to be sure. There's -some nice things about each one and some that aren't so nice. I'll have -to think it over a while yet."</p> - -<p>Agatha was watching the little woman keenly. "Fritz," she asked with -unusual, gentle gravity, "are you sure you want either of them? Don't -you think you'd be happier just to stay on with me?"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch regarded her interrogator with evident amazement. "Why, -Agatha, I might never have another chance."</p> - -<p>This was too true to question. Agatha remained silent.</p> - -<p>"I sometimes can't help wishing," Miss Finch owned plaintively, "that -there hadn't been two. That's what makes it so puzzling—having to -choose. And there seems so much to be said on both sides.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> But to -refuse them both—why, Agatha, it would be flying in the face of -Providence."</p> - -<p>Agatha said no more. Leaving Miss Finch to her dreams, she went up -to the garret to find an appropriate costume for Hephzibah in her -forthcoming momentous interview. She felt she could act her rôle -with more spirit if dressed appropriately to the part. Agatha did -not underestimate the difficulty of her proposed masquerade. It was -an easy matter to evolve a personality sufficiently consistent to -deceive Warren, for Warren had never met the dignified and elderly -spinster, Miss Agatha Kent. Forbes, on the contrary, had spent hours -in that lady's company nearly every day through the summer, and knew -every inflection of her voice. The forthcoming interview with Forbes -presented any number of terrifying possibilities.</p> - -<p>She had a word with him at a suitable interval after their late -conversation. "She's coming."</p> - -<p>"Good!" he cried triumphantly. "Did Howard go?"</p> - -<p>"No. Miss Finch was going to see her, anyway. She'll be here at three."</p> - -<p>"Good!" said Forbes again. He turned to her with that mingled -gentleness and resolution which somehow revealed him in a new light.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Now, my dear friend, I'm going to ask a favor of you. Promise me you -won't misunderstand."</p> - -<p>"I'll try not," she said faintly, and her heart misgave her.</p> - -<p>"Promise me that you'll leave us to ourselves when we have our little -talk. I know your interest in Hephzibah's future—"</p> - -<p>In her relief Agatha became jocular. "No, you don't know. You can't. -Her welfare means as much to me as my own."</p> - -<p>"I'm not doubting that. Please don't misunderstand me. But sometimes I -think these sensitive natures can open up better to a stranger than to -a friend. And the fact that I'm blind may be a help to her."</p> - -<p>"Yes," agreed Agatha with unmistakable sincerity, "I'm pretty sure it -will be."</p> - -<p>"There's something mysterious about that girl," Forbes continued. "The -way she refuses to listen to propositions that are all clearly for -her good, puzzles me. I'm convinced that if I can have her to myself -an hour or so, I'll get at the root of the trouble. Anyway it's worth -trying."</p> - -<p>Relieved from the terrifying certainty that he was about to ask her to -chaperon them during the inter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>view, Agatha had almost ceased to dread -the prospective ordeal. But prudence suggested the advisability of -seeming a little hurt. "I shouldn't have interfered in any way," she -assured him plaintively. "Since you've set your heart on talking to -Hephzibah, I should have sat quietly in the background and not said a -word."</p> - -<p>"Better not," Forbes interposed hastily. "Let me have my way this time. -And when we talk it over afterward, I'll tell you every word that was -said as nearly as I can remember."</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></p> - -<p class="center">HEPHZIBAH TURNS THE TABLES</p> - - -<p class="drop">H<span class="uppercase">ephzibah Diggs</span> was prompt. As the grandfather's clock in the hall -struck three, Agatha advanced to the French window opening on the -porch, and said in her natural voice, "She's here, Mr. Forbes."</p> - -<p>Forbes smiled approval. "Send her around, please, Miss Kent." His -manner suggested that the difficulties in the way of his philanthropic -plan were now a thing of the past.</p> - -<p>The clumping footsteps that presently announced the approach of his -visitor took him back a trifle. There was no particular reason why -Hephzibah should not be an ordinary clumsy country girl, in heavy shoes -that clattered noisily as she moved, but somehow he had not expected -it. He rose and stood awaiting her.</p> - -<p>The voice was more unexpected than her heavy tread. It made him wince. -He remembered that Warren likened it to the melodious notes of a -guinea<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> fowl and he appreciated the aptness of the comparison. There -was no reason why Hephzibah Diggs should not talk through her nose, and -in a harsh, strident, generally unpleasant tone. But the fact that she -did so, though he had been abundantly forewarned, took him by surprise.</p> - -<p>"Miss Kent says you've got something to say to me."</p> - -<p>Thus Hephzibah announced her presence. And Forbes, hastily summoning -a smile, and resolutely excluding his pain from his voice, extended a -cordial hand.</p> - -<p>"I'm very glad to meet you, Miss Hephzibah. Won't you sit down? I think -there's a chair near."</p> - -<p>"I'll wait on myself, don't you bother none." A grating noise indicated -that a chair was being dragged across the floor of the porch into -convenient nearness to his own. A plumping sound gave evidence that -Hephzibah had seated herself.</p> - -<p>The picture in the rustic chair deserved a more appreciative audience -than a blind man. Hephzibah wore a costume best described as a medley, -since garments originally the property of Miss Finch and Howard, -as well as her own, contributed to the startling effect. A pair of -Howard's outgrown shoes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> accounted for her clumsy tread. She wore a -little bonnet which Miss Finch had discarded after some dozen years of -service, and which seemed genuinely scandalized at finding itself atop -Agatha's brazenly assertive mass of hair. A very short calico skirt, -also the property of Miss Finch, and a sky-blue silk waist, evidently -designed for festive wear, completed the grotesque costume. Just why it -should have given Agatha confidence in playing her rôle, she knew as -little as any one.</p> - -<p>Forbes commented pleasantly on the weather as some such preliminary -skirmishing seemed necessary before coming to the point. He had -resolved on establishing a friendly understanding between Hephzibah -and himself, before making the offer which, he realized, might readily -arouse the suspicion of a girl who knew by bitter experience that men -are not always to be trusted. He was inclined to suspect Warren of -lacking tact, startling her by his failure to employ <i>finesse</i>. He did -not take himself into his own confidence fully enough to admit that he -was also sparring for time in the effort to recover his poise. It was -singular that he had received so different an impression of Hephzibah -in the brief, bewildering interview which had opened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> by his clasping -her in his arms, and ended by her refusal to tell her name. He had -to remind himself that on the springy turf her clumsy tread would be -soundless, and that the gasping whisper in which she spoke gave him no -clue as to the quality of her voice. Still, if Warren's letter had not -expressly assured him that Hephzibah was his mysterious rescuer, he -would have felt sure that he had been mistaken.</p> - -<p>Hephzibah was in full accord with his favorable opinion of the weather. -She expressed her agreement so heartily that he winced again, and -conquered an impulse to tell her that it was unnecessary to speak so -loud.</p> - -<p>"I suppose," he began, deciding that after all it would be better to -waive further introductory remarks, "that you must have wondered why I -wanted to see you."</p> - -<p>"I didn't bother about that none," replied Hephzibah. "I've had a lot -to do with sick folks, and I know they're likely to take 'most any sort -of notion into their heads."</p> - -<p>Forbes reddened smartly. He felt as if he had been slapped. Clearly -tact was not in Hephzibah's line.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I've heard a good deal about you, first and last," he assured her -pleasantly. "And of course my interest in you was increased by what -happened near Indian Rock the other afternoon. I'm not going to talk -about that for I know you would rather I wouldn't."</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't mind me," Hephzibah returned comfortably. "You can say -anything you like. You can't make me mad."</p> - -<p>Forbes hesitated. There is no doubt that on the moment he acquitted -Miss Kent of a certain charge to which she had been given no chance to -plead guilty. He realized that women sometimes understood one another -better than a mere man might hope to do. But he had put his hand to -the plow with the intention of proving Warren's unfitness in matters -requiring diplomacy, and he had no intention of turning back.</p> - -<p>Deliberately and with carefully chosen words, Forbes explained to -Hephzibah the plan he had evolved for her regeneration. He went more -into detail than Warren had done. He traced her future years from the -present modest start, up to the time when she should bear the stamp of -culture, and be able to hold her own in the best society. The pic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>ture -that he drew seemed to him an attractive one. He showed himself not -altogether lacking in a knowledge of the opposite sex, by the emphasis -he placed upon the friend of Warren's to whom had been assigned the -responsibility of selecting a suitable wardrobe for Hephzibah.</p> - -<p>He did not pause till he was pleasantly confident that he had done the -subject justice. He turned his sightless eyes upon her expectantly. -Hephzibah said nothing. There was a chilling quality in her protracted -silence.</p> - -<p>"Well?" questioned Forbes, and though he had been so favorably -impressed by his putting of the case, he spoke a little anxiously. -"What do you think of it all?"</p> - -<p>Hephzibah laughed unmusically.</p> - -<p>"Well, I let you go on, just so's to get it off your chest. There ain't -nothing to it, not so far as I can see. The clothes would be nice -enough, but if I had to study all the time and have some dame bossing -me my days off and all, I'd pay for 'em dear."</p> - -<p>"But wouldn't you like to be educated?"</p> - -<p>"Laws, no. I never hankered to be a school-teacher. I'd rather cook any -day in the week."</p> - -<p>By this time Forbes was convinced that Miss Kent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> was right. Something -was lacking in Hephzibah. He realized that he himself had been -influenced more than he knew by Warren's extravagance, and Warren, it -was apparent, had been swept off his feet by the girl's fresh beauty. -Just how to explain the impression he himself had formed of her that -day when she swung her lithe body between him and mortal peril, Forbes -did not know. She had said little, and that with difficulty, because -of her breathless condition, and yet the impression he had formed of -her was infinitely removed from the truth. He felt now that he had made -a mistake, and that Hephzibah was not of the fiber to take on polish -readily. He would show his gratitude in some more appropriate way than -by attempting her education. But since he had blundered into this -rather absurd situation, there was nothing left but to go through with -it.</p> - -<p>"You do not have to use your education in teaching school, unless you -wish to," he explained patiently. "But it will fit you for a better -social position." He realized that this was over her head and kindly -simplified it. "I mean that the more you learn, the nicer friends you -will have and the more things you will find to interest you."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I know enough now," Hephzibah insisted calmly, "for anybody that ain't -a teacher. When I went to district school I learned to read and write -and figure, and I 'most always stood up till near the last when we had -spelling matches. Oh, I've got an education all right."</p> - -<p>"Possibly, my child, it would be better to rely on the judgment of some -one else." His manner was patiently paternal.</p> - -<p>Hephzibah Diggs shuffled her feet noisily. "I guess I know enough to -'tend to my own affairs," she said, her tone truculent.</p> - -<p>"I'm not so sure about that, Hephzibah. I think you would do much -better to take advice."</p> - -<p>"How'd you like it yourself if folks you didn't know came butting in, -telling you how to manage your business?"</p> - -<p>"If it was meant kindly, I should be grateful."</p> - -<p>"Oh, very well." He could hear that she was breathing hard. "Then I'll -tell you that for a sensible man you're making as big a botch of your -affairs as anybody I ever knew of."</p> - -<p>Forbes was unfeignedly astonished. "Why, Hephzibah, you don't know what -you're talking about."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Don't I, though. I know about that girl of yours, and what a fool -she's making of you."</p> - -<p>Forbes caught his breath. Then he realized that it was beneath his -dignity to be angry. "I think it is hardly necessary," he said stiffly, -"to discuss that subject, Hephzibah."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no! you can stick your finger into my pie all you want to. You can -tell me I ought to go to some place I never heard of, with somebody I -never knew, and do everything I hate for years and years, but when I -say one thing about your girl, it's hardly necessary to discuss that -subject."</p> - -<p>The last words were given with what he realized was an excellent -imitation of his own air of dignified aloofness. This amused him and -had the additional effect of mollifying his irritation. "But I am -interfering in your affairs, because I have your interests at heart," -he said very kindly.</p> - -<p>"Same here. I hate like the mischief to see a nice gentleman made a -fool of by a vain, silly girl with about as much brains as a cockroach, -and as much heart as a pancake."</p> - -<p>This description of Julia, though he would have indignantly denied that -it had the remotest resemblance to truth, roused him to the realization -that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> this uncouth young woman knew more of his personal affairs than -she had any right to know.</p> - -<p>"Hephzibah," he said sternly, "I don't understand where you could have -secured information about any friends of mine. Surely Miss Kent—"</p> - -<p>For all her faults, Hephzibah was capable of magnanimity. On one -critical occasion Miss Kent had sacrificed Hephzibah's reputation to -save herself, and Hephzibah was under no obligation to spare hers. Yet -without hesitation she threw herself into the breach. "I listened," she -explained quickly.</p> - -<p>"You mean when Miss Kent was reading me my letters?" His flushed face -told that he was not disposed to belittle her eavesdropping.</p> - -<p>"Yes, and when you talked things over. I heard enough to know that -you'd better use the brains the Lord gave you to manage your own -affairs. Why don't you put it up to that girl of yours that she can -take you or leave you?"</p> - -<p>"Really, Hephzibah—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, it's all right for you to come along and pry into my business, and -tell me what <i>I'm</i> to do. But when I turn the tables you squirm. Funny -what a difference it makes whose foot the shoe's on."</p> - -<p>Forbes subsided. Under his feeling of bewilder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>ment was a vague -suspicion that perhaps there was something in Hephzibah's point of view.</p> - -<p>"In the first place," continued this intrepid young woman, "she showed -she was no good when she throwed you down like she did. She was going -to marry you, wasn't she? And if she cared enough about you for that, -it was up to her to stand by you when trouble came. Pretty kind of wife -she'd have made if she turned her back the minute hard luck struck you."</p> - -<p>Forbes remembered vaguely that Miss Kent had once said something -similar. He wondered that two human beings so unlike should have the -same view-point.</p> - -<p>"You got off easy," Hephzibah continued. "You might have married her. -When she showed herself up for what she was, you'd ought to have got -down on your marrow-bones and thanked the Lord. But look at you! -Instead, you keep on telling her how much you love her and that a -yellow streak don't matter—in a woman."</p> - -<p>Forbes suddenly realized that he could endure no more. He could not -listen longer to these preposterous statements. But underneath his -panic of anger, something whispered that he shrank from lis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>tening -longer to Hephzibah's frantic speech, not because she was uttering -slanders against Julia, but because what she said was true.</p> - -<p>He struck the arm of his chair with his clenched fist. "Stop!" he said -in a voice unlike his own. "I won't listen."</p> - -<p>"All right," said Hephzibah Diggs. "But what's sauce for the goose—"</p> - -<p>She stopped, starting to her feet. The blow from Forbes' fist had -loosened the arm of the chair in which he sat. It had bounced out of -place and then slipped back again, catching his finger as it returned -to base. It was his sudden startling pallor that checked Hephzibah's -fluency.</p> - -<p>"Can you help me a little—Hephzibah?" Forbes' voice was faint, his -lips blue. "My hand—seems caught."</p> - -<p>Hephzibah's clattering haste was too late to save him from ignominious -faintness. He had not been well since his trip to the city, and the -shock of the pain was too much for his nerves. She caught the arm of -the chair and wrenched it savagely away, just as his head fell over -against her shoulder. She released the imprisoned hand, and slipping -her arm about him kept his limp body from sliding to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> floor. Upon -his white face, she saw, conscience-stricken, there seemed to rest an -expression of piteous bewilderment.</p> - -<p>Forbes reviving found himself indoors. He was stretched on the couch in -the living-room. The odor of camphor was much in evidence and his hair -felt damp, as if he had been taking a dip in the surf. Some one was -chafing his hand. "Hephzibah," he said faintly.</p> - -<p>The voice of Miss Kent answered him, speaking in a muffled fashion, as -if she had a cold in her head.</p> - -<p>"She's gone. That horrible girl is gone. She shall never come near you -again."</p> - -<p>Even after his late experience the adjective seemed to indicate -prejudice. But he did not press the point, as there was another matter -he wished cleared up.</p> - -<p>"Did I frighten you terribly?"</p> - -<p>"Yes—I was frightened." Her voice shook as if she wanted to cry again. -"You're not so strong as I thought. I shall have to take better care of -you. I blame myself—terribly."</p> - -<p>This was unreasonable, but he did not stop to argue the case. "Was that -why you kissed me?" he asked. "I didn't seem to come to all at once; -con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>sciousness came in waves and receded, you know, and once I felt -sure some one kissed my cheek, and a big tear splashed down—"</p> - -<p>Miss Kent spoke hastily. "Oh, that was only part of your dreaming. -Fainting people often have such fancies."</p> - -<p>"Very likely," Forbes agreed. "You see, I don't know much about -fainting. It never happened to me but once before." He turned his -head on his damp pillow and lapsed into silence. It was the part of -discretion, perhaps, to leave Miss Kent under the impression that the -kiss was an illusion, due to his semi-conscious state, but he knew -better. It was as real as music, or flame, or electricity. It had -certain characteristics of all three.</p> - -<p>It must have been Hephzibah.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></p> - -<p class="center">CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER</p> - - -<p class="drop">M<span class="uppercase">urray Prendergast</span> had proposed. The summer sport had become dead -earnest. Julia wrote Forbes the full details, explaining that the young -man was awaiting her answer, and that she had asked two weeks in which -to come to a decision. Apparently Julia, like Miss Finch, felt that -to refuse Prendergast would be flying in the face of Providence, even -though accepting him seemed a harsh necessity.</p> - -<p>"'It's not what you and I dreamed of in the dear old days,'" wrote -Julia. "'Oh, Burton, how far away those happy times seem when we sat -hand in hand and planned our future. How merciless life is, Burton! Is -there some dark fate in whose hands we are only puppets?'"</p> - -<p>Agatha broke off in her reading to lift a scarlet face. "Must I go on -with this?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Do you mean that you're tired?" Forbes' voice was self-controlled but -in his pale cheeks a pulse beat like a trip hammer. Even his tears -would not have hurt her like that palpitating spot over which his will -was powerless.</p> - -<p>"Yes, I <i>am</i> tired. I'm terribly tired of the people who talk about -fate when it's all their own cowardice, and pity themselves for losing -what they deliberately threw away."</p> - -<p>"It's a matter of view-point," said Forbes tonelessly. "If that's all, -I'm afraid I must ask you to go on. I—I could hardly have Howard -read it." All at once his white cheek showed a stain of red, as if -the mere thought that any eyes but his own should see that letter was -humiliating beyond endurance.</p> - -<p>Julia's letter was as long as usual and decidedly more sentimental. -She surrendered herself with abandon to the luxury of heart-break. -She recalled a number of tender episodes, and wondered pathetically -why fate could not have spared lovers so fond. To Agatha, Julia's -melancholy was a theatrical make-believe on the face of it, as much -a pose as her pretense of affection. Agatha did her best to spoil -the effect of the letter by reading rapidly, and in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> monotonous -sing-song, but she could not keep her eyes from the face of the man -before her, and she saw that every tender memory the missive evoked -found response in his tortured heart.</p> - -<p>She wound up breathless and hot and trembling uncontrollably. Forbes -thanked her with a formal courtesy that added to her pain, for it -seemed to set her at a distance. She wanted to put her arms about him, -and cry over him, and tell him that the hurt would not last. Then she -remembered with bitterness that she was a withered old woman in whose -heart the fires of love had burned to ashes, long, long before, if -indeed they had ever been kindled.</p> - -<p>"I'd like a sheet of paper, please," Forbes said with the same -laborious politeness. "I'll scrawl a line myself."</p> - -<p>"What are you going to tell her?"</p> - -<p>His air of surprise at the question indicated that there was but one -answer. "What is there to say, except to wish her all happiness?"</p> - -<p>"You're not going to blame her, then?"</p> - -<p>"God forbid." He took the sheet she gave him, wrote upon it rapidly -and folding it across, handed it back to her. "I'll have to ask you to -direct the envelope for me," he said, still heart-breakingly pa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>tient. -"I can write well enough for Julia's eyes, but not for Uncle Sam's."</p> - -<p>Agatha did not reply. The breeze, always fresh upon the porch, had -parted the folded sheet, and her reluctant gaze caught the signature, -"Always yours, B.F." She turned away her eyes and caught her breath. -"Always yours." That was the cruelty of it. Julia would marry Murray -Prendergast and yet keep her hold on the heart of the man she had -abandoned in his need. Her selfishness could not alter his loyalty. -If the letter just read did not reveal her to him in her incomparable -egotism, nothing ever would.</p> - -<p>Agatha's heart bled for him in his white resignation. If he had done -anything but sit there like a man under sentence of death, she would -have felt equal to the occasion. But this white suffering terrified -her. She dared not trust herself to look at him, for her eyes ran -over at the sight of his drawn face. She stared out over the serene -landscape as she said unsteadily, "Did you ask her to wait?"</p> - -<p>"Wait? Why wait?"</p> - -<p>"For you to get well, of course. If she's so fond of you, she ought to -be able to wait a year or two until you've recovered your sight."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p> - -<p>He shrugged his shoulders without replying, but the gesture revealed -more than hopelessness, something alarmingly akin to indifference. And -though Agatha knew that in the nature of the case, this mood could not -last, it added fuel to her hatred of the shallow, selfish woman who -was responsible. In her serener moments Agatha comforted herself by -the reflection that however unhappy Forbes might be without Julia, he -was bound to be more unhappy with her. But in the present crisis that -consolation failed her. She was swayed by the desire to give him, at -all costs, the thing he wanted.</p> - -<p>Her plan was formed in an instant. Agatha was aware that with many -women as with all men, undisputed possession tends to indifference. -Forbes' one chance with Julia, she implicitly believed, was to awaken -in the mind of that complacent young woman a doubt as to whether her -unfortunate lover was in reality hers always, as he declared himself. -Forbes, who scorned to ask even for a few months' delay, could not be -expected to lend himself to the scheme unfolding in Agatha's fancy. -Some friend must do for him what he would not stoop to do for himself.</p> - -<p>As Agatha walked to the writing-desk, holding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> the folded sheet pinched -shut with thumb and finger, for fear of again reading the assurance of -Forbes' unalterable devotion, there was something oddly gallant in her -bearing. Her keen common sense was temporarily quiescent. Her heart had -things all its own way. Since the prospect of losing Julia irrevocably -had graven that terrible look upon Forbes' face, she must find some way -of making Julia hesitate to engage herself to Prendergast There was but -one chance, as far as Agatha could see. She resolved to take it.</p> - -<p>No one could consider it singular, Agatha decided, as she seated -herself, if an amiable old lady should send a note of congratulation to -the girl to whom she had penned so many communications. Agatha almost -snatched the stationery from the drawer. She had a most unnatural -fear of losing her courage by delay. At the moment she lacked neither -courage nor inspiration.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Miss Studley</span>:</p> - -<p>"I'm sure you will pardon a line from a woman old enough to be your -grandmother."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Agatha paused, bit her pen and frowned. "I am, of course," she told -herself, with that odd impres<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>sion of dual identity, which at times -made it difficult for her to remember whether she was nineteen or -sixty-seven. "But it isn't worth while to make her feel so youthful." -She reached for a fresh sheet of paper and made a new start.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Miss Studley</span>:</p> - -<p>"I am sure you will pardon a line from a woman old enough to be your -mother, who has come to feel right well acquainted with you through -Mr. Forbes, and through reading your letters aloud to him. I want -to be one of the first to congratulate you, and to wish you all the -happiness you deserve."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Her pen poised in air, Agatha combated the temptation to underline the -last two words. "It's exactly what I <i>do</i> wish her," she mused. "All -the happiness she deserves, not a bit more nor a bit less. Poor wretch, -it's an inhuman sort of wish but I can't help it, and I'm afraid she -won't realize that I'm consigning her to Purgatory."</p> - -<p>The pen resumed its hurried scratching. It was not necessary for Agatha -to wait for inspiration. Words came in a flood.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Some people might blame you for your engagement, so soon after -breaking with Mr. Forbes, but I assure you I do not feel that way. I -am unmarried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> myself, and I know that when a woman loses one chance, -she may never get another. Mr. Forbes might die or change his mind. I -think you are very sensible to make sure of Mr. Prendergast while he -is in the mood. Whatever ill-natured people may say about you, I for -one will always take this view."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Agatha drew a long breath of pure satisfaction. She had undertaken the -letter with the sole thought of rushing to Forbes' assistance in his -extremity. But virtue was proving its own reward. She was enjoying -herself immensely. Her sense of satisfaction made her reckless. When -again the pen began moving down the sheet, it wrote more than Agatha -had originally intended.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"I suppose you sometimes feel a little anxious about Mr. Forbes -and his future. It is hard for us women to get rid of a feeling of -responsibility for the men who love us. And I am glad I can set your -natural misgivings at rest. It would not be a great surprise to me -if you should hear of another engagement in the near future. Yet Mr. -Forbes is a very honorable gentleman, I need not assure you, and as -long as you were unmarried, or at least not engaged, he would not have -permitted himself to become entangled with any other woman. But this -summer he has spent a great deal of time with a girl who lives in the -neighborhood. She is considered extremely pretty and though that does -not mean anything to him at present, it is evident that he finds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> -her company most enjoyable. Indeed I believe he is more interested -in her than he himself realizes, while the fact that she has devoted -practically her entire summer to him, seems to indicate that it would -not be difficult to bring her to think of him as something more than -a friend. And I've noticed that she seems quite responsive when he -pats her hand or holds it, as he has a way of doing. I suppose he -feels that an invalid has a right to some little privileges. On one -occasion he did so far forget himself as to take her in his arms, -but the circumstances were quite unusual, and I saw to it that the -indiscretion was never repeated. I always manage to be around when the -young people are together, for, as our beloved Longfellow expresses -it, 'Man is fire and woman is tow.'</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I am a poor one to talk about discretion when I am writing -you all this. I'm sure if Mr. Forbes knew he would be very much put -out with me, and so I am going to ask you not to speak of this if you -should happen to write again. Very likely Mr. Prendergast will not -approve of your corresponding with an old flame, and who can blame -him, for as Will Carlton says so ably, 'She that is false to one can -be the same with two,' or words to that effect. I'm afraid my memory -is not what it once was.</p> - -<p>"Excuse this garrulous letter. How I have run on about Mr. Forbes -instead of merely carrying out my first intention, and wishing you the -future you so richly deserve.</p> - -<p> -"Very truly yours,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Agatha Kent</span>."<br /> -</p></blockquote> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p> - -<p>Agatha re-read the closely written sheets with growing delectation. In -every respect they measured up to her anticipations. She had expressed -her sentiments toward Julia with a plainness she would hardly have -believed possible in a letter superficially observing the amenities -of civilized life. She had planted some barbed suggestions where she -flattered herself they would render the reader most uncomfortable. -But that was not all. It is a thoroughly human weakness to wish to -eat one's cake and have it too, and Agatha suspected Julia of having -more than her share of this familiar characteristic. Julia, so Agatha -argued, saw herself the irreproachable wife of a wealthy man, enjoying -all the dignities incident to the Prendergast social sphere, and at the -same time the object of another man's hopeless adoration. The doubt -Agatha's letter suggested, that she could continue without a rival -to rule in Forbes' affections, was, in Agatha's opinion, Forbes' one -chance to keep her from the decisive step.</p> - -<p>Agatha enclosed Forbes' brief communication with her own lengthy one -and despatched it by Howard before qualms could assail her as to the -advisability of dropping this particular bomb into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> the enemy's camp. -She knew vaguely that a host of suggestions stood marshaled at the back -of her brain, ready to demonstrate conclusively her lack of wisdom. If -Julia did not choose to consider the letter confidential, trouble would -ensue. The fact that Agatha saw all Forbes' letters, and that he knew -only what she chose to tell him, gave her but slight advantage, since -she confessed to scruples in the matter of other people's letters. And -if it had the result she believed possible, and Julia refused to engage -herself to Prendergast till Forbes' recovery was certain or proved -impossible, Agatha could not congratulate herself on having assured her -friend's happiness.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid I'm a good deal like a mother who gives the baby the -scissors to play with because he cries for them. Only with a baby you -can distract its attention, and make it think that something else is -just as good, and with Burton Forbes that wouldn't work."</p> - -<p>And then having satisfied herself by peering through the window that -Forbes' face still wore the dazed look of a creature incomprehensibly -wounded, Agatha threw herself upon the couch and sought the relief of -tears. She wept as she did everything else.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> Hot tears rained down upon -the pillow. Sobs shook her. Every now and then mirth got the upper -hand and she laughed hysterically, interrupting, though briefly, the -Niobe-like activities.</p> - -<p>The storm was over as suddenly as it had begun. Agatha rose and -regarded her swollen features in the mirror with much disfavor.</p> - -<p>"I suppose it's no use to put powder on my nose. It would only look -like a strawberry sprinkled with sugar. And anyway, Mr. Forbes can't -see what a fright I am."</p> - -<p>As if that thought had a miraculously sustaining power, Agatha drew a -long breath and passed into the kitchen to help Phemie with the dinner.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></p> - -<p class="center">CONFIDENCES</p> - - -<p class="drop">A<span class="uppercase">gatha</span> had reached the conclusion that Julia was more venal than vain. -A full week she had awaited a sign that her ruse had succeeded. For -seven creeping days, dry-lipped and with unsteady pulses, she had -scanned the mail for a letter directed in Julia's familiar, hateful -hand, and in the beginning she could not have told whether there was -more of hope or of apprehension in her expectancy.</p> - -<p>But now she knew by the way her heart was singing. Her insane attempt -to give Forbes the thing he wanted, whatever the consequences, had -gloriously failed. She had played a friend's part, if a fool's part, -and had not been punished by success. Naturally Forbes' numerous -letters had never made the slightest reference to an attractive young -girl, who was devoting her summer to rendering his exile tolerable, and -such an omission would have awak<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>ened doubt in the least suspicious -nature. To Agatha, Julia's continued silence, in the face of such -facts, was convincing proof that she had thrown up her hand and was out -of the game.</p> - -<p>Agatha had fought Forbes' depression stubbornly while the week was -young, and then as hope strengthened, with an audacious, irresistible -gaiety that occasionally swept him off his feet. Never had it seemed -so difficult to simulate age. A score of times a day she found it -necessary to strangle a peal of girlish laughter, or tone it down to -the subdued quaver appropriate to her years. It was incredibly irksome -to subject her buoyant feet to the yoke of decorum. Never had she so -courted exposure as now when the lightening of her heart impelled her -to all sorts of foolish youthful pranks. Miss Finch watched her in dumb -fascinated terror. And Forbes despite his abysmal gloom, found himself -responding with astonishing frequency to her whirlwind spirits.</p> - -<p>She woke early the morning of the eighth day and lay musing, too -pleasurably excited to fall asleep again. Julia was out of the way. -She had engaged herself deliberately to another man, and now it was -not Julia but a radiant memory against which she must pit her wit and -beauty. Had Agatha been older<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> she might have questioned whether this -were an occasion for self-congratulation, since the unfading, perfect -dream has an undeniable advantage over fading and faulty beauty. But -thanks to her inexperience, the removal of Julia from her path left -her with a reckless confidence in her star. There was a tangled web -to be unraveled, to be sure, before matters were established on a -satisfactory footing, but her blithe hopefulness hurdled these grim -preliminaries, and busied itself with a future all rose-color.</p> - -<p>A sound in the next room roused Agatha from her sanguine -self-communion, the plaintive little whine of Miss Finch's creaking -rocking chair. Agatha sprang out of bed, and carried her watch to the -window. The faint light showed the hour hand still plodding on toward -four o'clock, no hour surely for Zaida Finch to be indulging her -propensity for rocking chairs.</p> - -<p>A white-clad figure, censoriously erect, appeared in Miss Finch's -doorway. Miss Finch gasped, jumped, and made a rush for her bed, as -if with the hope of persuading her youthful visitor that the sound of -footsteps had roused her from peaceful slumbers. Then realizing the -futility of evasion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> she stopped short, and stood with hanging head, -her air of confusion together with her diminutive figure, giving her -the appearance of a naughty child.</p> - -<p>"Fritz," began Agatha impressively, "why on earth aren't you asleep?" -As she came closer her judicial air changed to consternation. Miss -Finch's pale little eyes showed red even in the dim light. Her small -nose was redder still. Her thin cheeks were wet with tears.</p> - -<p>"Fritz, dear," cried the girl, her voice vibrant with tenderness, -"are you sick? Does your head ache? Get into bed and let me make you -comfortable. Why didn't you call me? I've been awake an age."</p> - -<p>This affectionate concern was too much for Miss Finch's self-control. -As she climbed into bed, she gave way to loud sobs. Agatha hung over -her, distressed and vaguely self-reproachful, because she had not -discovered earlier the urgent need of her presence.</p> - -<p>"Don't cry, Fritzie! Shall I get you the hot water bottle, or is it -the camphor that you need? Where does it hurt?" She patted the little -sob-shaken figure with a motherly hand. Even when not impersonating her -great-aunt, Agatha frequently felt years older than Zaida Finch.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> - -<p>It took a minute to elicit an answer. It came finally in a little -sniffly whisper.</p> - -<p>"My head's all right, Agatha."</p> - -<p>"Probably that short-cake disagreed with you. I wondered at the time, -if two helps weren't too many, with the whipped cream."</p> - -<p>"My stomach's all right, too," declared Miss Finch, a trifle pettishly.</p> - -<p>"Then where's the pain?"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch deliberated. Her tears gushed afresh. "I—guess it's in my -heart. I'm worried, Agatha."</p> - -<p>Agatha sat down on the side of the bed, and sighed remorsefully.</p> - -<p>"I know it's been a hard summer for you, Fritz. All this deception -is very trying for one of your candid temperament. I should mind it -frightfully myself if it wasn't for the fun of the thing. But I adored -amateur theatricals when I was in boarding-school, and this is exactly -the same, except that you have to make up your part as you go along. I -knew that you'd been worrying, but I didn't dream how dreadfully you'd -taken it to heart."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch opened one swollen eye. She looked rather taken aback.</p> - -<p>"I don't deny all this deception has worried me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> Agatha. But just -now—I was thinking of something else. I'm worried about my own -affairs."</p> - -<p>For a moment Agatha was nonplused. Miss Finch was one of the people -who seem to be without personal "affairs." She had no relatives to -die, no money to lose, no friends to disappoint her, no prospects to -be overcast. She was painfully immune against loss, by comprehensive -lack. Then on Agatha's incredulity flashed the recollection of Deacon -Wiggins and James Doolittle. In her absorption with her own concerns -she had forgotten that Miss Finch stood at a cross-roads, doubtful -which turning to take. "Oh, Fritzie," she cried self-reproachfully, "I -hope nothing's gone wrong with your love-affairs."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch's grief lost something of its poignancy. Agatha's -exclamation seemed to establish her status. It was something to know -love's pangs, even though ignorant of its joys. Her husky voice was -controlled as she replied, "The trouble is that they haven't gone at -all, right or wrong."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" Agatha became meditative and Miss Finch's confidences trickled on -plaintively, like a sad-hearted brook.</p> - -<p>"I got another letter from Deacon Wiggins yes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>terday. He said he -guessed his first must have gone astray since he hadn't heard from me. -He went over about the same ground as he did in the first letter and -he put in a lot of Scripture. It gives one a feeling that a man can be -depended on, when he's got so much of the Bible at his tongue's end."</p> - -<p>"Well?" Agatha interrupted hopefully.</p> - -<p>"Then I met Mr. Doolittle on the road this afternoon and he looked -at me real reproachful, and said he was coming to see me in a day or -two. I thought he seemed," faltered Miss Finch in conscience-stricken -accents, "kind of thin and pale."</p> - -<p>Agatha suppressed a smile. "You're keeping them dangling a rather long -time, Fritz. I never suspected you before of being a flirt." Then as -Miss Finch groaned aloud, the girl repented of her little witticism and -hastened to ask, "Aren't you any nearer to making up your mind?"</p> - -<p>"The trouble is, Agatha," sighed Miss Finch, "that there's so many -good reasons on both sides, for and against. I've thought and thought -till it's seemed as if my head was spinning 'round on my shoulders. -You see there was a cousin of my mother's who was a second wife. She -married a man named Flagg, and I've heard her tell Ma that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> she got so -sick of hearing about the way the first Mrs. Flagg did things, that if -she'd risen up out of her grave, she'd have given her back her husband -as quick as she'd have turned her hand over. She said he was always -talking about his first wife's mince meat and her mustard pickles and -how saving she was, till it seemed as if there wasn't any use in her -trying to do things right."</p> - -<p>"Well?" Agatha prompted, more to afford Miss Finch the relief of -unburdening her mind than because she failed to see the application of -the tragedy of the second Mrs. Flagg.</p> - -<p>"Deacon Wiggins has been married three times. It's likely that some -one of those three women could do pretty near everything better than I -can," explained Miss Finch, with characteristic humility. "If it was -hard for Cousin Caroline Flagg to have one wife held up to her for an -example day and night, I don't know how I'm going to stand three of -them."</p> - -<p>Agatha patted the limp hand clutching the damp pocket handkerchief. -"I'm sure <i>I</i> should find three predecessors a drawback. That's where -Mr. Doolittle has the advantage."</p> - -<p>"Yes, he seems to have, Agatha. But there's no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> denying that a -man who's lived fifty years without being married to anybody gets -dreadfully set in his ways. My father's sister married a man when he -was along about fifty, and she was twenty years younger. He was a -nice man, but stubborn. For one thing he always kept a pair of extra -boots standing under the bed, with the toes sticking out, so he could -change quick if he came in. Aunt Hannah was one of the nervous kind and -she had looked under the bed for a burglar all her life. When she'd -come into the room and see the toes of those boots, it always gave -her a turn, and she'd feel sure she'd found him at last. Anybody'd -have supposed she'd get used to it after a time, but she never did. -She tried her hardest to get him to keep his boots in the closet, and -she'd make shoe-bags for him, all bound around with tape and real -pretty-looking, but it wasn't any use. He said he'd always kept his -boots under the bed, and he'd feel lost if they was anywhere else. -Seems as if when a man lives single long enough, he gets to think there -ain't but one way of doing things and that's his."</p> - -<p>"Deacon Wiggins should be adaptable, then," hazarded Agatha. "He's -accommodated himself to the ways of three women."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> - -<p>"There's another thing," Miss Finch continued, ignoring Agatha's -tentative encouragement. "And that's the first wife's relations. I -remember Cousin Caroline used to say she didn't mind his folks dropping -in, and of course she didn't mind her folks, but when his first wife's -folks came to Sunday dinner, or to spend the day, she was on pins and -needles. And she said if ever the bread wasn't as light as usual, or -the roast got overdone, it would be when some of the first Mrs. Flagg's -relations stopped for a meal. She'd been a member of the Methodist -church from the time she was thirteen, Cousin Caroline had, and she was -president of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, but I've heard -her say with my own ears that she'd rather see the devil coming up the -walk any day, than one of the Sawyer tribe—the first Mrs. Flagg was a -Sawyer. And she had one set of wife's relations to worry her. I—I—if -I took Deacon Wiggins, I'd have three."</p> - -<p>"If you married James Doolittle," contributed Agatha cheeringly, "you -wouldn't be troubled in that way."</p> - -<p>"No, I wouldn't. But I'm not sure that too little company wouldn't be -worse than too much. Mr. Doolittle ain't ever been what you'd call a -social man,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> and except for that sister of his who lives out west, he -hasn't any folks to speak of. And as long as I haven't any, I don't -see how between us we could scare up enough mourners for a respectable -funeral."</p> - -<p>"Oh, come, Fritz, you're talking of weddings, not funerals. -It certainly is a pity that these lovers of yours have their -advantages—or disadvantages—so evenly balanced. It's like a see-saw, -first one's down and then the other, and that makes it hard to come to -a decision."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch took the banter seriously. "Yes, Agatha, it seems a wicked -thing, but I almost wish I'd find out something dreadful about one or -the other, like drinking or Sabbath-breaking, and then I'd know what -to do. But this weighing things and trying to make up my mind is just -wearing me out. Agatha, it ain't what I expected. I supposed it would -be an awful pleasant feeling to know that two men wanted you, but the -way it's turned out, I don't believe I ever was so worried in my life."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps proposals are like wisdom teeth, Fritz, and the slower they -are coming, the more trouble they make. But don't forget that you -aren't under any obligations to take either of these men. We were -getting along fine before they thought of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> wanting to marry you, and if -you say no to both of them, you and I will keep Old Maids' Hall and be -happy ever after."</p> - -<p>"I don't believe you're likely to remain single," objected Miss Finch -with perfect simplicity. "It's a pity that nice Mr. Warren never -came again. You could have had that man if you'd tried. Look at the -chocolates he sent you, after only seeing you once, and that in your -kitchen clothes."</p> - -<p>"If my name must be either Kent or Warren, I'll stay an old maid to the -end of my days."</p> - -<p>"I don't see why you don't like the name Warren, Agatha, and I think -Mrs. Ridgeley Warren sounds awfully nice. But you're the one to be -pleased. It's a pity Mr. Forbes is so afflicted. If it wasn't for that -he'd make a grand husband."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Forbes' worst affliction at present," pronounced Agatha tartly, -"is being very much in love with an absolutely heartless and generally -despicable young woman named Julia."</p> - -<p>"My gracious," lamented Miss Finch. "Nice prospect for him, ain't it?"</p> - -<p>"Not so bad as you'd think. She's going to marry another man."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" Miss Finch's limp hand came suddenly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> to life, found Agatha's -fingers and squeezed them. "Maybe he'll get over it," she hinted.</p> - -<p>"Maybe." Something in Agatha's tone suggested she was smiling.</p> - -<p>"And then if he'd get his eyesight back, the way he expects to—"</p> - -<p>"Then he'd have to be introduced to me all over again. You know he -thinks I'm a kittenish old lady of seventy."</p> - -<p>"If he doesn't like you better when he finds you're not quite twenty, -he's different from most men, that's all." There was a new authority -in Miss Finch's pronouncement. She spoke as one who knew the sex, to -whom its little idiosyncrasies were an open book. And hardly less -significant than the change in herself was the fact that Agatha -accepted her altered attitude without surprise.</p> - -<p>At the same time the girl's impulsive kiss on her old friend's -tear-stained cheek was irrelevantly tender. "I must go back to bed," -said Agatha. "It'll soon be time to get up. And don't worry over those -adorers of yours. It'll do them good to be kept waiting. Men—most -men—need to have the conceit taken out of them."</p> - -<p>Though she paused in the doorway to charge Miss<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> Finch to go to sleep -immediately, she did not act on her own counsel. Instead she ensconsed -herself on the broad sill of the east window and swinging her dangling -bare feet, watched the face of the sky slowly brighten, flushing pink -at last, like the cheek of a girl. Overhead little rosy clouds floated, -like cherubs, listening to the chorus of bird song which grew in volume -moment by moment.</p> - -<p>Another day was beginning, a good day, Agatha was ready to believe. For -though between herself and her heart's desire a tortuous deception lay, -to be explained and forgiven, the prospect no longer seemed hopeless. -It was an eminently satisfactory world, Agatha decided, with Julia out -of the running.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></p> - -<p class="center">UNDERNEATH THE BOUGH</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> kind-hearted Miss Kent had decreed a holiday for Howard. With -characteristic thoughtfulness she had volunteered to take Forbes off -his hands, and suggested they fill in the time by a long walk with -a picnic lunch in some shady place, dinner to be postponed until a -convenient hour after their return. Howard showed hilarious approval of -the plan, and Forbes aroused himself from his melancholy abstraction -sufficiently to agree, whereupon Agatha fell to making sandwiches, -giving directions to Phemie as she worked.</p> - -<p>Nature in the raw did not appeal to Miss Finch. She hated long -walks. She hated sitting on the grass; while sandwiches, without -an accompanying cup of tea, were as ashes to her taste. The others -accepted her excuses with fortitude, and left her at home to see that -Phemie did not set the house afire, and to grope wearily toward a -solution of her vexing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> problem. Howard, having stuffed his pockets -with a generous proportion of the sandwiches, shouldered his fishing -rod and departed to make the most of his holiday. And while the -fragrant freshness of the night still lingered in the air, Forbes and -Agatha set out in the direction of the woods.</p> - -<p>The serene confidence of her morning vigil still enfolded Agatha. She -walked as if keeping time to music, inaudible to all ears but her -own. Forbes had insisted on carrying the basket of lunch which also -contained a book or two, in case their mood should take a literary -turn. Agatha kept fast hold of his arm, the better to steer his steps, -and he thought there was a hint of friendliness in the firm clasp. The -lonely and unhappy man felt a disproportionate sense of gratitude.</p> - -<p>They walked and rested, strolled on and rested again. Neither was -inclined to talk. Forbes had plenty to occupy his thoughts, and Agatha, -too, was reflective. She realized that the time was at hand when she -must confess to Forbes the deception she had practised on him, or else -allow him to go out of her life altogether. Neither alternative was -agreeable, but the latter was unthinkable.</p> - -<p>A scheme occurred to her so in harmony with her native audacity that -she dallied with it lovingly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> before reluctantly renouncing it as -impracticable. She could tell Forbes that she expected a visit from her -grand-niece, Agatha Kent, and prejudice him in favor of the newcomer -by assuring him of the extraordinary likeness existing between the -twentieth-century Agatha and her girlhood self. After the new Agatha's -arrival, she could leave him more and more to the society of the -younger woman, withdrawing by degrees into the background until her -sudden demise would hardly shock him, though he would naturally feel -more or less responsible for consoling her namesake and heir. Agatha's -final rejection of the plan was due less to doubt of her ability to -act the dual rôle, or to manage the embarrassing details of her own -interment, than to the realization that if her intimacy with Forbes -was to continue, it must be established on a foundation of absolute -truth. This deception on which she had entered so light-heartedly, -had its sole excuse in the impermanence of their relationship. Before -their friendship could become real there must be perfect understanding -between them.</p> - -<p>They ate their sandwiches shortly after noon, washing them down with -deliciously cool water from a convenient spring. The day had grown warm -and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> very still. "It feels as if a thunder-storm might be brewing," -Forbes remarked, breaking one of the periods of friendly silence.</p> - -<p>"I think not," Agatha answered in a dreamy voice. "Don't you love this -stillness here in the shade? It's perfect, perfect!"</p> - -<p> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">"'A book of verses underneath the bough,</span><br /> -<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">A loaf of bread, a jug of wine—and thou,'"</span><br /> -</p> - -<p>quoted Forbes inevitably. He was laughing but the lines stirred her, -and to disguise the fact she spoke nonchalantly.</p> - -<p>"There <i>is</i> a book of poems in the basket, but I don't care for reading -to-day, do you? It's one of the times when you feel everything that has -ever been written and more too. You simply want to sit and think how -wonderful it is to be alive."</p> - -<p>"By jove, it's you that's wonderful," Forbes exclaimed. "That -sensitiveness wears off with most people long before they're my age, to -say nothing of yours. But you feel the thrill of life and the mystery -and the adventure, as if you were a girl."</p> - -<p>"Yes," Agatha acquiesced, "I do."</p> - -<p>"I'd have known it without your telling me. It's been a continual -marvel all through our acquaint<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>ance, that ardent freshness of yours. -It's confirmed my faith in immortality."</p> - -<p>Agatha had no answer ready. He groped for her hand and took possession -of it with becoming masterfulness.</p> - -<p>"I've got something to say to you, something very important. I've meant -to say it for an age, but I've been too much of a coward to risk a no."</p> - -<p>Agatha was obliged to remind herself that she was almost seventy years -of age. Otherwise she might have suspected she was listening to a -proposal.</p> - -<p>"Before I can explain my plan, I want to ask you something. Aren't you -ever lonely here in winter?"</p> - -<p>The question was less formidable than she had anticipated. Her quick -assent showed relief.</p> - -<p>"And aren't you going to miss me a little when I go back to the city?"</p> - -<p>"Of course I shall," she said faintly, and instinctively tried to -withdraw her hand. He tightened his hold, laughing.</p> - -<p>"Please don't take it away. It does me good, and I'm sure it can't do -you any harm. Now you've given me just the encouragement I needed. If -you're lonely here, and if you're going to miss me, why shouldn't you -and I set up housekeeping together?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I—I don't understand." Again Agatha steadied herself with the -recollection of her three-score years and seven.</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid you've spoiled me," Forbes continued with sudden -seriousness. "I've grown shamefully dependent on you. It isn't -altogether or chiefly that you've looked after my physical comfort -so wonderfully, though, of course, that counts. But you've been so -interested in all that concerns me, so sympathetic, such a good pal—" -He broke off, apparently at a loss for words. "You're as bracing as an -October breeze," he said. "God knows what I should have done without -you, this damnable summer."</p> - -<p>The thought crossed her mind that this was her opportunity. Now that -they were alone, now that he had acknowledged his indebtedness, she -could safely throw herself upon his mercy. Her lips parted for her -confession, and an overmastering cowardly fear paralyzed the organs -of speech. Suppose he refused to forgive her. Then he would go away -and she would never see him again. She must make herself still more -indispensable. She must foster that feeling of dependence before she -risked self-accusation.</p> - -<p>"Of course I must be in town next winter," Forbes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> went on. "Why -shouldn't I take a furnished apartment and have you as a sort of mother -confessor? We can get some good servants so you will be relieved of all -responsibility as far as the establishment is concerned, and your sole -duty will be to keep me content with life. How does that appeal to you?"</p> - -<p>Agatha heard herself faltering something about Miss Finch.</p> - -<p>"Oh, we'll find a place for Miss Finch," Forbes said tolerantly. "I -took it for granted Miss Finch would come along, just as I assumed that -your shadow would accompany you."</p> - -<p>"It may be that Zaida will be married by fall," exclaimed Agatha, -seizing the opportunity to postpone the necessity of answering him. -She would not have risked the story on Warren, but she trusted Forbes -to understand that even while her voice broke with uncontrollable -laughter, she was not holding her old friend up to ridicule. As -she described Miss Finch's singular quandary, Forbes joined in her -laughter, more spontaneously than for many weeks, though he made no -effort to conceal his amazement.</p> - -<p>"Miss Finch! I begin to feel that I haven't done justice to the lady's -charms. She has impressed me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> as colorless, not faded, you know, but -colorless from the start."</p> - -<p>"It's well we don't all see alike," Agatha said demurely, though a -little startled by his perspicacity.</p> - -<p>His next remark took her by surprise. "It's a thousand pities you never -married."</p> - -<p>Her impertinent retort that there was still time for that, was checked -before it left her lips, and replaced by the less hazardous rejoinder, -"In that case, probably I shouldn't be sitting here with you."</p> - -<p>"True. But my good luck has meant loss to so many. You would have been -an incomparable mother. It's a shame you didn't have a dozen children. -Do you know I've never in my life felt such a sense of being mothered -as I have since I came to Oak Knoll. My own mother was an invalid when -I first remember her."</p> - -<p>A little confused, but gallantly striving to live up to her maternal -rôle, Agatha patted his arm with her disengaged hand. He showed his -filial appreciation by kissing the other.</p> - -<p>"It wasn't my father's fault, anyway, that you didn't fulfil your -destiny. He took me into his confidence the last few months of his -life, not in any formal way, you understand, just a word dropped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> here -and there. He was the tenderest of husbands to my mother, but at the -last of his life, his thoughts were all with his first love." He turned -toward her with a gesture plainly interrogative. "He must have been -rather an attractive young fellow."</p> - -<p>"He was." Agatha spoke with conviction.</p> - -<p>"And still you turned him down. I suppose it would be presumptuous to -hazard a guess that there was another man."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I think it would be rather presumptuous," Agatha said -breathlessly. "Anyway, it's foolish, dragging up old love-affairs. 'Let -the dead past bury its dead,' you know, though you modern young folks -don't hold Longfellow in such esteem as my generation did."</p> - -<p>"I was only thinking that if there was a man who might have married you -and didn't, he's probably putting in his time in the next world cursing -his luck. But you're not going to be as hard on the son as you were on -the father, are you?"</p> - -<p>"I—I—do you mean—"</p> - -<p>"You're not going to blast all my hopes by saying no. How am I going to -get along without you; tell me that?"</p> - -<p>"You must give me a little time to think," Agatha protested faintly. -She had vowed that morning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> avoid all references in the future -to her advanced age, but the habit of acting a part was too strong -to be overcome by a single resolution. She heard herself continuing -mechanically, "Old people don't like to be hurried into important -decisions. Leaving the home of so many years and going away with a -young man may seem a very little thing to you, but to me it's a real -adventure."</p> - -<p>"Take all the time you want for reflection," he conceded generously. -"Only understand, you must end by saying yes!"</p> - -<p>"You might change your mind and not want me," Agatha said. The -playfulness oozed out of her tone as she voiced her haunting dread. -"You might find out something about me, some trait you had never -suspected. I might be any number of awful things—deceitful, for -instance." Again the impulse to confession took her by the throat. -Again she fought it off almost with terror. It was too soon. She was -not ready. She did not know what to say, and moreover the moment was -too sweet to spoil.</p> - -<p>Forbes laughed tolerantly. "Oh, I'll take the risk. Shall we shake -hands on the bargain?"</p> - -<p>He was amused by the fervor of her refusal, but his instinct warned -him he was carrying his teasing too far. He had a strong conviction -that she would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> end by accepting his proposition, but nothing would be -gained by hurrying her to a decision. Though in most things she was -strangely younger than her years, her age manifested itself in her -reluctance to change the established order. He congratulated himself -on broaching the subject early enough to give her time for accustoming -herself to the idea.</p> - -<p>A comfortable silence fell between them. Forbes stretched himself on -the pine needles, and presently dropped off to sleep. He had held -to her hand throughout their talk with seeming playfulness, though -perhaps underneath was the instinct of the blind man to establish a -link between himself and his kind, to touch what he can not see. In -his sleep he moved nearer the imprisoned hand, and lay with his cheek -touching it. And though her arm grew very tired from staying in one -position so long, passing through the various stages from prickles to -excruciating pain, and finally to a numbness which made her wonder -if she could ever use it again, Agatha did not move. Indeed as she -sat listening to his quiet breathing, feeling through the torture of -her cramped muscles the touch of his cheek against her hand, her only -quarrel with the hour was that it could not last.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></p> - -<p class="center">MISS FINCH FOLLOWS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE</p> - - -<p class="drop">Z<span class="uppercase">aida Finch</span> was not ill-pleased at the prospect of a day to herself. -Agatha's personality was distracting. It was next to impossible to -concentrate your thoughts on your own affairs, however urgent the need, -when Agatha was darting about like a bright-plumaged bird, saying -things that interested you, even though you frequently found them -shocking. "She's a dear girl," Miss Finch reflected, "but upsetting; -and I need quiet."</p> - -<p>She seated herself upon the broad porch, with the inevitable mending, -and wearily began weighing the advantages of one suitor against those -of his rival. There was the matter of health to be considered, an -important factor in reaching a decision. Zaida remembered a spinster of -forty married to a man considerably her senior, who had been a bride -three weeks to a day when the bridegroom was smitten with paralysis.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> - -<p>"And poor Linda was nothing but a sick-nurse from that on," mused Miss -Finch. "He must have lasted a good twenty years. I never was much of a -hand in the sick-room. Nursing would wear me out in no time."</p> - -<p>But though caution sharpened her natural acuteness, Miss Finch was -unable to award to either of the gentlemen who had honored her, any -advantage over the other in the matter of health. She could not -remember that Deacon Wiggins had ever been ill, though sickness and -death had been familiar guests in his household. James Doolittle -frequently walked with a limp due to rheumatic trouble, but James came -from long-lived stock, and gave a reassuring impression of toughness. -As far as human judgment could play the prophet, she would not be -called on to act as nurse to either aspirant, at least for a number of -years.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch's mending suffered. She found it difficult to employ her -brain and her fingers in synchronous activities, and as selecting a -husband naturally took precedence over stopping the holes in Howard's -socks, she sat much of the morning with her hands lying idle in her -lap, her countenance expressing a concentration almost tragic. By noon -she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> was fairly limp from the strain and she went to the kitchen to ask -Phemie for a cup of tea.</p> - -<p>The sound of wheels recalled her to the porch before her modest -luncheon was disposed of. Her first apprehension that either the -deacon or James Doolittle was coming to insist on an immediate answer, -vanished as she caught sight of two unmistakably feminine figures on -the rear seat of the rickety vehicle approaching. But her feeling of -reassurance was of brief duration. Almost immediately the conviction -seized her that the women were strangers.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch stood quaking. Her constitutional shyness had been so -cultivated by a lifetime of keeping herself in the background that -the prospect of an interview with the unknown women presented itself -as an ordeal. It was probable, Miss Finch reflected, that they were -city people looking for board. In that case it was only necessary to -tell them that they did not wish any additional boarders, and they -would have no alternative but to go away. Nevertheless she wished -with illogical heartiness that Agatha were at home to assume the -responsibility of the interview.</p> - -<p>The creaking carryall came to a halt in front of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> the house. Miss Finch -saw that of the two passengers, one was young and one elderly, while -both were smartly dressed and formidable. It was the older woman who -addressed her, eying her disapprovingly through her lorgnette, and -speaking in a tone of incredulity that somehow was offensive.</p> - -<p>"My good woman, kindly tell me whether this is Oak Knoll."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is," said Miss Finch, reduced by the lorgnette to abject -helplessness.</p> - -<p>The driver growled something from the front seat. Miss Finch understood -him to say, "Next time maybe you'll believe me."</p> - -<p>"And is Mr. Forbes, Mr. Burton Forbes, spending the summer here?" The -incredulity was as marked as before and as disagreeable.</p> - -<p>"Yes'm," replied Miss Finch faintly. "He is."</p> - -<p>The driver growled again. The substance of his remark, as far as Miss -Finch could grasp it in her confusion, seemed to be, "What did I tell -you?"</p> - -<p>But it mattered little to Miss Finch what the driver had to say. A -deplorable certainty absorbed her. The women were preparing to alight. -There was a trifling delay, owing to the fact they seemed to expect -the driver to assist them, while he assured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> them that he did not dare -to leave his horses. As the dejected steeds stood with hanging heads, -apparently resigned to the prospect of dying in their traces, the -indignation of the two passengers was amply justified.</p> - -<p>They were out at last, and while the elderly lady haughtily paid the -driver, Miss Finch's distended eyes were taking a rapid inventory of -the younger. She was extremely handsome, Miss Finch saw, tall and -slender and tremendously striking in her black and white costume. -She stood looking about her with an evident disdain which the -little spinster might have resented, had she not been chilled by an -indefinable fear.</p> - -<p>When the beautiful stranger spoke, her remark was a complete surprise. -"Miss Kent, I suppose."</p> - -<p>Zaida Finch became aware of an inexplicable hostility in the other's -manner, of an arrogance that bordered on insolence. She found she was -being scrutinized contemptuously. The little drab nonentity felt in her -veins an unprecedented stirring of resentment.</p> - -<p>"No, I'm not," she said with a flatness that seemed deliberately -contradictive. "I'm Miss Finch."</p> - -<p>"Be so kind as to call Miss Kent."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> - -<p>"She's out, I'm sorry to say," replied Miss Finch, and her regret was -heart-felt. If only Agatha were on hand to give back this presumptuous -girl stare for stare, to inquire her errand, in the chilling tone -of which Agatha knew the secret, and finally to send her about her -business.</p> - -<p>"Call Mr. Forbes, then."</p> - -<p>"Mr. Forbes is out, too," Miss Finch explained, and a little chill ran -down her spine. She had forgotten how imperative it was that Agatha -should not encounter any of Forbes' friends. If their unwelcome guests -lingered, it would be necessary for Agatha to become Hephzibah again -with all the inconveniences attendant on that incarnation. "I've got to -get rid of 'em somehow," thought Miss Kent distractedly.</p> - -<p>But apparently for the younger of the two strangers, Miss Finch had -ceased to exist. She turned to her companion impatiently. "It's -dreadfully boring, Aunt Estelle, but Burton is out at present. We'll -have to sit on the porch and wait. Fortunately it is shady."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it seems to be <i>shady</i>," admitted Aunt Estelle, with an emphasis -indicating that as far as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> porch was concerned, she could make -no further concessions. She climbed the steps looking about her with -multiplying evidences of disquiet. "Ask her when Burton will be back," -she enjoined, exactly as if Miss Finch had spoken a foreign tongue, and -could be addressed only through an interpreter.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch did not wait to have the inquiry translated. "I don't know -<i>when</i> he'll be back," she said quickly. "Probably he'll be gone all -day."</p> - -<p>"He'll return for luncheon, I suppose," said Aunt Estelle, grudgingly -acknowledging Miss Finch's ability to speak English, but apparently -liking her no better on that account.</p> - -<p>"No, he won't," declared Miss Finch, with unaccustomed positiveness. -"They took sandwiches."</p> - -<p>The two women exchanged glances. "Who is with Mr. Forbes?" asked the -younger. Her manner implied her right to know.</p> - -<p>"Ag—well, Miss Kent went with him." And to herself Miss Finch added -wildly, "I can't have a lie on my conscience, even for Agatha."</p> - -<p>"Who else was in the party, please?" The young woman in black and white -had become a judge, and Miss Finch, the prisoner at the bar.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span></p> - -<p>"There wasn't anybody else," gasped Miss Finch, with every indication -of uttering a deliberate and premeditated falsehood.</p> - -<p>"Where were they going?"</p> - -<p>"I don't know exactly. They were going for a picnic somewhere, but I -didn't hear 'em say where. I don't know as they knew themselves."</p> - -<p>The judicial sternness became more marked as the prisoner's -embarrassment increased. "You mean that Mr. Forbes and Miss Kent have -gone off for the day with—sandwiches?" Something in her inflection -made the mention of sandwiches the crowning insult to her intelligence.</p> - -<p>"Yes," faltered Miss Finch guiltily. "They often take long walks, and -carry a picnic lunch."</p> - -<p>The older lady spoke with asperity. "It's a preposterous situation. I'm -sorry to remind you, Julia, that I said at the start it would be better -to telegraph."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch started violently. She recalled Agatha's confidential -assurance that Forbes was in love with a despicable young woman named -Julia, but that the aforesaid Julia was to marry another man. Yet here -she was, undeniably handsome, terrifyingly elegant, and worst of all, -with no apparent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> doubt as to her right to be demanding the immediate -producing of Mr. Forbes.</p> - -<p>The two women had seated themselves, Aunt Estelle ostentatiously -dusting the rocker she trusted with her ample person. Miss Finch -proffered a belated and reluctant hospitality.</p> - -<p>"If you're thinking of sitting here long, I'll see about getting you -something to eat."</p> - -<p>Julia brushed the offer aside without thanks. "We shall wait for Mr. -Forbes."</p> - -<p>"It is really absurd, you know," Aunt Estelle contributed, "for us to -sit waiting indefinitely. Burton must be somewhere about. A blind man -and an old woman can not possibly walk very far. Why are they not sent -for?"</p> - -<p>As her inquiry was addressed to Julia, Julia passed it on to Miss -Finch, her extremely frigid tone indicating that Miss Finch should have -thought of that herself.</p> - -<p>"There's nobody to send except the hired girl," Miss Finch explained -despairingly. "And she never was known to find anything, even if it was -right under her nose. If only Howard—"</p> - -<p>Miss Finch checked herself abruptly. A thought had flashed across her -mind so dazzling in its bril<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>liancy she could hardly believe herself -capable of originating it. Indeed, the probability is that she had not -done so, but that some extravagant fancy of Agatha's, falling like seed -into her subconsciousness, had lain there dormant till the emergency -brought it to swift germination. Zaida Finch had never heard of Victor -Hugo's saintly nun, crowning a lifetime of sanctity by a devout and -holy lie, but unconsciously she was inspired to emulate her example.</p> - -<p>With Miss Finch veracity was almost a mania. She was one of the -tiresome people who are continually suspecting themselves of -exaggeration or of misrepresentation of something absolutely without -importance, and then bore their associates by insisting on their -attention while they painstakingly correct their statements. Yet now -she forgot her habitual dread of falsehood. If a lie were necessary to -save Agatha, lie she must.</p> - -<p>She resumed her interrupted sentence, pale but resolute. "If only -Howard was well, he could look for 'em. He could find 'em if anybody -could. But it'll be a good while before he does much running around, I -guess."</p> - -<p>The two visitors regarded her stonily. In her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> simplicity she had -assumed their cooperation to the extent of a question or two. They -would surely ask her who Howard was, or why he was incapacitated. But -apparently these matters did not interest them in the slightest degree. -It was necessary for Miss Finch to continue her career of mendacity -unaided by so much as the lifting of an interrogative eye-brow.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch rose to the occasion. "He's sick, you know," she confided to -the two pairs of indifferent ears. "High fever, and considerable of a -rash—if you'd call it a rash."</p> - -<p>Aunt Estelle showed a slight uneasiness. "You've consulted a physician, -I suppose."</p> - -<p>"We're trying a kind of mental cure first," replied Miss Finch as -glibly as if she had practised perjury from her childhood. "And then if -that don't work, Ag—Miss Kent is going to call in the doctor. But she -don't like to do it till she has to, for it would be awful inconvenient -to be quarantined."</p> - -<p>"Quarantined," exclaimed Aunt Estelle with fresh evidences of -perturbation. "Have you any reason to think that it may be contagious?"</p> - -<p>"Most of these rashy diseases are," Miss Finch replied. And though -there was no malice in her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> composition, she was conscious of relishing -Aunt Estelle's air of agitation. "I'm hoping it's nothing worse than -scarlet fever, though there's been a good many cases of smallpox around -here lately. And I don't know that Howard's ever been vaccinated."</p> - -<p>Aunt Estelle rose from her chair with a little cry. In her palpitating -pallor she reminded Miss Finch irresistibly of blanc-mange.</p> - -<p>"Smallpox, Julia," she exclaimed. "Do you hear what the woman -says—smallpox! Even if we escape with our lives, one's complexion—oh, -my God! Why did I ever listen to this mad idea of yours!"</p> - -<p>Julia's composure was in refreshing contrast to her aunt's excitement. -She rose, it is true, but only to advance to the older woman's side and -whisper in her ear. And having whispered, she calmly resumed her seat, -and looked away toward the hills, apparently intensely interested in -the scenery.</p> - -<p>Aunt Estelle stood irresolute. "Do you really think so?"</p> - -<p>"I'm absolutely sure of it," said Julia.</p> - -<p>"I think I noticed a little wildness in the eye myself," Aunt Estelle -conceded, with a return of her earlier conviction of Miss Finch's -inability to understand English.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Unmistakable," opined Julia.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch looked blankly from one to the other and hope was at low -ebb. They were going to stay. She had thrilled with childlike pride -at the discovery of her own inventiveness, culpable though it might -be. Complacency had whispered that Agatha herself could not have done -better. And now she realized that her effort had failed. She had -sacrificed her conscience to friendship, and the sacrifice had been in -vain. Though not so quick-witted as many another, she had no difficulty -in recognizing the conclusion these strangers had reached. To herself -she said, "They think I'm crazy."</p> - -<p>Miss Finch was not at the end of her resources. Her lapse from the path -of rectitude had proved strangely stimulating to the imagination. She -meant to get rid of these women before Agatha returned. Agatha would -be equal to the emergency provided she were not taken by surprise. If -Julia and her aunt were not afraid of smallpox, it was possible that -they might be afraid of a crazy woman who showed signs of becoming -violent.</p> - -<p>"G-r-r-r-r—" said Miss Finch menacingly. Aunt Estelle jumped and -took another chair. For the first time in her life, Miss Finch felt -herself at no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> disadvantage because of her insignificant proportions. -"G-r-r-r-r-r—" she said again.</p> - -<p>"Julia," exclaimed Aunt Estelle nervously, "do you really think it's -safe—"</p> - -<p>The intrepidity of the modern young woman passes comprehension. -"Harmless, I imagine," Julia said with nonchalance. "Otherwise Burton -would hardly have remained."</p> - -<p>"Why he should have remained in this place under any circumstances," -declared Aunt Estelle, "passes my comprehension."</p> - -<p>"There must be some reason we know nothing about. Burton will -explain." Something in Julia's tone implied that Forbes would not find -explanations altogether easy. She added with evident relief, "Here he -comes now."</p> - -<p>"Thank heaven!" cried Aunt Estelle piously.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch looked wildly in the direction of Julia's steadfast gaze. -All was over. Arm in arm across the grass, so absorbed in each other -that the girl was as blind as the man to the audience on the porch, -came Agatha and Forbes.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE DAY OF JUDGMENT</p> - - -<p class="drop">F<span class="uppercase">orbes</span> woke refreshed from his sylvan nap, and sat for a little -discoursing on the invigorating effect of contact with mother earth, -while Agatha, by drastic massage, restored the circulation to her -temporarily paralyzed arm. The sun had dipped but little toward the -western horizon when they turned their faces homeward, and they walked -slowly. Agatha exulted in heat. A temperature of ninety stimulated her -both physically and mentally. But Forbes found the warmth of the day -relaxing, and she set the pace with that fact in mind.</p> - -<p>Toward the last of their long leisurely walk, Forbes brought up the -subject he had introduced earlier in the day. Though he made no effort -to hurry her to a decision, he sketched entertainingly some of the -diversions she might anticipate, if she accepted his invitation for the -winter. The program was planned with due regard for the infirmities of -age, but Agatha listened raptly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> - -<p>They were but a few rods from their destination, Forbes talking -earnestly, and Agatha hanging on his words, when some mysterious sixth -sense warned her of danger. She looked ahead and instantly halted. -Forbes felt her figure stiffen against his arm, and instinct told him -she was frightened. "What is the matter?" he cried, sickening with a -new realization of his helplessness.</p> - -<p>Agatha did not answer, but as she stared ahead she understood that -doomsday had arrived unheralded. A young woman was tripping toward -them, a handsome young woman, who even without beauty would have -attracted all eyes by the distinction of her dress and bearing. It -could be no other than Julia. The ample lady in the background, -following with a haste that empurpled her complexion, that she might -not be left tęte-ŕ-tęte with a maniac, failed to attract Agatha's -attention. Julia's graceful figure dominated the landscape.</p> - -<p>"What <i>is</i> the matter?" Forbes again demanded. He laid his hand -reassuringly over the fingers trembling upon his arm. And at that -moment a voice subtly reproachful, suggestively tender, spoke his name. -"Burton!"</p> - -<p>"Julia!" Forbes shouted. His dear old friend,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> Miss Kent, and her -mysterious perturbation, were instantly forgotten. He started forward, -remembered that he was blind, stood irresolute, his hands outstretched. -"Julia!" he cried again, this time with entreaty as well as rapture.</p> - -<p>Agatha was ready to believe that then and there she had amply atoned -for her sins, past and present. Even the certainty that the hour of -her humiliation was at hand could not hurt worse than the joy ringing -through his voice as he spoke another woman's name. She wondered dully -at her own folly. She had been warned and had not heeded. She had known -all the time of his love for Julia, and yet had foolishly assumed that -since Julia's selfish decision had put her out of his reach, he would -turn to her for consolation. Her pride had not rebelled over taking -what Julia had thrown away. Indeed she had thought very little about -herself. Her one desire was to be light to his blind eyes, balm to his -wounded heart. But her castle of dreams was in ruins, as soon as he -spoke the name she had hated from the first day she had heard it on his -lips.</p> - -<p>Julia approached him as swiftly as was consistent with grace, a rather -insolent triumph in the glance she shot over his shoulder toward the -pale girl stand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>ing in the background. "Yes, Burton," she said gently, -"it is Julia," and extended both hands.</p> - -<p>He caught them ardently and held them fast, his eager face questioning -her dumbly, though he only said, "What a wonderful surprise! How good -of you, how very good of you!"</p> - -<p>"My aunt, Mrs. Knox, is with me, Burton," continued Julia, the -pensiveness of her tone flatly contradicted by her air of elation. "I -think you have met Mr. Forbes, Aunt Estelle."</p> - -<p>Aunt Estelle, still panting, brought herself into hand-shaking distance -and this formality helped to recall Forbes to the realization that -there were other people in the world besides Julia and himself. He -turned toward Agatha.</p> - -<p>"This is a pleasure I have been promising myself," he said. "Julia, I -want you to know my dear friend, Miss Kent. Miss Kent, let me present -Mrs. Knox and Miss Studley."</p> - -<p>The blankness of the silence that ensued was as definite as a blow. -Forbes stood awaiting the conventional formula, but his quick ear could -detect only the sound of hurried breathing. Again he turned toward -Agatha, but for the first time she failed him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Miss Kent is still here, is she not?" queried Forbes. He remembered -his ideas had been chaotic after discovering Julia's presence. His late -companion might easily have withdrawn without attracting his attention.</p> - -<p>For so simple a question, the effect was startling. "Burton," Julia -cried, her voice sharp to the point of shrillness, "what are you -talking about?"</p> - -<p>Aunt Estelle caught her sleeve. "Can't you understand, Julia?" she -hissed. "This place is a private asylum. That crazy old creature on the -porch, and now him. It's perfectly plain. Let us go away at once."</p> - -<p>Forbes caught most of this sibilant outburst. He turned white with -anger. "Miss Kent?" he pleaded, and Agatha pulled herself together. Her -voice was steady if slightly unnatural, as she answered, "Yes, I am -here."</p> - -<p>Forbes tried to laugh. The consciousness of being enveloped in baffling -mystery made his blindness doubly intolerable. There was a bewilderment -in his voice that wrung Agatha's heart.</p> - -<p>"This is what I have been hoping for all summer. You know how often -I've wished you and Miss Studley might know each other."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Burton," Julia screamed, "who and what is this person?"</p> - -<p>The contempt in her tone, even more than her disdainful phrasing, -brought the blood racing to his forehead. "Julia!" He seemed to defy -her to go on. "If you have read my letters at all," he said in a -vibrant voice, "you know both who Miss Kent is and how much I am in her -debt."</p> - -<p>"Miss Kent! Your father's friend!"</p> - -<p>"And mine as well, Julia." There was no ecstatic tenderness now in his -use of her name, but indignant sternness.</p> - -<p>"Burton, either you are insane or the woman is an impostor. She is not -old. She is young, hardly more than a girl."</p> - -<p>Forbes attempted to reply, but for a moment no words came. He put his -hand to his forehead with a confused gesture. "I have been off in the -woods with Miss Kent all day," he stammered. "I supposed—I had not -noticed—" Again he turned in Agatha's direction. "Who are you, please?"</p> - -<p>There was no trace of emotion in her composed answer. "I am Agatha -Kent."</p> - -<p>"Do you dare to say," shrieked Julia, "that you were the friend of Mr. -Forbes' father?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I never saw Mr. Forbes' father."</p> - -<p>Forbes took a step ahead, then halted, and stood with his feet a little -apart, like one who balances himself on the deck of a heaving ship in a -high sea. "But where," he stammered, "where is the other Miss Kent?"</p> - -<p>"There is no other. My Great-aunt Agatha, for whom I was named, died -twelve years ago."</p> - -<p>There was a momentary palpitating silence which Julia was the first to -break.</p> - -<p>"And you mean," she arraigned her, "that all this summer you have been -a deliberate impostor, palming yourself off on Mr. Forbes as an old -woman, allowing him to think—oh, it's too shameful. I can't believe -any girl would be so base."</p> - -<p>"It is quite true, nevertheless," Agatha assured her gently. Her steady -eyes met Julia's, and even that intrepid young woman drew back a step. -Her momentary shrinking was not unreasonable for could concentrated -hate smite like a lightning bolt, her life would have been measured by -seconds.</p> - -<p>Instinct taught Julia how to repay that level look by the deadliest -hurt. She turned on Forbes furiously. "Do you mean to tell me that you -have been the victim of a hoax all summer, that this girl has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> passed -herself off on you for an old woman? But, no, it isn't possible. You've -contrived this outrageous story between you to cover up something -disgraceful. You couldn't have been such a dupe as you pretend. It's -incredible!"</p> - -<p>Forbes' color came and went during this attack. "It seems incredible," -he owned when she gave him opportunity. "I don't blame you for -questioning the truth of such a story. I can only remind you that it is -easy to deceive a blind man."</p> - -<p>Something in Agatha's stony whiteness convinced Julia that she had made -no mistake in her choice of retribution. She gave the screws another -turn.</p> - -<p>"You mean for me to believe, Burton, that you've been only the gullible -victim of a swindle, that this impostor has tricked you successfully -all these months?"</p> - -<p>There was a rather long silence. "Yes," said Forbes tonelessly, "that -is what I mean."</p> - -<p>Julia's first sense of being at a disadvantage had passed. She was -thoroughly enjoying herself.</p> - -<p>"I begin to understand your strange letter," she said, addressing -Agatha. "Your letter of congratulation, you know. I suppose you are the -young woman to whom you referred, the one with whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> Mr. Forbes had -spent so much time, you no doubt remember."</p> - -<p>There was such malicious satisfaction in her tone that Forbes turned as -if to interfere. Then his uplifted arm dropped rather heavily to his -side.</p> - -<p>"You'll laugh when I tell you, Burton," exclaimed Julia, setting him -the example by laughing herself, most unpleasantly. "But she insinuated -in this letter that you might marry her. That is at the bottom of this -outrageous plot. She actually thought she could compromise you in some -dreadful way and force you to marry her. Shocking as it is, one can't -help being amused."</p> - -<p>Forbes' only answer was again to lift his hand to his head. It was -Agatha who spoke. Unmasked adventuress as she was, her dignity was in -rather agreeable contrast to Julia's vindictive shrillness.</p> - -<p>"It is hardly necessary to trouble Mr. Forbes with any further -details," she said, "since, thanks to you, my plot against his peace -has been exposed. I suppose you will want to take him away as soon as -possible."</p> - -<p>"Oh, at once." Julia showed signs of becoming hysterical. "The very -first train. I feel as if I couldn't breathe in this atmosphere of -deceit."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I'm afraid there is no train before five o'clock, but I'll have the -carriage ready in plenty of time. And now, if you will excuse me, I -shall see about getting you some luncheon."</p> - -<p>"Luncheon! Good heavens, I couldn't eat a mouthful. It would choke me."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Knox seconded her niece admirably. "It would not be safe, Julia. A -person capable of all this would not hesitate to poison our food."</p> - -<p>Agatha accepted this tribute without comment. "Will you pack Mr. -Forbes' things yourself?" she said, addressing Julia.</p> - -<p>Again Mrs. Knox intervened. "Julia, I forbid you to go into that house, -with this girl, and that dreadful, crazy creature—"</p> - -<p>Forbes interrupted with signs of irritation. "You said that once -before. There is no insane woman here."</p> - -<p>"I am afraid you are not a very good judge of what <i>is</i> or is <i>not</i> -here, Mr. Forbes," replied Aunt Estelle, scoring again. "We had a -most unpleasant encounter with a woman clearly insane. She positively -gibbered."</p> - -<p>"Yes, Burton," Julia cried with shrewish enjoyment, "you have been made -a laughing-stock all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> summer, poor dear. You've kept writing about this -fine old place. I wish you could see it. It's simply in the last stages -of dilapidation."</p> - -<p>"It's ready to fall to pieces," corroborated Aunt Estelle. "I didn't -venture inside, but the glimpses of the interior I got from the window -showed that everything was fairly moth-eaten."</p> - -<p>"Yes," Agatha admitted quietly. "We are very poor, so poor that a -blind boarder seemed providential. Won't you sit on the porch till the -carriage is ready?" she added politely. "I'm sure Mr. Forbes is tired -after his long walk."</p> - -<p>"Oh, please," protested Julia, her self-control shaken by the other's -calm, "please drop this pretext of being so interested in Mr. Forbes' -welfare. After the fraud you have practised on him all summer you can -hardly expect him to believe anything you say."</p> - -<p>"Oh, no," said Agatha. "I don't expect that for a moment. And now if -you're sure you won't eat a little luncheon, I'll bid you all good -afternoon." She went across the grass to the house, carrying herself -with her chin high, moving deliberately. No one could have guessed -the fact of which she was so certain, that during the encounter she -had ceased to be a girl, that she had leaped without any intervening<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> -stages of maturity and middle life, straight to old age, that dreadful -old age, beyond hope or joy, the age that is death in life. Agatha -remembered wonderingly that once the mere flicker of sunshine through -leaves, the mere fragrance of a flower, had a magic to quicken her -pulses.</p> - -<p>A little after three the carryall appeared. Howard was driving, and -Forbes' suit-case and other impedimenta lay on the seat beside him. As -he helped his passengers in, he explained that the trunk would be sent -by express next day. This announcement was received in frigid silence -whereupon Howard, too, became sulkily silent and used the whip on the -fat bays with such effect that they covered the five miles between Oak -Knoll and the village station at an unprecedented rate of speed.</p> - -<p>Forbes thawed a little when Howard helped him to alight, and stood for -a moment beside him. "Good-by, Mr. Forbes," the boy said huskily. "I'm -awfully sorry you're going."</p> - -<p>He put out his hand and after an instant's hesitation Forbes gripped -it. He had grown fond of the boy. "Oh, Howard," he said, his voice -betraying his hurt, "I wouldn't have believed it of you."</p> - -<p>He heard Howard gulp and then burst out sob<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>bing. Fortunately for the -boy's pride, the hour was early and the station platform lacked its -customary contingent of loafers.</p> - -<p>"We didn't mean anything, Mr. Forbes," Howard choked. "Aggie wanted to -take boarders, so she could send me to school, but when they saw how -old and shabby the house was, they wouldn't come."</p> - -<p>"Is she your sister?"</p> - -<p>"Kind of one. Her father married my mother. She's better than a -thousand real sisters."</p> - -<p>"Burton," said Julia's voice beside them, "I wouldn't encourage the boy -by listening to him. Probably that young woman has coached him in a new -series of lies."</p> - -<p>"Aggie never tells lies," Howard challenged her hotly. "This was like -a charade or something. Mr. Forbes thought she was old and so she -pretended to be. We had lots of fun and it didn't do anybody any harm." -He appealed to Forbes. "She took good care of you anyway, didn't she, -Mr. Forbes?"</p> - -<p>"Really, Burton," expostulated Julia, "I can not allow this to go on. -These people evidently regard you as fair game. It's dreadful that your -blindness should put you so at the mercy of the unscrupulous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> but I -shall see that you are not imposed on while I am with you. Send this -boy away."</p> - -<p>"He doesn't need to send me away," Howard exploded indignantly. "I'm -going." He seized Forbes' hand again. "Good-by, Mr. Forbes. Come and -see us some time."</p> - -<p>Julia gasped. "Did any one ever imagine such impertinence!" she asked -of high heaven. "Such people seem to be without natural shame. I -suppose they are so accustomed to being found out in falsehood and -fraud that they take it as a matter of course. In the interest of -justice there should be some way of punishing them. Couldn't they be -prosecuted, Burton, for obtaining money under false pretenses?"</p> - -<p>Forbes made no reply. Apparently he did not share Julia's lofty -enthusiasm for abstract justice. His air of bewildered dejection -suggested a lost child, rather than a man rescued from a false and -intolerable position by the lady of his heart.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a></p> - -<p class="center">WARREN GETS A TIP</p> - - -<p class="drop">R<span class="uppercase">idgeley Warren</span> had been to the station to bid a friend <i>bon voyage</i>. -He presented himself armed with a box of chocolates, the latest novel -and three brand-new witticisms culled from a roof-garden program the -previous evening. The pretty girl had accepted his offerings with -marked graciousness and had laughed convulsively at each of the jokes, -thereby intensifying Warren's habitual sense of being on good terms -with himself and all the world. His spirits unclouded by the pang of -parting, he strolled toward the exit, trying to decide where to dine, -when his own name reached his ears coupled with a fervent ejaculation, -"Mr. Warren! Thank heaven!"</p> - -<p>Warren spun on his heel to encounter Julia advancing with extended -hand. Julia was not one of Warren's favorites, but her pleasure at the -sight of him was contagious. "Gosh!" he exclaimed agreeably, "this <i>is</i> -luck."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> - -<p>It was while shaking hands with Julia that Warren became aware of Mrs. -Knox's imposing figure in the background. And scarcely had he lifted -his hat in recognition of her presence, when his eye fell on Forbes, a -pale and woebegone object, committed to the clumsy guardianship of a -station porter.</p> - -<p>Warren turned on Julia blithely. "Don't tell me you've sprung a -surprise on us. Don't say that I should have come with my pockets full -of rice."</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Warren, be serious, please." There was gentle reproach in -Julia's uplifted eyes. "It seems really providential meeting you here. -Now you can take charge of Burton till he finds some suitable person to -look after him."</p> - -<p>"What's become of the nice little chap who has been on the job all -summer?"</p> - -<p>"Oh, Mr. Warren!" Julia's gesture indicated the futility of attempting -immediate explanations. "It's a long, a dreadful story, and it will -take time to make you understand."</p> - -<p>"Hm! I'm not usually considered so dense."</p> - -<p>"But this isn't like anything else. It's incredible. I can hardly -believe it myself. Let's go to some quiet place where we can have -dinner and talk things over."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Yes, for heaven's sake, let us have dinner," snapped Mrs. Knox. An -unusually early hour of rising, together with a mid-day fast, had -reduced her to an unwonted state of nervous irritability. Forbes, too, -seemed wrapped in impenetrable gloom. It was not a cheerful party.</p> - -<p>Warren's curiosity was aroused. He found a taxi, bundled the dejected -trio inside and gave the driver directions. He was rather shocked to -see how ill Forbes looked on nearer view, but he concealed that emotion -under his usual cloak of levity, and told humorous stories all the way -to their destination, covering the lack of responsiveness on the part -of his audience by roars of appreciative laughter.</p> - -<p>The staid hotel which Warren had selected, though yielding to modern -demands sufficiently to institute a roof dining-room, discouraged -such innovations as would be likely to attract the light-minded, and -Warren's party had no difficulty in securing a table. Warren assumed -the prerogative of host and ordered with a lavishness productive of -a marked unbending on the part of Mrs. Knox. Julia, too, was hungry -enough to look forward to a good dinner with unwonted anticipation, and -she smiled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> on him appreciatively. Only Forbes remained moodily aloof.</p> - -<p>It was over the soup that Warren said cheerily, "Well, now, what's it -all about?" He was beginning to realize that something unusual must -have occurred to bring Julia and her aunt to town in August, as well as -to account for Forbes' strange, dispirited silence.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Knox immediately protested. "Oh, Mr. Warren, don't spoil a good -meal by bringing up that abominable affair."</p> - -<p>"Oh, yes, let it wait, please, Mr. Warren," sighed Julia. "Actually -when one realizes what wickedness there is in the world—deceit and -imposture and things of that sort—it seems fairly heartless to enjoy -one's self."</p> - -<p>"Then we'll wait for explanations till dinner is over," Warren -conceded, with undiminished buoyancy. But although he made himself -entertaining in his usual fashion, his mind was busy with the problem -Julia had suggested. Who was the girl hitting, with her talk of deceit -and imposture? She could not refer to Miss Kent, naturally, and Howard -was equally out of the question. Could it be that Hephzibah's existence -had come to her atten<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>tion? Was it possible that Forbes had been -playing a lone hand and had thereby become involved in an entanglement -from which his betrothed had magnanimously rescued him? The unrelieved -melancholy of Forbes' face and manner rendered this explanation -entirely plausible.</p> - -<p>When the coffee was brought on and the men lighted cigarettes, Warren -felt, not unnaturally, that his hungry curiosity had a right to -satisfaction. "Well, I'm as ready to be shocked as I ever shall be," he -said. "Let's hear what has happened. Don't tell me that the staid Miss -Kent was on the point of eloping with old Forbes."</p> - -<p>To Warren's surprise, this apparently innocent witticism caused -Forbes to flush darkly. He noticed, too, that Julia's expression lost -something of its pensive sweetness, but even then he was unprepared for -the acidity of the tone with which she answered him.</p> - -<p>"There is no Miss Kent."</p> - -<p>"Eh?" Warren looked rather stupid.</p> - -<p>"Strictly speaking," admitted Julia, "there is a person who calls -herself by that name. But the nice old lady who was Burton's father's -friend has been dead a dozen years."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> - -<p>Warren knocked the ashes from his cigarette with painstaking -deliberation. "Must be a rather lively old ghost," he commented, -striving to live up to his principle of never showing surprise, -"according to all Forbes tells."</p> - -<p>"Oh, poor Burton," Julia cried, with a glance of angelic commiseration -in the direction of her grimly silent lover. "Wouldn't you have thought -that Burton's misfortune would have appealed to the better instincts of -the most depraved? But instead, they take advantage of his blindness to -trick him in the most infamous fashion. The person who calls herself -Agatha Kent—I suppose it really is her name, though any one so -absolutely deceitful is as likely to lie about one thing as another—"</p> - -<p>"Well?" trumpeted Warren, his strained patience showing itself in the -unnecessary loudness of his challenge.</p> - -<p>"Do hush, Mr. Warren, everybody's looking at us. This Kent woman isn't -a nice motherly person. She isn't old at all, not a bit older than I -am."</p> - -<p>Warren sucked at his cigarette for a moment and blew the smoke -through his nose. He needed a little time in order to preserve the -imperturbable demeanor on which he prided himself. He looked at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> Julia -to be sure she was in earnest, looked at Forbes to see if he were not -going to deny this incredible story, and then expressed his feelings by -a low whistle.</p> - -<p>"Not a nice motherly person," he repeated inanely. "About as old as you -are."</p> - -<p>"She may even be a little younger," Julia admitted generously.</p> - -<p>Warren's air of incredulity deepened. He threw the uncommunicative -Forbes a challenging glance.</p> - -<p>"Do you mean that Forbes has been spending all his time with her for -the past three months and never suspected that she wasn't an old woman?"</p> - -<p>"So he claims." Julia's inflection was decidedly tart.</p> - -<p>Forbes made one of his rare contributions to the conversation. "I -wouldn't have believed such a thing possible myself, but blindness -makes one an easy victim."</p> - -<p>"Poor Burton!" murmured Julia, melting at once. "To think that any girl -should have the heart to take such advantage of another's misfortune."</p> - -<p>"But I can't see what she was getting at," Warren demurred. "I've -heard that occasionally ladies represent themselves as younger than -they really are,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> and the reason for that seems plain enough. But why -the devil should a young girl want to make herself out an old maid of -seventy?"</p> - -<p>"Purely mercenary at the start," Julia opined. "As I understand it, -Burton saw her advertisement for a boarder, and wrote her, supposing -she was his father's old friend. And she decided to pass herself off as -her great-aunt so as to get as much out of Burton as she could."</p> - -<p>"That young woman must have plenty of nerve. It's plain she needed the -money, as far as that goes. Place is terribly run-down."</p> - -<p>"Oh, shockingly," Mrs. Knox corroborated him, in her deepest tones. -"All the furniture I could see through the windows seemed mere wrecks."</p> - -<p>"On its last legs," Warren agreed. He waited for a moment and then -asked casually, "Well, what's the fuss about? What harm did it do?"</p> - -<p>The two women uttered a simultaneous ejaculation of horror. "A piece of -barefaced fraud," cried Mrs. Knox.</p> - -<p>"She has been getting money under false pretenses," flared Julia. "I -believe she can be arrested like any other swindler, and punished."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> - -<p>Warren shrugged his shoulders. "I can't see where the harm comes in," -he persisted stubbornly. "She made Forbes comfortable all summer, so -comfortable that now he looks like a baby that's being weaned. She -took his money, but judging from the meals I ate there, she gave him -his money's worth. If she'd been an old party, passing herself off -as a youthful beauty, Forbes would have a right to kick. But under -the circumstances is seems to me you're making a mountain out of a -mole-hill."</p> - -<p>Warren's amiable defense of the guilty was not well received. Aunt -Estelle regarded him with open hostility, and Julia seemed pained by -his moral obtuseness. A flicker of interest lighted Forbes' impassive -face and suggested to Warren that his line of argument appealed more -strongly to his masculine listener than to the women. Although he held -no brief for Agatha Kent, he pressed his advantage.</p> - -<p>"We don't know, any of us, what we might do if we were up against it. -I've often thought I would commit highway robbery if I were hungry -enough. I'll say this for the girl, anyway: She must be a peach of an -actress. If she could knock around with a man all summer, walk with him -and talk with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> him and pet him a little, when he was down in the mouth, -and yet never let him suspect that she wasn't old enough to be his -grandmother—"</p> - -<p>"Really, Mr. Warren," Julia said with asperity, "I can't see any point -in continuing this conversation. I had hoped you might be able to make -some helpful suggestions regarding Burton, for of course I understand -that you can't be burdened with him for more than a few days. But if -you are going to spend the evening defending that brazen, red-haired—"</p> - -<p>"What!" roared Warren. This time he <i>had</i> done it. The head waiter -looked in his direction apprehensively.</p> - -<p>Aunt Estelle took the protest from Julia's lips. "Pardon me, Mr. -Warren, but I must remind you that my niece and I dislike to be made -conspicuous by such demonstrations."</p> - -<p>Warren ignored the reproof. "What did you call her?" he demanded of -Julia, whose only answer was an offended stare.</p> - -<p>"Did you say she was red-haired?"</p> - -<p>"I—I did. Though why you should attach any importance to anything so -trivial, I confess I don't understand."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> - -<p>Warren did not attempt to enlighten her. He indicated to the waiter -that he was ready for his check and his manner was offensively -jubilant. "I'm afraid," he said genially, "that you'll have to make -some plan for disposing of old Forbes besides committing him to my -tender mercies. I've just remembered that I'm going out of town in the -morning, early train."</p> - -<p>Julia looked startled. "But what is Burton to do, then?"</p> - -<p>"Just what he would have done if you hadn't run across me. Though if -you'd like my candid advice—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, please," said Julia, and tried to look winning. It did not suit -her that Warren should slip away in this cavalier fashion, leaving -her with a blind man on her hands. She had important plans for the -remainder of the week. Twenty-four hours was all she could possibly -spare for Forbes.</p> - -<p>"Then I advise you to marry him offhand. You have taken him away from -one young woman who was devoting herself to making him comfortable. I -should say that the least you could do was to follow her example."</p> - -<p>Julia's gasp of rage made Warren think of a cat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> whose tail has been -trodden on. From across the table Forbes promptly requested him to mind -his own business.</p> - -<p>"Just a bit of good advice, old man," Warren soothed him. "Take it or -leave it, as you please. Anything more I can do for you people before I -go?"</p> - -<p>A frigid silence indicated that any service he could offer would be -unwelcome, whereupon Warren, having tipped the waiter with a liberality -indicative of a jocund spirit, took his smiling departure, leaving -dejection behind him.</p> - -<p>After a talk with the night clerk, it was arranged that Forbes should -remain at the hotel, an adaptable bell-boy agreeing to act as his valet -in the morning. Before Mrs. Knox and Julia took refuge in another -hostelry, the lovers had a moment to themselves.</p> - -<p>Julia was in an unpleasant mood. The emphasis Warren had laid on Miss -Kent's histrionic powers had awakened her ready suspicion. As she found -herself alone for a moment with her lover, his look of weary dejection -aroused her resentment.</p> - -<p>"It's most extraordinary, Burton," she complained, "that you should -never have suspected her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> of being younger than she pretended. I could -see that Mr. Warren didn't believe it for a minute."</p> - -<p>Forbes replied with perfect conviction that Warren was an ass.</p> - -<p>"I should have thought that if you didn't find it out when you were -holding her hands, you would have realized it the moment you took her -in your arms."</p> - -<p>"Damnation!" Forbes was goaded beyond endurance. "I never took her in -my arms."</p> - -<p>"She said you did," insisted Julia, eying him suspiciously. "In that -preposterous letter she wrote me, you know. She said you often held her -hands and patted them and that sort of thing."</p> - -<p>"I did, I admit it. I supposed her a contemporary of my father's, you -remember."</p> - -<p>"And she said that once, under rather unusual circumstances, you took -her in your arms."</p> - -<p>"An absolute lie!" blazed Forbes. "But of course if you are going to -doubt my word, Julia—"</p> - -<p>Julia said no, that she did not doubt him. She added that when a person -had lived a lie for months, one more little falsehood would not mean -much. Then she gave him her hand to kiss, and was an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>noyed when he only -pressed it and said good night. She had to remind herself that though -there was no one near to witness the act of devotion, Burton could -not know that he was unobserved, and his undemonstrative demeanor was -undoubtedly due to his unwillingness to compromise her.</p> - -<p>It was while the adaptable bell-boy was conducting his charge to -his room, that enlightenment came. Forbes gave a convulsive start. -"Damnation!" he exclaimed, for the second time in fifteen minutes.</p> - -<p>"Yes, sir, our floor, sir!" The bell-boy eyed him expectantly. He had -an adventurous spirit, though condemned to carry suit-cases and bring -ice-water on request. It looked as if there might be something doing -with a gentleman who jumped so high and swore so roundly in a public -elevator.</p> - -<p>Forbes had only realized that the letter Julia had quoted had contained -no falsehood. He understood Warren's excitement over the discovery that -Agatha Kent was red-haired. Agatha and Hephzibah were one and the same.</p> - -<p>The circumstances which led to his taking her in his arms were unusual, -indeed. In the close corridors of the city hotel he seemed to smell -again the scent of sun-kissed fields. As the bell-boy gripped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> his -arm, he felt against his heart the pressure of that lithe young body, -shaken by sobs. His cheek had brushed another, smooth and fragrant. His -pulses had answered the indefinable challenge of youth and beauty. They -thrilled again at the mere memory.</p> - -<p>Forbes did not fall asleep till nearly morning. He lay awake, trying to -decide how far the situation was altered by the fact that Agatha Kent -had saved his life.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE WORM TURNS</p> - - -<p class="drop">I<span class="uppercase">n the</span> hour or two of troubled sleep closing his wakeful night, Forbes -dreamed vividly and woke with Agatha's voice echoing in his ears. He -started up, his lips parted to speak her name, then dropped back upon -his pillows with a sense of desolate loss that tried his powers of -self-control.</p> - -<p>So faithfully had his memory reproduced every intonation of the -familiar voice that it had seemed to bring the living woman to his -side. He recognized the maternal note which had appealed to him the -more because of his unmothered boyhood, the undertone of indulgent -humor which was characteristic of the friend on whom he had learned -to lean. Only there was no such friend. Her place had been taken by -a stranger, capable of bewildering changes of identity, Miss Kent, -Hephzibah, and now this newcomer, Agatha, self-confessed impostress -who could, even when unmasked and flouted, pre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>serve the dignity which -is the heritage of race. He found himself thrilled by an inexplicable -pride as he remembered the even voice with which she had answered -Julia's shrillness.</p> - -<p>The adaptable bell-boy presented himself in due time and awkwardly -assisted him with his dressing. After visiting the barber, he was -conducted to the hotel dining-room, and here the realization was -brought home to him that for many a month Agatha's tact had stood -between him and embarrassment. She had prepared his food so that he ate -without any especial sense of being at a disadvantage. His fork was -always at hand when he wanted it. His glass of water and his cup of -coffee were magically present to his need. In the hotel dining-room he -heard whispers at his back, and once a sound like smothered laughter, -and he tingled with the shamed consciousness of being a show for -curious eyes. His face burned throughout the meal, and his eating was -largely pretense.</p> - -<p>Forbes' engagement with Julia was for ten o'clock. At quarter before -the hour, the bell-boy who had taken him in charge conducted him to a -stiff little parlor on the second floor, and left him after a whispered -explanation to the maid. Time is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> proverbially slow-footed from the -standpoint of lovers, but as Forbes sat waiting he felt sure that his -impatience did not explain the seemingly endless duration of those -fifteen minutes. The maid came to him at last to ask if there was -anything she could do.</p> - -<p>"I'd like to know the time, please."</p> - -<p>"Half past eleven, sir."</p> - -<p>"Half past eleven," Forbes repeated. Oddly his first emotion was a -feeling of relief that Agatha did not know.</p> - -<p>The parlor maid was offering encouragement. "Prob'ly something's -happened to detain the young lady, sir. But I don't believe she'll be -much longer."</p> - -<p>"Let us hope not," Forbes replied dryly. The proudest of men, he winced -at the unmistakable sympathy of the woman's tone. It was not fair that -he should be subjected to such humiliation.</p> - -<p>Julia arrived upon the stroke of noon, voluble over some undeniable -bargains in blouses. She had stopped at one of the exclusive little -shops, preferred by the knowing to the big emporiums, only intending, -she explained vivaciously, to make one small purchase. But the woman -had kept showing her the loveliest things, and all so reasonable. -There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> was practically no one in the place, so that it had seemed like -shopping in some strange city. And it was worth coming to town in the -hot weather just to pick up such bargains.</p> - -<p>"I'm glad your effort was not thrown quite away," Forbes remarked with -an irony that glanced harmless from Julia's armor.</p> - -<p>"Oh, no, Burton, I don't grudge any sacrifice I have made. Getting you -out of the clutches of that harpy was worth it all."</p> - -<p>She waited for a suitable expression of gratitude from the gentleman -she had rescued. After a pause which Forbes failed to fill -appropriately, she spoke again, and this time with grave seriousness.</p> - -<p>"Now, Burton, it's only two hours before my train leaves and I must -have luncheon, so we'd better lose no time deciding on the wisest -course to take in this affair."</p> - -<p>Again Forbes failed to respond. Julia eyed him suspiciously.</p> - -<p>"I hope you haven't an idea of passing this outrage over without taking -any action, Burton. It's that sort of laxity that makes criminals."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you have decided on the punishment appropriate to this -particular crime," said Forbes, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> voice rich in ironic inflections, -which again passed harmlessly over Julia's head.</p> - -<p>"To tell the truth, I have. There's only one point on which these -mercenary people are really susceptible, and that's money. My advice is -to write her that unless she returns every penny you paid her, you will -prosecute her for swindling."</p> - -<p>"She might not be able to do that, Julia. I judge from what you all say -that she must be poor."</p> - -<p>"Oh, she's evidently that. Everything about the place is -poverty-stricken, and the gown she wore that day was so faded that you -could hardly tell the original color. But I believe she has all that -money put aside, for don't you remember, the boy said she wanted to -send him to school."</p> - -<p>"I remember. And you advise me to demand the money she has saved for -his schooling, and ask her to charge up my board for those months to -charity?"</p> - -<p>Julia held to her point. "It's the sort of thing she'd feel, because -it's evident there's nothing she wouldn't do for money. I confess I -can't comprehend that temperament. Money means so little to me that I -simply don't understand how it's possible for people to worship it as -they do."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> - -<p>He listened with growing irritation. That this girl who had never -earned a dollar, and had never denied herself anything she wanted, -should assume so superior an attitude, offended his sense of justice. -"Perhaps if you knew more of the value of money," he cut in crisply, -"you might respect it more."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I know I'm impractical, Burton. Dad was always making fun of me -for that." The pensiveness of her tone was still evident as she added, -"Perhaps you'd like to have me write the letter before I go."</p> - -<p>"What letter?"</p> - -<p>"To that woman, of course, threatening to prosecute her unless she -returns the money."</p> - -<p>His pause was long enough to give the idea that he was considering her -suggestion. His tone when at length he spoke, implied nothing of the -sort.</p> - -<p>"Thank you, Julia. I shall not need your services. And when I write -Miss Kent, I shall enclose a check to cover my board till the first of -November."</p> - -<p>He heard her catch her breath. "You mean you are going to pay a premium -for being tricked and deceived?"</p> - -<p>"She deceived me and that's not easy for me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> forgive. But I'm hardly -ready to sponge my living from a girl who is making a hand-to-hand -fight with poverty."</p> - -<p>"Dear, it's dreadful the way you men let your chivalry run away with -you. I suppose if you were on a jury, you couldn't bring yourself to -convict a woman of murder."</p> - -<p>"I hardly think Miss Kent's offense can be classed in that category," -Forbes said stiffly. "I suffered chiefly through the jolt to my sense -of dignity. That's always been a sensitive point with me."</p> - -<p>Julia sighed. "I can't bear to have you talk that way, Burton. It's bad -enough for Mr. Warren to make light of falsehood and treachery. But it -seems to me a person capable of that, is capable of anything." She laid -her hand lightly on his. "Trust a woman's intuition, Burton. Let me -write that letter."</p> - -<p>Her touch not only left him cold, but roused his antagonism. He felt -an irritated certainty that he was being played upon. "Thank you, but -I have nothing to say to Miss Kent that I can not entrust to a public -stenographer."</p> - -<p>She did not take away her hand. "Let's not talk of that dreadful woman -any more," she said, in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> lowered voice. "Fate has given us this -little hour out of the years, and we mustn't waste it."</p> - -<p>Her words brought back something Agatha had said, her scathing scorn -of those who took the easy way, and then held fate accountable. The -remembrance steeled him against the insidious tenderness of her voice.</p> - -<p>"You made your choice, Julia, as you had a right to do. And I wish you -every happiness."</p> - -<p>The fragrance of a delicate perfume he had always associated with her -enveloped him. He felt the pressure of her body against his arm.</p> - -<p>"What a queer, quiet hotel this is, Burton. Right in the heart of the -city and yet we're as much alone as if we were off somewhere in the -woods."</p> - -<p>Had she been sensitive, she might have perceived a curious rigidity -in the arm against which she leaned, an ominous tightening of the -obstinately silent lips. Her vanity felt the challenge of his failure -to respond. She flung prudence to the winds. "Burton! Burton!" she -murmured, and whether her emotion was real or assumed, he did not know, -"why don't you kiss me?"</p> - -<p>His fastidious recoil was strengthened by the suspicion that she was -attempting by playing on his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> passion to mold him to her will in the -matter of Agatha's punishment. He moved away a little. "Excuse me," he -said, "I shouldn't dream of taking such a liberty with the fiancée of -Murray Prendergast."</p> - -<p>"Oh, don't!" He felt her shudder, and again wondered if it were real, -or a pretense. "All the years ahead belong to him, and just this little -moment is yours and mine."</p> - -<p>"I lay no claim even to a moment of your time, Julia. I asked from you -all or nothing."</p> - -<p>"Tell me just once that you love me, Burton."</p> - -<p>At his continued silence, she drew herself away. "You're different. You -don't care for me as you did."</p> - -<p>She waited vainly for him to deny the accusation. Then again she caught -his hand. She might have been a loyal wife, fearing that her husband's -heart was slipping from her grasp and longing to be reassured. -"Burton," she implored, "tell me whether you love me."</p> - -<p>"I thank God—no."</p> - -<p>She fell back, and he could hear her stormy breathing. Well as he knew -every inflection of her voice, he hardly recognized it when she spoke -again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> - -<p>"That wretched woman! That creature! She's to blame. She's stolen your -heart from me."</p> - -<p>"Don't be a fool." The brutality, foreign as it was to Forbes' training -and temperament, seemed demanded by the occasion. "My heart and all the -rest of me was yours while you chose to keep me. You threw me away like -a worn glove when my trouble came, and looked about for a more fitting -match."</p> - -<p>"Burton, you said yourself—"</p> - -<p>"I own I made your way easy for you, Julia. I was fool enough to be -satisfied to have you yourself and made no inconvenient demands in the -way of loyalty and truth. And the fate you are so fond of invoking was -kinder to me than I deserved."</p> - -<p>"You love her. You love that abandoned—"</p> - -<p>"Stop!" he commanded. "Don't dare finish." But he himself went on -talking rapidly. "As far as Miss Kent is concerned, of course I have -made it impossible for her ever to think well of me again, since after -her months of uninterrupted kindness, I could listen to your venomous -attack upon her, and not speak a word in her defense."</p> - -<p>"How dare you! How dare you speak like that to me!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Whether I love her or not, I don't know. It's too bewildering for me -to be sure. But I know she's the most loyal friend, and the dearest -comrade and the bravest, most unselfish—"</p> - -<p>Julia sprang from her place beside him with a cry. His face was toward -her, and at the sound of her voice, an extraordinary thing happened. He -saw her for an instant quite distinctly, though the face he had loved -had undergone as hideous a change as if death and decay had done their -devastating work upon it. Secure in the knowledge of his blindness, she -faced him with the mask thrown aside. He saw her features distorted -by hate, her eyes narrowed malignantly, her lips drawn back from the -teeth. Something Hephzibah Diggs had said in their memorable interview -flashed across his mind. "When she showed herself up for what she was, -you'd ought to have got down on your marrow bones and thanked the Lord."</p> - -<p>Darkness shut down over the unwelcome vision. There was a rushing in -his ears so that he heard only faintly Julia's farewell, "I hate you! -Oh, how I hate you!" He leaned back against the cushions, realizing -that he was a sick man, but enveloped in a strange serenity. When next -the parlor maid<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> proffered her services, he sent her to telephone for -his physician. An hour later he was comfortably ensconced in a private -hospital on the outskirts of the city, and sick as he felt, his mood -was increasingly cheerful, for the doctor considered the momentary -return of vision, elusive and disappointing as it had been, most -encouraging.</p> - -<p>It was a week before Forbes was equal to dictating a letter to Agatha. -He passed over the peculiar circumstances of their parting, expressed -rather formally his sense of gratitude and enclosed a generous check. -His acknowledgment came with gratifying promptness. But the nurse on -opening the envelope was puzzled.</p> - -<p>"It doesn't seem a letter at all, just bits of paper. Why, it looks -like a check, torn into little pieces."</p> - -<p>"You can't find the number of the check among the scraps, can you?" -asked Forbes.</p> - -<p>The nurse could and did and Forbes' suspicion became certainty. He -turned on his pillow, unreasonably wounded. The Agatha Kent he had -loved and trusted had never been, and this stranger who called herself -by the familiar name had rejected his overture of friendship.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a></p> - -<p class="center">THE DAY AFTER</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> day of judgment has its drawbacks, but it is the day after that -really hurts. The first shock numbs. It is when the nipping pain -begins, the remorseless pain too cruel to kill, that the sinner takes -the full measure of his punishment.</p> - -<p>On the day of Forbes' departure, Agatha ate her evening meal as usual -and went to bed at eight o'clock. She slept heavily till midnight, -roused and speedily dozed off again, but now to be the victim of -torturing dreams.</p> - -<p>Years before a pet dog of Howard's had become old and sickly and -Agatha's father had decided it must be killed. He had attempted to -shoot the animal in its sleep, but his nervousness had caused him to -miss his aim. It had taken three shots to finish the business. Agatha -had come upon the scene just in time to see the look the dying brute -turned on its idolized master, and the incident had stamped itself<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> on -her memory as the supreme tragedy in her experience. She invariably -dreamed of it when feverish and ill. This night she underwent the -familiar agony with a difference. In the grotesque necromancy of the -dream-world, the wounded dog had become Forbes, turning his stricken -gaze upon the friend who had done him to death. She woke in a cold -sweat and did not sleep again.</p> - -<p>At four o'clock she was up and cleaning house as the one adequate -antidote for the remorseful thoughts that threatened to wreck her -reason. She worked furiously all the morning, barely stopping to eat. -Miss Finch watched her from a distance, heart-wrung and afraid, but -knowing from experience that at certain crises Agatha was best left -to herself. Howard, with the characteristic masculine reluctance to -witness suffering out of his power to relieve, took his fishing rod and -departed for a day of his favorite sport.</p> - -<p>About two o'clock in the afternoon, Ridgeley Warren came strolling -up the driveway between the rows of stately trees which made the -battered old house at the end of the avenue appear an anti-climax, -and so reached her unheralded. Agatha had thrown a braided rug across -the clothes-line and was beat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>ing it as if she had a personal spite -against each individual rag. The sun was full on her hair and despite -her menial occupation, she seemed to him a splendid figure, furiously -vital, crowned with light. Excitement whipped up his pulses as he left -the driveway and walked across the grass in her direction, but when -near enough to make his voice heard above the volley of blows, he only -said nonchalantly, "Good afternoon, Hephzibah."</p> - -<p>Agatha turned and stood panting. She had been working at high pressure -since daybreak, and close inspection revealed not a masquerading -goddess but a tired, bedraggled girl. Her hair had slipped from the -restraining pins and a wayward coil partly extinguished one eye. Her -fair skin was clouded by successive layers of dirt. A disfiguring -smudge successfully effaced the dimple in her chin. With quickening -admiration Warren realized that this soiled and disheveled apparition -still had a distinct claim to beauty.</p> - -<p>"Hard at work, I see, Hephzibah." He stood with his hands in his -pockets, immaculate in his light summer clothing, and as always he -roused her to defiance.</p> - -<p>"My name is Kent. Please use it."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I'm ready to call you anything you please, my dear spitfire. Only -remember that it's not my fault that I've always thought of you as -Hephzibah."</p> - -<p>Agatha glared at him. His presence restored her poise. She realized -that as an antidote Warren was better than a thousand years of -house-cleaning.</p> - -<p>"I don't know why you should think of me as Hephzibah or anything else. -I don't know why you shouldn't dismiss me from your mind altogether as -I should like to dismiss you."</p> - -<p>"Out of the question, Hephzibah, or Miss Agatha Kent, if you like that -better. You see, you interest me."</p> - -<p>"I'm sorry I can't return the compliment, but you bore -me—excruciatingly."</p> - -<p>"To begin with," Warren explained analytically, "you are the prettiest -girl I know, bar none. And in the second place, I'm inclined to believe -you're the brainiest. If what they told me last night is true, you -ought to make your fortune on the stage."</p> - -<p>Agatha regarded him silently and the antagonism died out of her face. -He was almost sorry, for it left her white and wan and rather pitiful.</p> - -<p>"You know what a fraud I am, then?" she said wistfully.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> - -<p>"I know you're the cleverest girl of my acquaintance, if you could get -by with a thing like that."</p> - -<p>"I suppose he simply despises me." Into Agatha's mind had flashed the -preposterous hope that possibly Warren's tolerant attitude toward her -escapade was shared by the only man who counted.</p> - -<p>"Who? Forbes? Why the devil should you care what he thinks? Old Forbes -was always a bit of a prig."</p> - -<p>Positive hatred looked out of Agatha's eyes. "Oh, I don't know. I -shouldn't call a man a prig simply because he objected to being tricked -and deceived and lied to. I suppose he has a high enough ideal of women -so that he expects a girl to tell the truth, just as much as if she -were a man. I consider that attitude a compliment, myself."</p> - -<p>Warren was somewhat staggered. "Then I suppose I'm insulting you by -thinking you are a darned clever kid, and the rest of them a pack of -fools for making a fuss over nothing."</p> - -<p>Agatha left him in doubt on this delicate point. The little hope that -had stirred in her heart had died almost as soon as it was born, -and the resulting anguish seemed out of all proportion to its brief -existence. Forbes did not share Warren's leniency to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>ward her summer's -masquerade. He was one of the fools who condemned her. She looked away -toward the hills and suddenly her face twisted in passionate weeping.</p> - -<p>"Don't do that, Hephzibah. For God's sake, don't cry. Can't you let me -help you, little girl? You need a friend I'm sure, and there's nothing -I'd like better than to help you. You've bewitched me, Hephzibah. -I lost my head over you when I thought you were an ignorant little -country girl, murdering the king's English every time you opened your -mouth. And the more I know of you, the more wonderful you seem. I'm -crazy about you."</p> - -<p>Agatha's sobs quieted as she listened. When a woman has been humiliated -beyond a certain point, nothing can restore her self-esteem like being -made love to by a personable man. Warren's irreproachable costume, his -good looks, his convincing air of prosperity all helped in her struggle -against intolerable mortification. Yet though she dried her eyes at -his agitated request, and favored him with a faint, watery smile, -she thought of him, if the truth be told, less as a lover than as a -life-preserver.</p> - -<p>Warren sat upon the porch and smoked while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> Agatha made herself -presentable. It took her some time and he was not sorry, for he wanted -a chance to get himself in hand. He had said very much more than he -had intended to say when he bought his ticket that morning, and though -he did not exactly regret his indiscretion, he told himself that he -had better go slow. Twenty-four hours earlier the name Agatha Kent had -suggested to him a benevolent old lady with a double chin, the chin an -entirely gratuitous contribution of his active imagination. Hephzibah -Diggs was a beautiful but deplorably ignorant country girl who had got -herself into trouble, like many another ignorant beauty. It was too -soon to propose to either. Yet as he glanced impatiently at his watch, -Warren realized that the charm of Agatha was her unexpectedness. You -never knew what she was going to do. You never could tell what she -might make you do, in spite of your better judgment.</p> - -<p>Agatha's delay gave him the time he needed. She presented herself in -a faded gingham which nevertheless had the advantage of being freshly -laundered, her heavy hair wound about her head with a negligence -a woman would have interpreted to mean that to Agatha, her caller -mattered very little. Now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> that her face was clean he saw how pale she -was, and how dark the circles under her eyes, and this discovery was -responsible for an unwonted gentleness in his manner. He talked as a -big brother might have talked, and the instinctive, virginal defiance -which his unconcealed admiration had always roused in her, changed by -imperceptible degrees to confidence.</p> - -<p>He asked her bluntly about her finances and she told him without -hesitation or evasion. He hinted at monetary assistance and she stopped -him midway, with an imperious tilt of her chin and a haughty stare. -"You are not talking to Hephzibah Diggs," she reminded him.</p> - -<p>Warren sighed and changed his tactics. "Did you ever think of selling -your place?"</p> - -<p>"I'm afraid nobody would want it, it's so dreadfully old and -tumbledown. And besides we've got to have a roof over our heads."</p> - -<p>"You couldn't sell it here, of course. But there are possibilities in -this place. A small summer hotel ought to do well. Magnificent old -trees, fine view, convenient to the city." He studied his surroundings -with an appraising eye. "It should bring at least fifteen thousand if -you found the right purchaser."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> - -<p>She caught her breath and the sound brought his eyes back to her face. -What he saw touched him profoundly. Indeed he felt the smart of tears -under his drooping lids. "My God," he said to himself, "to have her -look like that over a paltry fifteen thousand."</p> - -<p>"Then I could send Howard to college," Agatha was saying, breathlessly.</p> - -<p>"Sure you could."</p> - -<p>"And there would be enough to take care of Fritz—Miss Finch, as long -as she lives."</p> - -<p>"I hope you'd do something for Hephzibah Diggs," said Warren gruffly, -to hide his emotion. "That girl has something coming to her, believe -me!"</p> - -<p>Warren spent most of his leisure entertaining people, but he seldom -felt better repaid than when Agatha greeted this jest with a quiver of -laughter.</p> - -<p>"I promise you she shall have a new gingham, perhaps a party dress if -the money holds out."</p> - -<p>"Yes, that's what Hephzibah would want, a party dress," said Warren. -"And I speak for the first dance the first time she wears it." He went -on to discuss sales and investments, and Agatha hung upon his words. -He perceived that the practical line<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> appealed to her. His tentative -love-making bored and angered her. When he talked of gilt-edged -first mortgages, bringing six per cent., she leaned toward him, her -reddish-gold eyes melting into his, and seemed ready to leap into his -arms.</p> - -<p>The carriage he had ordered came for him at what he considered a -ridiculously early hour and he kept it waiting while he explained that -he would immediately take up the matter of the sale of her property -with several people who might possibly be interested. She let him hold -her hand while he protracted his good-by to an unconscionable length, -and he argued well from this, till she disconcerted him by saying -faintly, "Shall you see Mr. Forbes soon?"</p> - -<p>"I can't say. The fair Julia may have hustled him away before I'm back."</p> - -<p>"If—if you should see him," said Agatha, her lips white, "try to -make him think kindly of me. Try to make him understand that I didn't -realize that I was doing anything wrong."</p> - -<p>"To be sure I will," replied Warren with misleading heartiness. "But if -a man is such a blasted fool as to need that assurance, it's not worth -troubling your little head about him, don't you see?" And<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> then he said -good-by again and went off in an unprecedentedly bad humor, damning -Forbes whole-heartedly all the way to town.</p> - -<p>Warren's call left Miss Finch pleasurably excited. For a man to come -out from the city for a few hours' talk with a girl, argued his -intentions serious. And Agatha's abstraction, the dreamy look in her -eyes, the irrelevant nature of her replies to the simplest questions, -seemed to imply a gratifying responsiveness in her mood. Little did the -innocent spinster dream that Agatha's absorption was due to calculating -the wisest expenditure of an income derived from an investment of -fifteen thousand dollars in first mortgages at six per cent.</p> - -<p>But Miss Finch's elation was short-lived, for Howard came home with a -startling piece of news. "Heard the funniest thing to-day. Who do you -suppose has been getting married?"</p> - -<p>To please him Agatha hazarded a guess. Howard shook his head.</p> - -<p>"It's the last one you'd ever think of. Old Billy-goat Wiggins. He -married a widow out on the Jericho pike and I guess he's had six or -seven wives already."</p> - -<p>Without attempting to correct her brother's ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>aggeration, Agatha cast -an apprehensive glance in Miss Finch's direction. Miss Finch met her -look with an air of resolute calm. At last the matter was settled. Now -that one of her lovers was out of the running, the only thing left was -to take the other. Her days of anxious deliberation, due to weighing -one man against his rival, were over, and it was a great relief. "Mrs. -James Doolittle," said Miss Finch to herself and blushed high. Well, -Doolittle was as good a name as Wiggins. "I b'lieve if anything, it's a -little more aristocratic," Miss Finch decided.</p> - -<p>But as the evening wore on, she found herself disquieted. In her -thoughts of James Doolittle there was little of roseate illusion. She -saw him mentally as she had seen him uncounted times in reality, his -trousers patched and bagging at the knees, his shirt soiled and faded, -his hat suggesting that some predatory animal had taken frequent bites -out of the rim. "I do like a man to look neat," sighed Miss Finch. -She recalled too, the tumbledown cottage where James Doolittle had -kept bachelor's hall since his mother's death six years earlier, and -compared it disadvantageously with her present quarters. Romance had -spread her wings, and taken flight. Mar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>riage had become a very drab, -prosaic affair. But there was no help for it.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch retired to her room rather early and wrote Mr. Doolittle -accepting the offer of marriage made nearly two months before. It was -a prim little note and if her delay had been unflattering, there was -nothing in her formula of acceptance to restore the masculine <i>amour -propre</i>. She said that marriage was a very serious matter, and she -hoped they were making no mistake. She signed her name Zaida Finch, and -realizing that the compact signature would soon be replaced by that of -an unknown female, Zaida Doolittle, she shed some agitated tears.</p> - -<p>The letter was sealed and stamped on the table beside her and Miss -Finch was lying awake wondering whether the tongue of slander would -be set wagging if she should decide on giving the Doolittle cottage -a thorough cleaning before taking the step that would make her its -permanent mistress, when Phemie came blundering up the stairs.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch sprang out of bed and, candle in hand, appeared in the -doorway. She shook a chiding finger at the girl. "Don't make such a -racket," she hissed. "Everybody's been in bed for hours. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> oughtn't -to stay out so late, Phemie. It don't look right in a young girl."</p> - -<p>Phemie did not seem aware that she was being scolded. She was full of -silly giggles and pleased to find a confidante to share her amusement. -She pushed her way uninvited into Miss Finch's room.</p> - -<p>"I never had so much fun in my life," wheezed Phemie in what she -mistakenly supposed to be a whisper. "Oh, my goodness, I've laughed fit -to bust myself."</p> - -<p>"Where've you been?" demanded Miss Finch, eying her disapprovingly.</p> - -<p>"I've been to a shivaree. Whole crowd of us went. We had horns and tin -pans and Ernie Cox took a cow-bell along. Oh, my goodness!" Phemie -placed her hands on her hips, and rocked back and forth in an ecstasy -of mirth.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch's severity became more pronounced. "I think you might have -been in better business. Deacon Wiggins has been married quite a few -times, I know, but he's a good citizen and a pillar of the church."</p> - -<p>"'Twarn't Deacon Wiggins. 'Twas Jim Doolittle. He just got married to -that cross-eyed old maid who used to work at Phelps' store."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span></p> - -<p>When Miss Finch could get rid of Phemie she tore the letter she had -so painstakingly composed into the minutest fragments, promising -herself to burn them in the morning before any one was up. Innocent -as her intentions had been, the fact remained that she had written a -compromising letter to a married man, and she could not feel safe till -the sole evidence of her indiscretion had been reduced to ashes. As she -climbed back into bed she might perhaps have been excused for indulging -in pessimistic reflections on masculine perfidy, and the hollowness of -lovers' vows, but in point of fact her mood was eminently Christian. -To her own secret amazement she was chiefly conscious of overwhelming -relief.</p> - -<p>The critical relatives of Deacon Wiggins' three deceased partners were -nothing to her. Mr. Doolittle's tendency to wear his trousers with only -one frail suspender as a support was no concern of hers, except as any -respectable spinster might venture to hope that his rashness would not -carry him too far. That good old name Finch, which had been identified -with her personality for half a century, would not be exchanged for any -unfamiliar polysyllable. Without knowing it, she had been shrinkingly -ap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>prehensive of coming changes, and now everything was going on -exactly as it had before.</p> - -<p>"If Agatha marries Mr. Warren and has a family of children," thought -Miss Finch, "she'll need somebody reliable in the house. And if she -doesn't get a husband, I ought to be around to look after her. And -anyway, nobody can ever say that the reason I never married is that I -never had a chance."</p> - -<p>And so comforting was that concluding thought that even after sleep -claimed her as its own, a complacent, almost a triumphant smile, -hovered about Miss Finch's parted lips.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a></p> - -<p class="center">ENLIGHTENMENT</p> - - -<p class="drop">W<span class="uppercase">arren</span> stamped the snow from his feet, shook himself like a wet dog, -and entering the apartment hotel, passed at a step from the frigid zone -to the tropics. At the desk he gave his name to a businesslike young -woman who ascertained over the telephone that Mr. Forbes was in, and -forthwith Warren was shot to the fifth floor. A smiling Japanese boy -opened the door of Forbes' rooms, and Forbes himself came forward and -gripped his friend's hand.</p> - -<p>For a moment neither man found speech possible. "Congratulations, old -fellow," Warren got out at last. "Best news I've heard for many a moon."</p> - -<p>He gave his snowy coat to the waiting servant, seated himself and -lighted a cigarette as a preliminary to conversation. "Well, how does -it seem to have two eyes again? A bit intoxicating, I fancy. Rather -like too much champagne."</p> - -<p>"You know when a man has suffered enough, his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> idea of perfect -happiness is to have the pain stop," Forbes answered. "I suppose the -only way to size up a blessing at its real value is to have to do -without it for a time." His words seemed to meet the requirements -in the case, but Warren's quick ear detected in his voice a note -of melancholy, and he thought he knew the explanation. Not being -remarkable for tact, he promptly broached the delicate subject.</p> - -<p>"Well, the fair Julia has done it. I got her cards week before last. -Gosh, when you see the fellows the dear girls marry, it almost seems a -compliment when they turn you down. You'd think it would take more than -the Prendergast money and family connections and all that, to sugarcoat -a pill like Murray."</p> - -<p>"I wish her more happiness than she's likely to have, I'm afraid." -Forbes spoke formally, his manner implying that it might be as well for -Warren to change the subject, but his visitor took his time.</p> - -<p>"Oh, well, Julia isn't capable of real unhappiness. She could be -uncomfortable, or disappointed, or humiliated, or anything that doesn't -go too deep, but unhappiness is beyond her. That other little girl now, -she's different."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> - -<p>Forbes did not ask what girl was referred to. He kept his eyes on the -floor.</p> - -<p>"Julia looks as soft as a ripe plum," Warren continued. "Most of the -dear creatures do, as if a rough word would crush them. But believe -me, she's made of the same hard, calculating stuff as her old man. You -never heard of old Studley's losing any sleep over the men he'd ruined -on the street, did you? Julia won't have a wrinkle when she's sixty. If -anybody is going to marry Murray Prendergast it ought to be that kind -of woman."</p> - -<p>If Forbes agreed with this frank expression of opinion, he gave no -sign. He had the appearance of waiting patiently for the other to -finish.</p> - -<p>"Our little friend Hephzibah," continued Warren, "is the sort whose -hair turns white in a single night, you know. Not that hers has—God -forbid. You never saw that hair, my boy. You've got something to live -for."</p> - -<p>Forbes made a gesture of impatience. "Do you happen to know Miss Kent's -address at the present time?"</p> - -<p>"Do you happen to <i>want</i> Miss Kent's address at the present time?" -mocked Warren truculently.</p> - -<p>Forbes hesitated. "Yes," he said with a seeming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> effort at frankness, -"I do. Some of the things that were said, Warren, about her poverty, -you remember, caused me considerable uneasiness. I felt that my leaving -as I did when she had counted on having me until the cold weather, -might have embarrassed her, and whatever ground I may have had for -resentment, I had no wish to add to her financial worries. And so I -sent her a check for the full amount I would have paid for board, up to -the first of November."</p> - -<p>Warren laughed sardonically. "Oh, you did, did you?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, I did." Forbes' manner was a trifle aggrieved. "She returned it."</p> - -<p>"Of course!"</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you are in her confidence," Forbes said in a tone of annoyance.</p> - -<p>"She never mentioned that particular matter to me. But I am glad to -believe that she repays my friendship by a degree of trust."</p> - -<p>Forbes waited a moment before continuing his explanation. "I did not -write her again for some time. I was rather put out by the return of -the check, foolishly, I suppose. But the last of November I sent her a -rather long letter. You know,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> Ridgeley, when all is said and done, the -girl saved my life."</p> - -<p>"Well?"</p> - -<p>"The letter came back to me from the Dead Letter Office. I thought it -was a trick of some sort. It seemed incredible, you know, that when her -family has been living at Oak Knoll for generations, she should drop -out of sight and leave no more trace than an extinguished candle flame. -I sent Evans down to look her up, and he reported that the three of -them, Miss Kent, her foster brother, Howard, and Miss Finch, had all -left town, and none of the old neighbors could give him any information -as to their whereabouts. The old place has been sold to some one who is -planning to build a summer hotel on the site."</p> - -<p>Warren nodded. "I engineered that deal. It's a good location for such -an enterprise. She sold for twelve thousand. I think I could have got -her two or three thousand more, if she had been willing to wait, but -she wasn't."</p> - -<p>Forbes tried to appear relieved. "Twelve thousand! Well, I am glad to -know she is not in immediate need. At the same time, Ridgeley, I should -like her address."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span></p> - -<p>Warren eyed him with malevolence. "It looks to me as if she wasn't -particularly anxious for you to have it."</p> - -<p>Forbes reddened. "Nonsense! Don't be an ass, Warren. It's quite -important that I should have a talk with Miss Kent."</p> - -<p>"I suppose you want to be sure that she's sufficiently penitent for the -deception she practised on you."</p> - -<p>"Really, my dear fellow, I can hardly see that it is any of your -business what I have to say to her."</p> - -<p>"Simply that I'm a friend of the lady's. And the only reason that I'm -not her husband is that she's refused me, by letter and word of mouth, -just eleven times by actual count. A singularly consistent character, -our Hephzibah."</p> - -<p>Forbes sat biting his lips. "I'm very sorry, Warren. I needn't say I -had no idea—"</p> - -<p>"Of course you had no idea. You took her devotion as a matter of -course. You let your Julia insult her without speaking a word in her -defense. And it never occurred to you that another man might think her -unselfishness and her courage and her beauty and her wit made her a -woman in a million."</p> - -<p>"I must correct you on one point," Forbes said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> stiffly. "It is true -the discovery that Miss Kent was not what I supposed her took me by -surprise and I was both hurt and angry. But the engagement between -Miss Studley and myself was broken finally and irrevocably because -I defended—partly at least—the course Miss Kent had taken." He -hesitated before adding, "If you really wish to marry her—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, to hell with your '<i>ifs!</i>' I've been on my knees to her from the -first minute I saw her. I'd marry her if she were Hephzibah Diggs."</p> - -<p>"I was only going to say, Ridgeley, that if you are in earnest, you are -pretty sure to win out. I can hardly imagine any woman's continuing to -turn you down."</p> - -<p>Warren did not appear touched by the obvious sincerity of this tribute. -He glowered at the other man ill-naturedly.</p> - -<p>"I dare say she would have married me but for one thing. I came on the -scene too late."</p> - -<p>"Too late?"</p> - -<p>"Another man got ahead of me. She couldn't love me because she loved -him."</p> - -<p>"Do you mean that she's engaged?"</p> - -<p>"Damn you!" Warren shouted furiously. "Don't put on those unconscious -airs with me. You know<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> well enough what man I mean, and you know -whether you're engaged to her or not."</p> - -<p>"You're out of your mind, Warren. You're talking like an insane man."</p> - -<p>"Let it go at that, then. Call it that I'm crazy."</p> - -<p>"If you will remember that I thought Miss Kent an elderly woman, you -will realize that I—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, your immaculate skirts are clean," exclaimed Warren, with -preposterous bitterness. "You didn't make love to the nice old lady who -was your father's boyhood flame. But you were so helpless and so darned -pathetic and so dependent on her that you didn't have to. She's not -like Julia, looking for an easy berth and a through ticket. Her idea of -love is giving, giving without keeping count."</p> - -<p>"You don't know what you're talking about," said Forbes, but with less -conviction.</p> - -<p>"Don't I, though! Do you remember the scheme we hatched to send -Hephzibah to school?"</p> - -<p>Forbes nodded.</p> - -<p>"I came up and had a talk with her. Of course she was playing a part, -but it wasn't all play-acting. She practically told me there was -somebody she cared for. She—hang it all, Forbes, she's not always the -audacious little devil who can palm her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>self off on an intelligent man -as her own great-aunt, and never miss a cog. There was a look on her -face when she spoke of that man—she was all angel, then."</p> - -<p>"But what possible reason have you for thinking—why, you make me -feel an ass for listening." Forbes' humility was so obvious as to be -disarming.</p> - -<p>"I know you're the man. She was always at me to have a talk with you -and plead her cause, you know."</p> - -<p>"But surely that wouldn't mean—"</p> - -<p>"Yes, if you'd seen her eyes. You know how a dog looks when his master -kicks him. Like that."</p> - -<p>"Good God, Warren—"</p> - -<p>"Oh, I don't suppose you like it," said Warren grimly. "But let me -remind you that if it's unpleasant for you to listen, it's hell for -me to tell you. I suppose you know what brought Julia to Oak Knoll to -rescue you by force of arms."</p> - -<p>"I believe Miss Kent wrote a letter."</p> - -<p>"Yes, under pretense of congratulating Julia on her prospective -engagement, she wrote her that you had been spending the most of your -summer in the company of an attractive young girl. She'd sized up<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> -Julia's disposition pretty cleverly and she reckoned that if anything -would hold her back, it would be a suspicion that there was a flaw in -her title to your life-long devotion."</p> - -<p>"But surely if she had felt as you imagine—"</p> - -<p>"We're talking of Hephzibah, you know," growled Warren. "She was -thinking of <i>your</i> happiness, not of hers. Of course she knew she was -taking a long shot. She was too smart to miss that little point. She -risked exposure to give you what you wanted. That's the sort she is." -He added gloomily, "I don't know why I'm such a fool as to tell you all -this. I suppose it's because I know I haven't the ghost of a chance."</p> - -<p>There was a long, depressing silence. "Well," said Forbes at length, -his voice curiously shaken, "where shall I find her?"</p> - -<p>"Good God, man, I don't know."</p> - -<p>"You don't know?"</p> - -<p>"The last word I had from her was a Christmas card and the blasted -post-mark was so blurred that I couldn't make out where it was mailed. -And in November I had this letter. You might as well read it, I -suppose."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span></p> - -<p>He took the worn missive from his pocket, handed it to Forbes, and -began to smoke furiously. Forbes, his face very pale, read without -comment.</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"<span class="smcap">My Dear Mr. Warren</span>:</p> - -<p>"Well, the thing is accomplished. I am a capitalist, a woman of -wealth, and also a wanderer on the face of the earth. But I'm not -worrying about that side of it, it's so delicious to feel that all -this money is mine and that I can have a trunk full of new clothes if -I feel like it.</p> - -<p>"Howard left for school yesterday. He will be a little behind his -class, but the principal thinks he will have no difficulty in catching -up if he is willing to work. Howard is so ambitious and eager that I -know he is going to make me proud of him.</p> - -<p>"You see I am sending you a check. It was awfully good of you to want -to put this deal through because of your interest in me, but I can't -help thinking it's better to be businesslike in business and friendly -in friendship. So this check is for the celebrated lawyer, Mr. -Warren, who has managed this affair so wonderfully, and my heart-felt -gratitude is for my dear friend, Ridgeley Warren, whose kindness and -generosity have been so much more than I deserved. I shall never -forget it. When I am a wrinkled old woman, and can smile at some of -the things that hurt now, it will warm my heart to remember your -goodness.</p> - -<p>"Dear Mr. Warren, I am not going to write you again at present. I -have a feeling that if you keep on seeing me, you are more likely to -keep on wish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>ing for something it is better for you to forget. I am -sure your generosity has more to do with your feeling than you have -any idea of, and that when I am no longer at hand to make a continual -appeal to your sympathy, you will soon be your usual self. I hope you -will love the most beautiful and noblest girl in the world and marry -her, and if you ever have reason to think that she doesn't appreciate -the fact that she has drawn a prize, just send for me and I'll open -her eyes.</p> - -<p>"Words seem such inadequate things, don't they, when one's heart is -full? I wish you could know all I mean when I say, Thank you.</p> - -<p> -"Gratefully yours,<br /> -<br /> -"<span class="smcap">Agatha Kent</span>.<br /> -</p> - -<p>"P.S. You will, I am sure, be seeing Mr. Forbes soon. The greatest -favor you can do me is to make him understand how thoughtlessly I -entered on the deception he so naturally resents. You see we were -such good friends in a way—he really liked me and trusted me while -he thought I was somebody else—it hurts to realize how completely I -have forfeited his good opinion. You seem to understand so well that -perhaps you may influence him to think of me a little more kindly."</p></blockquote> - -<p>Forbes folded the letter and gave it to its owner. "You deserve her if -any man does, Ridgeley," he said with proper humility.</p> - -<p>"I deserve her more than you do, if that's what you're trying to say," -barked Warren. "And now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> you see what we're up against. Between us -we've lost all trace of her."</p> - -<p>"We must find her again," Forbes said firmly.</p> - -<p>Warren's hostile gaze challenged him. "What for? Do you want to rub it -in how she's outraged the sacred name of truth and all that rot?"</p> - -<p>"No."</p> - -<p>"Perhaps you're going to be magnanimous enough to forgive her?"</p> - -<p>"Possibly," Forbes offered quietly, "I want to ask her to forgive me."</p> - -<p>Warren's unhappy eyes met his full. "I suppose I'm in a rotten humor, -old man. I do think you're a damned sight luckier than you deserve to -be. But let it go. The question is, how are we to find her?"</p> - -<p>As one result of the deliberations protracted over several hours, the -following advertisement appeared in the leading newspapers of a dozen -large cities:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"Information wanted. Any person acquainted with the present -whereabouts of Hephzibah Diggs will confer a favor by communicating at -once with the undersigned."</p></blockquote> - -<p>The anxious weeks went by. The two men consulted almost daily, with -growing perplexity and diminishing hope. And Agatha made no sign.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a></p> - -<p class="center">FELLOW TRAVELERS</p> - - -<p class="drop">T<span class="uppercase">he</span> hat Agatha was adjusting before the mirror was a black toque with -a quill at the side. On most heads it would have possessed no more -individuality than a clover blossom. It was one of the hats which -apparently are planned with a view to being inconspicuous. But as -Agatha pinned it in place it seemed to assume a certain provocative -quality. It became a challenge to the masculine eye.</p> - -<p>The same was true of the blue serge suit she wore. Nothing can be -imagined more innocuous than a suit of blue serge, embellished with -narrow black braid. Miss Finch could have worn one of the identical cut -and material and it would have looked as if it had been designed for -her. Yet on Agatha the blue serge was alluring. It captured the eye as -though striped with scarlet.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Van Horne, a stout, middle-aged woman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> who occupied a swivel -chair at a businesslike desk, watched the operation of adjusting the -black toque and rubbed her nose with a flourish indicating mental -perturbation. It had occurred to her that Agatha was a somewhat -colorful person for the task to which she had been assigned, that she -looked undeniably youthful for so responsible an errand, that some one -grayer in tone and of an aspect radiating propriety and decorum, would -have been better fitted for the duty in hand. Mrs. Van Horne looked at -the clock, saw it lacked but thirty-seven minutes to train time, and -brushed aside her scruples. It was now too late to change.</p> - -<p>"You are sure you feel equal to taking charge of the four, Miss Kent?" -she said, more for the reassuring effect of Agatha's self-confident -answer than because she had the slightest doubt what that answer would -be.</p> - -<p>Agatha turned a vivacious face. "I'm really looking forward to the -trip. It'll be such fun."</p> - -<p>"I should hardly use that term to describe traveling in charge of four -children," observed Mrs. Van Horne, with a grim smile. "And one of them -a teething baby. You will naturally attract a good deal of attention."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Not a bit," said Agatha briskly.</p> - -<p>"You think not?"</p> - -<p>"Every one will take it for granted that I am a young mother, coming -home with my little family to visit grandpa and grandma."</p> - -<p>Mrs. Van Horne's brow cleared. As the representative of a -serious-minded organization, with an established reputation for -prudence and sagacity, she had been accusing herself of indiscretion -in entrusting this important commission to a young woman of such -butterfly aspect, even though in self-defense she insisted that of her -assistants, Miss Kent was easily the most resourceful and capable. -Agatha's suggestion brought relief. Without doubt she was right. The -traveling public would assume her to be a matron of extraordinarily -youthful appearance. No one would question the discretion of the head -of the Hamilton Orphanage for committing four children to the care of -one who, whatever her capacity, looked a fly-away girl.</p> - -<p>"I imagine you are right, Miss Kent," she said. "And if I were you, -I should take no pains to correct the impression. It will save you a -great many annoying questions."</p> - -<p>A maid appeared with news that the taxi had ar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>rived. A nurse brought -in the baby, hooded and cloaked for its journey. Outside on the steps -waited the three older children, about to be placed in homes which had -been duly inspected and approved by authorized representatives of the -orphanage. As Agatha assembled her charges and led the way to the cab, -little faces appeared at the windows, small hands waved farewells and a -chorus of shrill voices called good-by. An irrepressible little orphan -of a plainness which so far had defied the efforts of the society to -place her in a desirable home, came running to the curb as Agatha was -arranging her charges about her. "I don't want anybody to 'dopt you, -Miss Kent," she quavered.</p> - -<p>"Bless your heart!" Agatha leaned out and kissed her squarely. "No -one's going to adopt me. I'll be back by Saturday."</p> - -<p>As the cab rattled down the street, Agatha turned for a look at the -square, uncompromising building where she had found a haven six months -before. Despite the opulent tone of her letter to Warren, Agatha -had fully realized that twelve thousand dollars does not constitute -wealth. Howard's education was provided for, and that was an enormous -relief, but her responsibility for Miss Finch still lay<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> heavy on her -heart and she was determined not to draw on her principal any more -than was absolutely necessary. The opening at the Hamilton Orphanage -had come to her through a series of fortunate accidents, and Agatha -had flung herself into the work with an enthusiasm which had insured -her immediate success. Agatha loved the orphanage and the orphans. -The maternal instinct, always strong in her, exulted in the swarm of -children on whom she could lavish herself. There was no urchin so -refractory that Agatha could not find excuses for him, no little face -so plain that she could not discern in it something of winsomeness. She -saw the humor in the naughtiness of some unruly youngster where most of -her associates perceived only irrefutable confirmation of the doctrine -of original sin. Mrs. Van Horne, accustomed to aids who did their duty -with automatic faithfulness, found Agatha too good to be true.</p> - -<p>Miss Finch boarded in the vicinity of the orphanage and Agatha -spent with her all the time she was not on duty. It had been hard -to reconcile Miss Finch to being in the same city with Warren and -not acquainting him with the fact. The sudden termination of her own -double romance had intensified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> her passionate interest in Agatha's -love-affairs. She thought of the subject continually. She dreamed of -Agatha as a bride lovely in creamy silk and floating veil. She harped -on the subject till Agatha's nerves suffered and sometimes she betrayed -her irritation in speech.</p> - -<p>Agatha was not thinking either of Warren or Forbes as she was bounced -to the station, the baby in her arms and the three other children -mixed in indistinguishably with the luggage. Children are an admirable -antidote to unprofitable thinking, because of their capacity for -demanding one's entire attention. There were two little girls between -three and four years, who looked rather like twins, but were not -even sisters, and there was a boy soon to be five. The baby was just -getting old enough to be afraid of strangers and was fretful because -of teething. It did not look as if Agatha would have many minutes for -meditating on the hardships of her own lot.</p> - -<p>At the station, with the aid of two sympathetic porters, Agatha got her -charges aboard the Pullman and settled herself comfortably some minutes -in advance of the other passengers. As they entered by ones and twos, -she was aware of interested glances<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> in her direction, in some cases -the interest blended with apprehension. "Horrors!" she heard one woman -say to her husband as she passed. Agatha looked after her darkly. She -was instantly convinced that the speaker was the owner of a toy poodle.</p> - -<p>A moment before the train pulled out, a man came into the Pullman and -took his seat in the section opposite hers, glancing amiably at the -promising little family across the aisle. Agatha shrank away from the -look, feeling faint and sick. There was an ominous ringing in her ears. -So strong was her sense of panic that if she had had another moment in -which to act, she might have marshalled her brood off the train and -trusted to finding some excuse that would satisfy Mrs. Van Horne. But -before her impulse toward flight had time to crystallize, the last "All -aboard" had been shouted. The train shuddered, groaned and moved out.</p> - -<p>As the clear daylight replaced the semi-darkness of the terminal -station, Agatha blushed furiously. She sat huddled in her corner, -awaiting the outcome like a criminal who anticipates arrest. Gradually -her unreasoning alarm was replaced by coherent thinking. If Forbes were -still blind, she might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> travel as his fellow passenger to the Pacific -coast without his being the wiser. But he had come on board unattended, -moving freely and fearlessly. If his sight had been restored, she was -still safe, for he had never seen her face.</p> - -<p>After a time she brought her courage to the point of stealing a glance -at him. A newspaper lay upon his knee, and though he was not reading at -the moment, its presence confirmed the impression she had formed as he -entered. He could see again. She found herself trembling for gladness -and swallowing hard at an obstinate lump in her throat. The dark -spectacles he had worn throughout his sojourn at Oak Knoll had been -replaced by a pair of eye-glasses, which, to her prejudiced judgment, -added to his air of distinction. Now that her first unreasonable terror -had subsided, she found his proximity delightfully exhilarating.</p> - -<p>The next thought brought a pang. If he could see again there was no -longer a barrier between himself and Julia. Agatha's duties at the -Hamilton Orphanage left her little time for perusing the society -columns, so prominent a feature of the city journals, and she had -missed the detailed accounts of Julia's wedding, with their emphasis on -the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> beauty of the bride and the family connections of the groom. If he -were about to marry Julia, Agatha reasoned, he should look very happy. -She peered interrogatively in his direction to settle this important -point, encountered his eyes unexpectedly, and looked away in crimson -confusion.</p> - -<p>Forbes found the domestic group in such close proximity more -entertaining than his newspaper. He thought he had never seen a -prettier picture of radiant motherhood than this lovely young creature -with her little ones around her. It was a pity, he reflected, that none -of the children had inherited her rare beauty. They were all wholesome -little youngsters, bidding fair to grow to commonplace maturity as -far as externals were concerned. He found himself forming a somewhat -uncomplimentary picture of the father of the quartet, a rather heavy, -gross individual with a muddy skin.</p> - -<p>Other people than Forbes found an irresistible attraction in the -family group. The woman Agatha had branded as the owner of a poodle, -an overfed blonde, came down the aisle and paused to settle some -points on which she was uncertain. Agatha, mindful of Mrs. Van Horne's -injunction, gave the desired information as to the sex of the baby and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> -the brand of artificial food she favored, without any hint that her -sense of responsibility was less than maternal.</p> - -<p>"Are the little girls twins?" quizzed the stout woman, with an arrogant -assumption of having every right to know.</p> - -<p>"No, the curly-haired one is the older."</p> - -<p>"They must have come very close," said the stout woman disapprovingly.</p> - -<p>"There is about six months' difference," replied Agatha unthinkingly. -The stout woman's start told her too late what she had done, but as -no satisfactory explanation occurred to her, she sat stolidly making -a pretense of being absorbed in soothing the fretful baby. Her late -interrogator, assuming the reply to be an impertinent substitute for -telling her to mind her own business, stalked away, her manner implying -that she washed her hands of Agatha and her family.</p> - -<p>Agatha had no time for unavailing grief. Four children under five are -capable of providing abundant occupation for the most strenuous nature. -She was rising for the third time in twenty minutes to minister to the -wants of the oldest boy who had an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>nounced emphatically that he was -"fursty," when Forbes stepped across the aisle.</p> - -<p>"Just let me wait on him," he said. "At this rate you will be worn out -before you reach the end of your journey."</p> - -<p>The sound of his clear voice was almost her undoing. She wanted to -laugh; she wanted to cry. She wanted most of all to put her head down -on his broad shoulder and cling to him till he had forgiven her. As -none of these things appeared feasible, she contented herself with -saying, "Thank you," in a voice so faint as hardly to be audible.</p> - -<p>Forbes gave the restless lad a drink of water and took him into his -section. Agatha heard her charge announcing in a penetrating voice -that his name was Charlie Briggs, whether in answer to a question or -not, she was not sure. Then the small boy nestled close to the big -man, and listened raptly. She judged that Forbes must be telling him -a story, and after the manner of her kind, she found this additional -ground for worship. As a matter of fact Forbes was giving in detail -the life-history of a pony he had owned when a boy. This chronicle -concluded, he went on to describe a bear hunt in which he had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> once -participated, and found his reward in the admiring gaze his listener -fastened upon him.</p> - -<p>Presently Charlie Briggs felt constrained to be entertaining in turn. -"I'm going to get a new papa, pretty soon," he announced.</p> - -<p>Forbes felt an uncomfortable sense of shock. If the woman in the -opposite section were a widow, the age of the child in her arms -indicated that her bereavement was extremely recent. It seemed more -probable that it was one of the cases which prove the frailty of the -marriage bond in America. He did not know why this conjecture should be -responsible for so marked a feeling of discomfort.</p> - -<p>He changed the subject abruptly and proceeded to entertain Charlie with -an imaginary incident in the life of a gray squirrel, taking Thompson -Seton as his model. In the course of the narrative the baby had an -attack of crying and its shrieks distracted Forbes' attention. He -hesitated, lost the thread of his story, became hopelessly entangled.</p> - -<p>Charlie understood his friend's confusion. He looked across the aisle, -scowling darkly. "She's going to get rid of the baby pretty soon," he -informed his companion. "To-morrow it won't be 'round to bother."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p> - -<p>Again Forbes was conscious of a feeling of revulsion. The child's -remark was capable of several interpretations, but to his thinking the -meaning was obvious. This pretty little woman was about to marry for -the second time, and the husband-to-be objected to the size of the -ready-made family. Evidently she planned to give the baby away. Rather -absurdly Forbes found himself thinking that he would not have believed -it of her.</p> - -<p>The baby was behaving outrageously, almost justifying its mother's -unnatural intention. Agatha had become sadly disheveled. Her hair—she -really had wonderful hair, Forbes owned, for all his disapproval—was -gradually slipping down. Her face was crimson from her exertions. The -shirt-waist, immaculate when she boarded the Pullman, was mussed, and -one shoulder damp, due to the baby's repeated experiments to ascertain -whether it possessed nutritive qualities. As Forbes involuntarily -looked at the opposite section, the ear-splitting sounds compelling his -reluctant attention, Agatha transferred the baby's head to the other -shoulder, cuddling the little form close to her heart. There was such -divinely patient tenderness in the gesture that Forbes underwent an -instant revulsion of feeling.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span></p> - -<p>He did not understand it in the least, but he suddenly felt sure of -the woman. Whatever the shortcomings of Mr. Briggs or his probable -successor, the girlish wife did not lack womanly qualities. He was -unjust enough to feel decidedly vexed with the little boy. Probably -he had listened to discussions of matters he did not understand, and -mixed things up. Forbes told himself that he had never liked precocious -children.</p> - -<p>The baby suddenly decided to go to sleep. Its squalls ceased magically. -Its little body, stiffened in unavailing protest against all the -injustice of the world, relaxed in complete forgetfulness. The feverish -flush receded from Agatha's brow. She sat with drooping eyelids, a -pensive madonna. Forbes' wilful gaze would not observe the bounds of -propriety. Again and again it sought her, and when at length his eyes -encountered hers, he smiled his congratulations. She gave him back a -timid smile with a curious underlying wistfulness. It needed only that -smile to clinch his faith in her.</p> - -<p>When the call for luncheon was given, he crossed the aisle. "Won't you -let me stay with the children while you eat? With the baby asleep, I -think I can safely make the offer."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p> - -<p>In a voice hardly above a whisper, Agatha explained that they had -brought sandwiches.</p> - -<p>"But you'll let me bring you in a cup of tea or coffee, won't you? -You've had a very strenuous morning and you certainly need something in -the way of a stimulant."</p> - -<p>Perversely Agatha declined the offer, though she was longing to say -yes. It was not that she felt the need of tea or coffee or of anything -so gross as food or drink, but there was something ineffably refreshing -in his solicitude for her comfort. His good offices declined, Forbes -touched his hat and was turning away, when Charlie Briggs plunged into -the aisle and seized his coat. "I don't want you to go," he howled.</p> - -<p>Forbes came back, boyishly eager. "Let me take him with me, won't you? -You will have your hands full enough with the three and I promise not -to give him anything a child of his age ought not to eat."</p> - -<p>Agatha had already regretted her obduracy. She gave the desired -permission with a radiant smile, impelling Forbes to think excusingly -how very young she must have been when she married Mr. Briggs. As he -went toward the dining-car, Charlie clinging to his hand, the owner -of the poodle ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>pressed to her husband the conviction that something -or somebody was shameless. She would have characterized herself as -possessing a forgiving disposition but would have added that there are -some things nobody can be expected to overlook. The case of the two -children, six months apart, was one of them.</p> - -<p>Forbes returned from the dining-car looking at his watch. The porter -appeared without warning and brushed him off obsequiously. Agatha's -heart contracted. It needed no prophet to foretell what was about to -happen.</p> - -<p>He came to her side, addressing her pleasantly. "I leave you at the -next station. I expect to meet a friend there. I wish I might have gone -farther and relieved you a little of your responsibilities."</p> - -<p>He checked himself suddenly, thinking that this rather silent young -woman was about to speak. She was looking up at him with a strange, -disconcerting earnestness. Nor had his intuition been at fault. For -a moment Agatha did battle with an almost irresistible temptation to -shout at him, "I am Agatha Kent."</p> - -<p>Almost at once she realized the folly of her momentary purpose. He -was about to leave the train.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> There was no time for explanations, to -say nothing of coming to an understanding. Moreover it was possible -that the friend he was to meet was Julia herself. This last thought -completed the paralysis of her passing impulse. In a stifled voice she -told him that he had been very kind.</p> - -<p>"You are a very courageous young woman," Forbes replied. "I hope -you won't be too tired when you reach your destination." He patted -Charlie's shoulder and turned away. The obsequious porter was removing -his grips. With a last smile to Agatha he went down the aisle.</p> - -<p>Agatha leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The tears ran down -her cheeks unchecked. Probably this was the last time she would ever -see him and that was no cause for regret since the pleasure of such -encounters was so over-balanced by the pain. And moreover he must be on -the point of marrying Julia, if he had not already made her his wife. -It was better that he should go his way, unaware that again their paths -had crossed.</p> - -<p>Forbes, stepping to the station platform, gave his grips to a station -porter and looked about for Warren. A minute or two passed before he -could distinguish him in the crowd and he was beginning to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> think -his friend was late, when his eye fell upon him standing at the edge -of the platform and gazing idly at the train which had been a little -behind-hand, and was already beginning to pull out.</p> - -<p>Forbes approached him briskly, the porter at his heels. His lips were -parted to speak the other's name, when Warren started violently and -took a step forward. "Hephzibah!" he shouted.</p> - -<p>Forbes spun on his heel. The coach he had just quitted was passing. -From the window a girl looked out, a girl with disheveled red-gold -hair and tear-stained cheeks. In an instant he understood. The girl in -charge of the four children was Agatha. It could be nobody but Agatha. -He knew now what she had wanted to say when she had looked up at him. -He understood the wistfulness of her smile, the entreaty in her eyes. -He had searched for her vainly all winter, and a moment before he had -talked to her face to face and had not known.</p> - -<p>Forbes' reason was in abeyance. The last car of the long -vestibuled-train was just abreast him, moving with considerable -velocity. With a spring he gained the lower step, seizing the railings -on either side. He was vaguely aware of a shout from the receding -platform and he almost thought he could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> distinguish Warren's voice -lifted in a bellow of astonishment. But for the time being all other -emotions were submerged by an overwhelming satisfaction in the -realization that Agatha and he were still fellow travelers.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> - - - - -<p class="ph2"><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a></p> - -<p class="center">AN INTRODUCTION</p> - - -<p class="drop">F<span class="uppercase">orbes</span> waited for the door to be opened with sensations approximating -those of a naughty boy, caught in mischief. Man of the world as he was, -he recoiled from the prospect before him. He had never been of the -temperament to ignore precedent and defy regulations, and the necessary -explanations to outraged authority were no more attractive because they -were something new in his experience. Hardly more agreeable than his -anticipations of an interview with the conductor was the realization of -the probable comments of his fellow passengers, the smiles that would -be exchanged, the curious conjectures passed from one to another, as to -the occasion for his act.</p> - -<p>As Forbes reflected ruefully on the coming ordeal, his hat was lifted -lightly from his head and sent whirling on an independent journey. His -impulse to snatch after it was checked by the discovery that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> he needed -both hands for another purpose, needed them imperatively, for the lurch -of the train had nearly thrown him off his balance. He tightened his -grip and gave himself up to irritated reflection. Like most men, Forbes -was pathetically dependent on his hat. He never so much as crossed the -street without it. Now it would be necessary to make the rest of his -journey hatless and leave the train in some unfamiliar city, stared -at by the crowd who would mistake him for a faddist, demonstrating a -protest against conventional garb. Forbes' annoyance gave vent in a -profane ejaculation.</p> - -<p>The next to go were his eye-glasses. Again Forbes' inclination to -clutch for his vanishing possessions was conquered just in time to save -him from following in their wake. The narrow margin by which he had -missed death did not prevent him from grieving over his glasses. He had -no others with him. He would not be able to read till he reached home, -and the strain on his eyes would probably bring on a severe headache. -His hat could be replaced at the first shop, but not his glasses. He -found it hard to be reconciled to such ill luck.</p> - -<p>It was several minutes before the realization was brought home to -Forbes that the loss of these belong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>ings was a very trifling matter. -By that time his feeling of reluctance to have the door opened had -entirely vanished. In his boyhood he had frequently played "crack the -whip." His sensations when the line of runners suddenly halted, and -he, a little fellow bringing up the rear, was sent sprawling over the -grass, were being duplicated in this memorable ride. The express was -playing "crack the whip" with himself as snapper. Once as the train -rounded a curve, both feet flew from under him, and the unexpected jerk -upon his arms almost broke his hold. He could hardly believe in his -good fortune when he found himself still standing on the step, holding -on literally for dear life. For now he knew that in his desperate -determination to see Agatha again, he had taken his life in his hands.</p> - -<p>Oddly enough it was not the likelihood of a sudden and violent -death which presented itself most forcibly to his imagination. -The opportunities he had missed with Agatha were infinitely more -disturbing. If only he had spoken in her defense the day Julia had -exhausted her ingenuity in wounding and insulting the rival she -instinctively feared. But he had stood silent while Julia's malice -spent itself. And later when time had revealed the affair<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> in a truer -perspective, if he had but gone to her and said to her all that was in -his heart, she might have been his wife by now. One inevitably gets -down to realities when life flickers like a candle in the wind, and -Forbes no longer debated the question of Agatha's love for him. In -addition to Warren's testimony, he had the memory of a kiss, a dream -kiss, pressed on his cheeks as he struggled back to consciousness after -the stormy interview with Hephzibah, a kiss salt with tears and sweet -with ineffable promise. Forbes heard his bitter laughter above the roar -of the train. "God!" his voice said, "what a mess I've made of things."</p> - -<p>Forbes had never had a high opinion of the intelligence of that portion -of the traveling public which puts its head out of the window of a -moving train. Indeed he had always classified it with the people who -maim or kill their best friends by playful maneuvers with guns that -are not loaded. From this time on, his ideas on the subject were to be -revolutionized. He was destined to think of the above-named individuals -as philanthropists of a high order.</p> - -<p>A man in the smoking-car, thrusting his head out of the window at a -time when the curving of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> track brought the rear coach into full -view, made a discovery which he promptly imparted to the conductor. -That official, properly incredulous, extended his own head from the -window and verified the passenger's astonishing statement. And at the -moment when Forbes' imagination was busy with the gruesome details -relating to the discovery of his lifeless body lying beside the tracks, -the vestibule door suddenly opened and the face of indignant authority -looked down at him.</p> - -<p>They dragged Forbes inside after unclenching his hands for him, his -stiffened muscles refusing that simple service. The conductor failing -to recognize in this disheveled individual with the unsteady knees, -the respectable passenger whose ticket he had punched earlier in the -trip, not unnaturally assumed that Forbes was drunk and acting on that -supposition, proceeded to make himself very disagreeable. As Forbes -regained his shaken dignity, and paid his fare, the man in uniform -became less truculent and in the end, positively congratulatory.</p> - -<p>Forbes' grips were in the possession of an unknown porter at a station -some thirty miles back, and he made as satisfactory a toilet as was -possible without the aid of their contents, before returning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> to the -coach where lately he had devoted himself to entertaining Charlie -Briggs, unaware that the door of Paradise stood ajar just across the -aisle. Here disappointment awaited him. Agatha, having learned from -bitter experience that activity is the best of balms for a sore heart, -had resolved on washing the hands and faces of her charges and giving -their hair proper attention. To make the toilet of four children in -the limited accommodations of a Pullman, with the certainty that at -any moment the lurch of the train may precipitate you into the wash -basin, or through the hanging curtains out into the aisle, is a process -requiring time and patience. Forbes sat in his former place, biting his -lips for three-quarters of an hour before he saw the little procession -slowly making its way down the aisle.</p> - -<p>Forbes' uncomfortable uncertainty as to whether he had made a fool of -himself or not, vanished at the sight of Agatha. Worn and weary as she -looked, her eyes still reddened from weeping, she had never seemed to -him so infinitely dear and desirable. Such trivial things as corrugated -palms and lost eye-glasses and a narrow escape from death, no longer -mattered.</p> - -<p>Charlie Briggs was the first to discover him.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> "My man's come back," he -shouted jubilantly and ran into Forbes' arms. Agatha's eyes followed -him, and she stopped short, her flushed cheeks paling. For a moment -Forbes thought her about to faint and started to his feet to assist -her, but immediately she had regained her self-control and walked -steadily to her seat, though as a matter of fact she did not feel the -floor beneath her feet and was scarcely conscious of the child in her -arms. He had come back and intuition told her why.</p> - -<p>Forbes rose and crossed the aisle. "Charlie," he said in a voice of -authority, "take your little sisters to my seat and play with them for -a while."</p> - -<p>Charlie Briggs demurred.</p> - -<p>"Run along," Forbes insisted. "And when I get a chance to buy you some -candy you shall have enough to make you sick for a month."</p> - -<p>"Us too?" asked the curly-haired girl, ready to oppose any unfair -sex-discrimination.</p> - -<p>"Yes, you, too," Forbes promised recklessly. "Enough so all three of -you will need a doctor."</p> - -<p>It was not in human nature to resist such a bribe. The three crossed -immediately to the opposite section. Forbes took the seat at Agatha's -side.</p> - -<p>A silence at once inevitable and ridiculous fell be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>tween them. There -was so much to be said that there seemed no rational starting point. He -wanted to ask what she was doing with all those children, but the query -seemed to put her on the defensive. She was longing to know how after -leaving the train, he could possibly be aboard again, but she left -the first move to him. Presently a mutual attraction drew their eyes -together and Forbes lost no more time.</p> - -<p>"Have you had long enough," he said a trifle unsteadily, "to decide on -that proposition I made you nine months ago to a day?"</p> - -<p>"I—I—What proposition do you mean?"</p> - -<p>"That we should set up housekeeping together?"</p> - -<p>Agatha seemed trying to remember. "Wasn't that for last winter only?"</p> - -<p>"No. It's for this summer and next winter and for all the summers and -winters that ever will be."</p> - -<p>She regarded him amazedly. "You're not—you can't be—"</p> - -<p>"But I am, exactly that. Will you marry me, Agatha?"</p> - -<p>"Listen!" A little flutter of laughter escaped her and he loved the -sound of it. "Do you realize those are the first words you've ever -spoken to me—the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> real <i>me</i>, that we've just been introduced? Of -course we had any number of good talks when I was Great-aunt Agatha -Kent."</p> - -<p>"Bless her dear heart!" Forbes interjected gratefully.</p> - -<p>"And we had one rather exciting interview when I was Hephzibah."</p> - -<p>"Yes, I have reason to remember that interview." He looked at her -meaningly and gloated over her blush.</p> - -<p>"And now I'm just Agatha," she went on bravely, ignoring her scarlet -cheeks. "And the very first words you say to me are to ask me to marry -you."</p> - -<p>"And they're the words I shall keep saying till you promise."</p> - -<p>She shot him a side-long glance. "But what—what about Julia?"</p> - -<p>"She was married early in January. They have been spending the winter -in Palm Beach, I understand."</p> - -<p>"Oh!" There was such compassion in her voice, such pitying tenderness -in her eyes that she had a narrow escape from being kissed on the spot.</p> - -<p>He compromised by taking her hand. "Listen, dear girl. Let's clear this -thing up once for all.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> I've had a narrow escape. The Julia I loved was -no more real than your Hephzibah. I knew my mistake that day when she -attacked you at Oak Knoll. The cruelty of it was a revelation. I can't -understand now why I listened without protest, but you must remember -that I had received a staggering surprise."</p> - -<p>"Staggering and cruel!" Her fingers tightened about his. "I tried so -hard to tell you everything that day in the woods and I was such a -coward that the words wouldn't come. How can you ever forgive me?"</p> - -<p>"Hush, dear love! I shall shock this train-load of people if you are -not careful. I was too dazed and bewildered that first day to be quite -responsible for what I did or left undone. But within twenty-four hours -I spoke my mind so plainly as to terminate the friendship between Miss -Studley and myself. I have never seen nor heard from her since."</p> - -<p>The look she turned on him made him hang his head. The certainty that -elates most men, humbles those of finer mold.</p> - -<p>"Agatha, my dearest, you talk of my forgiving you. Can you ever forgive -me?"</p> - -<p>The train was slowing for a stop before they had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> settled that delicate -question. Agatha argued that it was preposterous to talk of forgiving -one who in every relation of life was absolute perfection. Forbes -insisted that her attitude proved her an angel. The baby, with a -discretion beyond its years, refrained from offering any interruption -to this absorbing conversation, though occasionally its toothless gums -were revealed in what might have impressed the unprejudiced on-looker -as a derisive smile.</p> - -<p>After the brief stop, a train boy appeared shouting Forbes' name. He -proved to be the bearer of a telegram from Warren. Forbes and Agatha -read it together:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>"If enough is left of you to make the marriage ceremony valid advise -clenching matter at the first stop run no risk of letting her get away -from us again."</p></blockquote> - -<p>"Warren seems to be laboring under the impression," frowned Forbes, -"that he comes in on this. Except for that slight error—"</p> - -<p>Agatha interpolated irrelevantly that Warren was a dear.</p> - -<p>"He's not half bad," Forbes admitted generously.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> "And apart from his -erroneous impression that this is a partnership affair, the message -impresses me favorably. What do you think?"</p> - -<p>"How do you know," questioned Agatha interestedly, "that I'm not -already married to a widower with four small children?"</p> - -<p>"I'll own the thought crossed my mind. But I wouldn't consider it. You -looked too sad for a bride."</p> - -<p>Agatha put her hand into his quite shamelessly. "Of course I would look -sad if I had been so silly as to marry somebody else."</p> - -<p>"Who are these children anyway?" Forbes asked, as if he had just -thought of it.</p> - -<p>"Orphans. Orphans who are going to be adopted. The homes have been -investigated and they're all right. Now I'm going to leave the children -for a six months' trial, and if at the end of that time everybody is -satisfied, they will be legally adopted." Agatha added casually that -they would reach the baby's future home at five o'clock and that she -would be rather glad to get him off her hands before nightfall. Forbes -recalled a statement of Charlie Briggs much to the same effect, and was -man enough to apologize mentally to the youngster.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span></p> - -<p>Agatha's next remark had to Forbes a delicious suggestion of wifely -authority. "Why aren't you wearing your glasses?"</p> - -<p>He explained the fate of those cherished belongings and did his best to -make light of the whole affair. But Agatha was not to be deceived. Her -eyes widened to surprising proportions. Her face grew white.</p> - -<p>"You might have been killed. It's a miracle you weren't killed."</p> - -<p>His distress over the discovery that she was crying was spiced -with ecstasy. She interrupted his clumsy efforts at comfort with -self-accusation. "And if you had been killed, I would have been to -blame."</p> - -<p>"Why, in heaven's name, dearest? My own folly would have been solely -responsible. But when I realized that I had actually spoken face to -face with you, and that you were escaping me again, I lost my head -completely."</p> - -<p>"If I'd told you who I was, you wouldn't have had any reason to risk -your life. And so if anything had happened it would have been all my -fault."</p> - -<p>He took a rather base advantage of her self-reproach. "I'll forgive you -on one condition. As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> I understand it, after you have made arrangements -about the baby you will spend the night at a hotel and take the train -to-morrow."</p> - -<p>"Yes, that's my plan."</p> - -<p>"And my plan is that you marry me to-morrow morning."</p> - -<p>"I had intended," Agatha answered reflectively, "to take an eight -o'clock train."</p> - -<p>"I suppose a later one will do."</p> - -<p>"Very likely. But a wedding without a trousseau! I am equal to a -trousseau now, you know. I have—or did have a little while ago—a -fortune of twelve thousand dollars."</p> - -<p>"I can't think," Forbes murmured, "of anything I should enjoy better -than helping to select a trousseau—a little later."</p> - -<p>"You know I'm responsible for Miss Finch," Agatha said breathlessly. -"She's not going to be married after all."</p> - -<p>"Miss Finch is a member of my family from now on."</p> - -<p>"And Howard! It was all make-believe that he was a young friend of -mine. He's really my darling brother."</p> - -<p>"And mine as soon as you say the word. Dear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> little Miss Proteus," -cried Forbes with a laugh that did not disguise the tenderness of his -voice, "I'm afraid to let you out of my sight for fear you'll change -into something else, a mermaid or a fairy, and be lost to me forever."</p> - -<p>"I'm sure it will disappoint Mrs. Van Horne if I come back with a -husband," mused Agatha. "It will seem such a childish performance. And -yet—when you've made up your mind that all that's left in life for -you is to go on doing your duty and trying to be kind to everybody, -and then happiness comes back and knocks at your door, you—you—oh, -Burton—it's not in human nature to keep her waiting."</p> - -<p>After a party, consisting of a smiling gentleman, a radiant girl and -four tired children, had left the train, one of the people who always -know the details of everybody's business, sketched their history for -the benefit of the owner of the poodle.</p> - -<p>"They had a dreadful quarrel, you know, the way young people will, and -she was going home to her father's. Somehow or other he learned what -train she was to take and got aboard just at the last minute."</p> - -<p>The listener knitted blonde brows. "I didn't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> really feel sure the -woman was in her right mind. She made some absurd statement about those -two little girls. Said there was six months' difference in their ages."</p> - -<p>"She was so excited she didn't know what she was saying," explained the -omniscient traveler. "He sent her messages by the little boy and when -she wouldn't pay any attention, he brought her to time by standing on -the steps of the rear coach for more than an hour. It was a wonder he -wasn't killed."</p> - -<p>The stout blonde expressed the opinion that it was woman's place to -forgive.</p> - -<p>"Well, that melted her, and you can't wonder. The porter in the rear -coach told our porter that when they dragged him aboard he hardly had -strength to stand on his feet. It didn't take them long to get things -fixed up after that. I went for a drink of water after they'd been -talking for half an hour or so, and he'd picked up the baby, and I'm -pretty sure from the way he held that child, he was using it just as a -screen and kissing the mother behind it."</p> - -<p>"Awful fretful baby," commented the stout blonde. "I'm glad it won't be -on the train to-night."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span></p> - -<p>"Looks as if they'd started out to have a real old-fashioned family," -said the omniscient narrator. "None of the children looks like her but -the curly-haired girl and the boy are the image of their papa."</p> - - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGATHA'S AUNT***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 62516-h.htm or 62516-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/5/1/62516">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/5/1/62516</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition.</p> - -<p>Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org</p> - -<p>This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.</p> - -</body> -</html> - diff --git a/old/62516-h/images/cover.jpg b/old/62516-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index 6d6d43d..0000000 --- a/old/62516-h/images/cover.jpg +++ /dev/null diff --git a/old/62516.txt b/old/62516.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 62011d8..0000000 --- a/old/62516.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8297 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Agatha's Aunt, by Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) -Smith - - -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: Agatha's Aunt - - -Author: Harriet L. (Harriet Lummis) Smith - - - -Release Date: June 28, 2020 [eBook #62516] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGATHA'S AUNT*** - - -E-text prepared by MFR, Graeme Mackreth, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/agathasaunt00smitiala - - - - - -AGATHA'S AUNT - -by - -HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH - -Author of -Other People's Business - - -[Illustration] - - - - - - -Indianapolis -The Bobbs-Merrill Company -Publishers - -Copyright 1920 -The Bobbs-Merrill Company - -Printed in the United States of America - -Press of -Braunworth & Co. -Book Manufacturers -Brooklyn, N. Y. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I Boarders Wanted 1 - - II The Curtain Rises 18 - - III A Social Secretary 29 - - IV Complications 42 - - V Company Manners 57 - - VI Hephzibah Comes to Life 78 - - VII Day Dreams 94 - - VIII The Rescue 109 - - IX An Embarrassment of Riches 124 - - X A Confession 140 - - XI A Wilful Man Must Have His Way 155 - - XII Hephzibah Turns the Tables 170 - - XIII Congratulations Are in Order 184 - - XIV Confidences 196 - - XV Underneath the Bough 210 - - XVI Miss Finch Follows a Classic Example 221 - - XVII The Day of Judgment 235 - - XVIII Warren Gets a Tip 249 - - XIX The Worm Turns 264 - - XX The Day After 276 - - XXI Enlightenment 292 - - XXII Fellow Travelers 305 - - XXIII An Introduction 324 - - - - -AGATHA'S AUNT - - - - -AGATHA'S AUNT - - - - -CHAPTER I - -BOARDERS WANTED - - -It was too early in the season for lowered shades or closed shutters. -The spring sunshine had taken possession of the big, many-windowed -room, repaying the hospitality as other uninvited guests have been -known to do, by its indiscreet revelations. In rooms much lived in, a -rather endearing shabbiness is a familiar characteristic, suggestive, -like a thumbed book, of homely comfort. The room in question had passed -this stage and reached the shabbiness eloquent of poverty. - -The paper on the walls was faded, and stained from a leak in the -roof. The original carpet had been transformed into a rug that shrank -annually and now showed threadbare areas, prophetic of gaping holes -in the near future. The furniture, too, though of expensive make, -had arrived at a point where a series of surgical operations seemed -imperative. Yet with it all, a certain plucky defiance was evident -in the shabby room. Pictures or calendars hung over the discolored -spots on the wall, furniture arranged to conceal the weak spots of the -carpet, a crocheted shawl thrown carelessly over the exposed entrails -of a veteran armchair, a general air of putting the best foot foremost -inevitably suggested that the dilapidated building sheltered youth, -ardent and unconquered. - -In the smallest chair the room contained, a rocking chair that creaked -protestingly under its light burden, sat Miss Zaida Finch, darning a -pink silk stocking. Miss Finch's print dress modestly concealed her -diminutive lower limbs, her extremely small shoes scarcely peeping -from beneath its hem. For all that the eye discerned, her anatomical -structure might have been modeled after that of Mrs. Shem in a Noah's -ark. Yet with no evidence to substantiate his certainty, any observer -would have vowed that Miss Finch's painstaking toil was wholly -disinterested. It was impossible to believe that the much-mended pink -silk hosiery formed part of her wardrobe. - -The industry of Miss Finch was spasmodic. One moment she plied her -needle with an intentness indicating that her task absorbed her. -And again she let the stocking drop into her lap, and lost herself -listening to sounds overhead, footsteps, doors opening and closing, the -murmur of voices. Once, rising, she tiptoed to the window and gazed -for a long breathless moment at the touring car before the gate, the -chauffeur puffing a cigarette with an arrogance characteristic of the -driver of a seven-passenger Packard, who knows that at any moment a -Ford roadster may round the curve ahead. - -Despite occasional lapses Miss Finch was darning industriously when -the voices overhead sharpened noticeably. A light staccato of high -heels tapping the uncarpeted staircase was followed by the slamming -of a door violently enough to shake the building. Miss Finch, groping -vainly for the interpretation of these sounds, found her gaze drawn to -the window as the Packard swept along the highway, its horn bleating an -impassioned farewell. - -The door at the rear of Miss Finch's chair opened emphatically, with -such emphasis indeed, that the door-knobs parted company, one falling -into the hall, the other projecting itself in the direction of Miss -Finch as if with hostile intent. And close upon this demonstration -a girl entered the room and flung herself into one of the ragged -armchairs. - -The owner of the pink silk stocking was revealed. It was all in keeping -with her audacious color scheme. Her hair was obviously red, and -instead of modestly disguising the fact, it used every known artifice -to attract attention to itself, curling and crinkling and brazenly -thrusting out tendril-like locks to catch the beholder's gaze. Her -eyes should have been blue, according to all precedent, but instead -they matched her hair, a daring reddish-brown, with yellow flecks like -floating gold-leaf. Ordinarily her skin was creamy till the multiplying -freckles of summer temporarily disguised its fairness, but at this -moment some intense emotion dyed her crimson from her throat to the -roots of her hair. Over a blue house dress she wore a sweater of vivid -green, assumed, if the truth be told, not for the sake of warmth but to -conceal her patched elbows. Her entrance into the room accentuated its -faded dinginess and bleached Miss Finch to the color of ashes. Even the -spring sunshine paled before her rainbow effect. - -"Well, Fritz!" The girl used the incongruous nickname with the -carelessness of long custom. "It's all over." - -"All over!" Miss Finch echoed in alarm. The darning egg dropped from -her lap and spun dizzily upon the floor, while its owner blinked -rapidly as if the radiant presence in the armchair dazzled her eyes. - -"Yes. That was Mrs. Leavett, the one who saw my advertisement in the -_Onlooker_, and wrote and engaged board for herself and two children." - -Miss Finch rolled her eyes heavenward. Under the matter-of-fact -statement she scented calamity. - -"It occurred to her that she'd like to see the place before she came. -And now she's seen it, she's not coming. She says my ad was misleading." - -"It was a very good advertisement, I'm sure," protested Miss Finch. "I -didn't know myself how pleasant the place was till you read me what -you'd written." - -The girl laughed out. The naive defense had the effect of partly -dissipating her anger and bringing an evasive dimple into view. - -"I leave it to you, Fritz, if I told a single whopper. I said the rooms -were large and airy, and I didn't state that the paper was peeling off -the walls. I mentioned the lawn and the shade trees, and failed to add -that the house needed painting. It is not the business of the seller, -Fritzie dear, to call attention to any little defects in the article -he is trying to dispose of. Mrs. Leavett overlooked that point. Not a -business woman, evidently." - -"The vines cover a good bit of the house anyway," commented Miss Finch -resentfully. "What does a little paint more or less matter to a summer -boarder?" - -"Mrs. Leavett seemed under the impression that it mattered to her. -She was so very snippy that at last I asked her if she didn't think -that to be _un_painted in these days was rather a mark of distinction. -Since you didn't see the lady, Fritz, you can hardly appreciate the -insinuating cleverness of that inquiry. The red, red rose has nothing -on her. Such a lovely, fast-color carmine, warranted to go through a -fainting fit without fading." - -"If you're going to have boarders, Agatha," Miss Finch remonstrated, -"you've got to keep a tight rein on your temper." - -"I did, Fritz; I was preternaturally amiable till I saw that the game -was up. Then I thought I might as well relieve my feelings. The woman -seemed to take it as an affront that I wasn't my own grandmother. She -said for a girl of my age to advertise for boarders was a piece of -presumption, and she wanted to know if I didn't have a guardian--as if -I were weak-minded." - -Miss Finch's contemptuous sniff breathed sympathetic scorn. - -"I'm not ashamed of being only nineteen. Everybody has to be nineteen -some time, except the people who die in infancy. As I said to Mrs. -Leavett, if you're too young, time will mend it. But being too old -isn't so easily remedied." - -"Was _she_ old?" inquired Miss Finch suspiciously. - -"Older than she wants any one to think, Fritz. She's the sort of woman -who talks about her little son when he's a sophomore in college, -smoking an enormous meerschaum." Agatha's angry color had subsided to -a becoming pink, and her eyes were luminous with mischief. "I'm going -to try the frank, open style in ads, since the other doesn't seem to -work. I shall want your opinion on it, Fritz, so prepare to give me -your undivided attention." She flitted to the writing desk and began -scribbling on the back of a convenient envelope and Miss Finch utilized -the pause to recover her elusive darning egg, dropping her thimble in -the process. Before she could capture the latter runaway, Agatha was -ready for her services as critic. - - "Boarders wanted. A spinster aged nineteen, of uncertain temper, - will accommodate a limited number of boarders at her country place, - Oak Knoll. Rooms large and airy, special ventilation secured through - openings in the roof. In case of rain, guests will be furnished with - tubs to catch the drippings, without extra charge. Fine lawn kept in - excellent order by the untiring efforts of two horses and a cow. View - unsurpassed. Meals excellent provided the cook is kept in good humor - by considerate treatment." - -She nipped the handle of her pen reflectively. "Do you think it -necessary to mention that the cook and the proprietor are one and the -same?" - -"Agatha," cried Miss Finch with the agonized earnestness of a literal -mind, "you mustn't think of sending that to the paper. Taking boarders -is a good deal like getting married. There's a whole lot you've got to -keep dark, or you might as well give up first as last." - -Her outburst terminated in a sniff. Immediately the tip of her pale, -seemingly bloodless little nose became as red as a cherry, the -instantaneous sequel of tears, with Miss Finch. - -"You're so smart, Agatha," she quavered. "If only you'd sell this house -and wash your hands of Howard and me, who haven't the least claim on -you, you could go to the city and look around and like enough find a -husband. There's plenty of men who don't mind red hair." - -Agatha ignored the encouragement. "Howard is my brother." - -"Just like children pretend in play. He's your stepma's son. There's -not a drop of Kent blood in him, and not a mite of Sheldon in you. But -instead of giving your mind to getting married like a girl needs to do -in these days, you're all the time worrying about educating that boy." - -"I'm going to send Howard to college if I live, I'd rather do that than -have twenty husbands." - -"Then if that wasn't enough," lamented Miss Finch tearfully, "here I -am, a good-for-nothing cumberer of the ground, for you to fuss and plan -for. Don't tell me! All the reason you keep this place is to have a -home for me and Howard. And it ain't right or fair." - -Agatha crumpled the advertisement inspired by the visit of Mrs. Leavett -into an inky wad, and took aim at the spider-like blotch on the -ceiling. Then crossing the room swiftly, she hugged the limp little -woman to her heart. - -"You'll make me cry myself if you're not careful. You want to deprive -me of my family and my chaperon at one swoop, and turn me out into the -world a solitary orphan, you heartless creature." She silenced Miss -Finch's gurgled protests with a kiss. "Hush!" she said authoritatively. -"There comes Howard on the pony. He mustn't know anything about this." - -The beat of hoofs ceased abruptly and a boy's swinging step sounded -on the porch. To save the trouble of walking ten feet to the door, -Howard raised the nearest window of the living-room, and made an -unconventional entry. He was a handsome lad of sixteen, and Agatha's -idol. She had been as ready as most young girls to resent her father's -second marriage, but all her childish hostility vanished at the -sequel, the chubby little boy who was her stepmother's contribution to -the family circle. She had longed for a brother with the passionate -yearning of a lonely child, and just when she had given up hope, a -brother was hers. Agatha's sense of proprietorship had grown with the -years. Nothing irritated her more than the suggestion that the tie -between Howard and herself was less binding than that of blood. - -The boy drew three letters from his pocket, slapping them down on the -table. - -"You're getting to be pretty popular, Aggie. Every time I go to the -village there's mail for you. Two letters yesterday and three to-day." - -"How warm you look, Howard." Agatha pushed the boy's heavy hair back -from his moist forehead. "You mustn't get overheated and take cold." -She was deliciously maternal in her solicitude for the sturdy youngster -who already topped her by an inch or two. - -"I'll look warmer before the day's over. I'm going to tackle the garden -now. If you'd ever seen summer boarders eat new green peas you'd know -'twas time to get busy." - -Howard departed as he had come, and his sister, her face overcast, gave -her attention to her mail. The first letter opened was flung petulantly -to the floor. - -"Woman wants to know how many bathrooms we have, and will I please send -her the names of several former patrons as references. Worse than Mrs. -Leavett." - -"They're an unreasonable lot, summer boarders," acquiesced Miss Finch. - -The second letter was as unsatisfactory, judging from the impetuosity -of its flight across the room. - -"She's the widow of a missionary and wants board at half rates, and the -younger children not to count." - -"I don't believe you've got the temper for running a boarding-house," -commented Miss Finch. "You're as fiery as red pepper and next to the -married state, keeping boarders calls for a saintly disposition." - -Agatha prying open the third communication with a hairpin, vouchsafed -no reply. But her perturbed air changed magically to breathless -attention. Her eyes moved slowly down the typewritten page, her air -of stupefaction increasingly in evidence. Checking herself with an -impatient gesture, she started again at the beginning and read the -letter aloud: - - "'My Dear Miss Kent: - - "'My attention has just been called to your advertisement in the - current _Onlooker_. I can hardly hope that you remember me, for it is - over twenty years since our last meeting, and at that time I was an - insignificant urchin of twelve--'" - -"Over twenty years," Miss Finch interjected, "and you nineteen last -week." - - "'I remember you distinctly, however, and your beautiful old place - with its fine grounds and noble trees. When I explain that I am the - son of John Forbes you will understand that my visit with my father - was a memorable occasion. He died soon after, as you remember, but he - often spoke of our week at Oak Knoll and his affectionate admiration - for yourself.'" - -A flicker of understanding illumined Miss Finch's blank face. - -"I'm beginning to see daylight," she interrupted. "The man's fooled -by the likeness of names. He thinks he's writing to your great-aunt, -Agatha Kent. She'd be between sixty and seventy if she were living." - -Agatha had already solved the puzzle. She nodded and read on, too -interested to pause for discussion: - - "'I have played in rather hard luck recently. I contracted a severe - form of malaria in my South American trip last year which has - resulted, strangely enough, in a loss of eyesight, only temporary, - the doctors hope. For six months I have gone about with my eyes - bandaged. At present the building up of my general health seems the - most important step in my recovery and I wish to secure board in some - retired country place with a bracing climate, like that of Bridgewater. - - "'In case you were willing to burden yourself with a blind boarder, - I should, of course, insist on paying more than the moderate rates - mentioned in your ad. I should also wish to engage the services of - some youth in the neighborhood who could serve as valet and companion. - I could bring an attendant from the city but would prefer a country - boy, who would not be continually pining for roof gardens and like - diversions. His work will be exacting, of course, for no child is as - helpless as I, but I will pay well in addition to his board and will - try to make his labors as agreeable as possible. - - "'I have written at length because I wish you to understand just - what you are letting yourself in for, if you admit me to Oak Knoll. - The remembrance of your benevolent face which even to my unobservant - boy self seemed to express your kindly nature, is my only reason for - thinking that possibly your answer will be favorable. - - "'Yours very truly, - - "'Burton Forbes.'" - -Mechanically Agatha folded the letter and returned it to its envelope. -She spoke in a rapturous half whisper. "A blind man. If it had been -planned on purpose, it couldn't have been more perfect. Please don't -tell me I'm dreaming, Fritz." - -Miss Finch rubbed her nose fretfully, a sign of perturbation. "Have you -thought--" - -"He can't see that the paper is peeling off the wall," Agatha continued -ecstatically. "But he'll appreciate the rooms being large and airy. He -won't worry because the house needs painting, but he can enjoy sitting -under the shade of the trees. I can even feed him fried chicken while -the rest of us are eating cod-fish gravy. It's an interposition of -Providence." - -Miss Finch was hectoring her nose again. "But how are you going to -manage--" - -"He wants a boy as an attendant," persisted Agatha jubilantly. "Howard -is the boy. He'll pay him well, and pay me for his board. If only I'm -not delirious. Oh, I want to jump and scream. Howard's next year in -school is all provided for. And if Mr. What's-his-name would only stay -blind till--" - -"I guess you're forgetting one thing." Miss Finch raised her voice -challengingly. "You ain't your great-aunt." - -Agatha regarded the interruption with irritation. "Well!" - -"It's her he wants to board with. He imagines she's a nice, motherly -old soul, who'll pet him up and feed him up. It ain't likely he'd think -of engaging board with a flighty young girl. I don't say you're not as -competent as though you were sixty. But he wouldn't believe it." - -The glow illuminating the girl's face flickered defiantly under this -chilling blast of common sense, and went out, like a candle in the -wind. She drew her arched brows into a meditative pucker and sat -musing while Miss Finch, humanly complacent over having suggested a -difficulty, gave her whole attention to her darning, leaving Agatha to -wrestle with the solution. - -"Fritz," the girl breathed at last, "do you believe in reincarnation?" - -Miss Finch tried to look as if she understood the meaning of the word. -With an adroitness for which few would have given her credit, she -replied, "I won't say I do, and I won't say I don't." - -"Well, it's true, Fritz. I am my own great-aunt." - -"Land alive!" cried Miss Finch, startled into close attention. - -"Mr. Burton Forbes wants to engage board for the summer with Miss -Agatha Kent. Well, I'm Agatha Kent. He imagines that I'm a nice -comfortable old lady with white hair and a double chin. Very well. -It would be a hard heart that would disappoint a blind man in such a -trifle." - -"You mean," gasped Miss Finch, "that you're going to deceive him?" - -"Heaven forbid. But I'm not going to _un_deceive him, Fritz. He assumed -certain things about me. Let him keep his illusions, poor soul. He'll -spend a happy summer with his father's old friend, and then go away and -recover, I hope." - -No trace of Agatha's shadowing perplexity remained. Her eyes had the -mischievous brightness of a naughty child's. Miss Finch gazed aghast. - -"He's bound to find out sooner or later. And no good comes of cheating -anybody, least of all a blind man." - -"You're not the stuff for a conspirator, I can see that," Agatha -laughed. "You look positively frightened. But Howard will be delighted. -He'll feel like the hero of a detective story." - -The window by which her brother had made his exit was still open and -Agatha took her departure in the same informal fashion. But little Miss -Finch sat bowed in her chair, as if the responsibility for this newly -hatched plot rested upon her narrow shoulders, and crushed her under -its weight. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE CURTAIN RISES - - -The composition of a suitable reply to Burton Forbes' request proved -unexpectedly difficult. Agatha did not lack appreciation of the -histrionic demands of her role. She suspected the late John Forbes of -something more than a platonic admiration for her imaginary self and -it was out of the question to write his son the matter-of-fact letter -which would have sufficed for another blind man, desiring board in the -country. As she composed laborious missives only to destroy them on the -second reading, Agatha thanked heaven that the hardships of her lot had -not included the adoption of a literary career. - -The completed letter, however, so far met her exacting requirements -that in satisfied contemplation of her intellectual offspring, she -forgot the pangs attending its birth. With a naive complacency not -unfamiliar among the craft, she read the masterpiece to Miss Finch: - - "My Dear Mr. Forbes: - - "Your letter, just received, both surprised and touched me. Your - memory must, indeed, be tenacious if you recall me, for in the twenty - years which have passed since your visit to Oak Knoll you have, I am - sure, seen much better worth remembering than a quiet, old country - woman the best of whose life is now its golden memories. - - "I hardly need tell you that my door would be open to your father's - son under any circumstances, and the fact of your blindness--which I - sincerely trust will prove temporary--only makes you doubly welcome. - Fortunately I know exactly the person for your attendant, a young - friend of mine named Howard Sheldon. He is thoroughly reliable and - the salary will be a great help to him, as he is ambitious for an - education. - - "Please let me know when to expect you. I am looking forward to - renewing the friendship begun so long ago that it almost seems as if - it must have been in another state of existence. - - "Very truly yours, - - "Agatha Kent." - -Miss Finch did not share Agatha's enthusiasm. Her pinched little face -was wan and worried as she conscientiously did her best to dampen the -satisfaction of the proud author. - -"That letter gives me a dreadful upset feeling, Agatha. I don't know as -I could put my finger on a downright lie, but it certainly ain't true." - -"It is the truth and nothing but the truth, Fritzie. It is ridiculous -for a little four-page letter to claim to be the whole truth. Take, for -instance, the fact about his being doubly welcome because he is blind. -That's truer than he has any idea of." - -"'Golden memories,'" quoted Miss Finch with severity. "A young girl -like you!" - -"That's the best thing in the letter," cried Agatha, enraptured. "I -don't know how I ever came to think of anything so clever. 'Golden -memories,'" she repeated with the sentimental inflection she deemed -appropriate. "Do you know, Fritz, I don't believe it's as hard to write -books as the authors make out." - -Disappointing as Miss Finch proved in the role of conspirator, Howard's -enthusiasm largely compensated for her deficiencies. Howard was in -his element. To share in a plot of this character was rapture beyond -words. The only drawback to his happiness was the fact that Agatha had -described him to his prospective employer as a reliable boy, ambitious -for an education. Howard felt that to live up to such a character -promised an insipid summer. It would have added a tang to existence had -he been cast for a refugee or a cowboy. It was with difficulty that -Agatha brought him to relinquish his determination to play some sort of -part. - -"I could pretend to be an awfully ignorant cuss, don't you know, Aggie. -I could say 'betcher life' instead of 'yes,' and, 'not on your tintype' -for 'no.'" - -Yielding to his sister's eloquent representations, Howard reluctantly -consented to confine himself to his normal mode of expression during -Mr. Forbes' stay and bend all his energy toward furthering his sister's -success in the impersonation fate demanded of her. His suggestions -proved an almost startling range of ingenuity. Agatha was to complain -frequently of rheumatic pains in her knees, and keep a cane handy for -strolling about the grounds. Another point on which Howard placed great -emphasis was the necessity of frequently mislaying her supposedly -indispensable spectacles. - -"He'll be sure to suspect something," insisted Howard, "if you don't -keep losing your spectacles. Old folks always do. And when I find them -and bring them to you, you must always say that they are the ones you -use for looking far off and you want your reading glasses." - -The exchange of several letters between Burton Forbes and his -prospective hostess resulted in an arrangement entirely satisfactory -from Agatha's standpoint. Her boarder was to make the trip from the -city without an attendant. Howard would meet him at the station with -the carryall and convey him to Oak Knoll, where Agatha would make -him welcome as the son of a friend long dead. The possibility of Mr. -Forbes' enlightenment through the interference of neighbors she had -met with characteristic decision by disseminating the information -that her home was to serve as temporary asylum for a blind gentleman, -broken in health and with an unconquerable aversion to society. Without -definitely reflecting on Mr. Forbes' mental condition, Agatha succeeded -in conveying the impression that any one attempting to interview her -blind boarder would do so at his own risk. - -Youthful audacity, together with a daring peculiar to herself, carried -Agatha triumphantly through the successive stages of preparation. It -was not until Howard had actually driven to the station to meet the -expected arrival that she began to appreciate her own temerity in -committing herself to so reckless a scheme. To be an old lady for an -entire summer, to be discreet and dignified--sufficiently so at least -to deceive a blind man--began to seem to her a contract impossible to -carry out. Her knees weakened under her. An abnormal acceleration of -her pulses convinced her that she was more frightened than she was -willing to admit. As the time approached for Howard's return, she was -almost on the point of offering a prayer that Mr. Forbes had suddenly -decided on a summer in Canada. - -The carryall drawn by the leisurely bays came in sight just when -apprehension was reaching the point of panic. Agatha strained her eyes. -Howard occupied the driver's place and in the comparative obscurity -of the back seat the outlines of a masculine figure were visible. Her -throat dry and her forehead unpleasantly moist, Agatha went out upon -the piazza to receive her guest. - -Under ordinary circumstances Howard's passenger would not have seemed -a formidable personage. In spite of the disfiguring blue goggles, his -clear-cut features were distinctly prepossessing. Moreover, his air -of helplessness would have appealed to the maternal instinct of any -female five years old, and led her to constitute herself his protector. -Only a guilty conscience accounted for the shrinking with which Agatha -advanced to welcome him. - -"How do you do, Mr. Forbes." She spoke in the repressed tones she -imagined befitting age, and her fluttering heart imparted a suitable -_tremolo_ to the greeting. - -Forbes snatched off his hat and put out a groping hand. His abundant -brown hair, cut severely close, showed a well-shaped head. His voice, -too, was in his favor. - -"Have I the pleasure--" - -"I am Miss Kent." Agatha took his hand and quickly released it. "Bring -Mr. Forbes' suit-case, Howard. I suppose you'd like to go to your room, -Mr. Forbes. Shall I help you?" - -She put her hand through his arm to guide him, her face aflame. Yet -her youthful zest for adventure was asserting itself and there was -something contagious in Howard's delight over actually embarking on -the anticipated conspiracy. Agatha's breathing steadied. She caught -Howard's eye and flashed a smile at him. The experience was like a -plunge into a mountain stream, exhilarating after the first shock was -over. - -"This is very good of you, Miss Kent," Forbes was saying as they -ascended the wide staircase, side by side. "I shan't be quite so -helpless as this when I've once got my bearings." His voice took on an -interrogative note. "I hardly suppose you would have known me?" - -Agatha threw him an appreciative glance. "I think it would be out of -the question for any one who had known you to forget you." - -"Really?" He seemed pleased. "But surely I have changed." - -"In twenty years? Certainly. Even I"--she smiled in enjoyment of her -own daring--"even I have changed since your last visit." - -Howard, on the stairs behind them, coughed loudly by way of applause, -but Agatha's complacency was destined to be jarred. "Don't make rash -claims," the new arrival said severely, "I feel you're nothing but a -girl." - -"I--I--" - -"At least that is how you impressed me the first time I saw you--the -only time I've seen you," Forbes corrected, "as if you would never grow -old." - -Agatha made a quick recovery. "I try to keep a young heart," she -replied demurely. "Now, Mr. Forbes, remember that when you get to the -top of the stairs you turn toward the front of the house, and the door -of your room is the first on your right." - -The big front room for all its appalling shabbiness, was deliciously -airy. Forbes stood between the open windows and drew deep breaths. -"This is what I've been pining for without knowing it," he burst out. -"I have a presentiment that this air is going to be just the tonic I -need, and that I'll be seeing again in a week or two." - -"I hope--so," lied Agatha with the jerkiness of one unused to -falsehood. "Howard, get Mr. Forbes everything he needs and bring him -down to the porch when he is ready, unless he would like to lie down." -She withdrew sedately and then atoned for her unnatural repression by -galloping down the stairs and falling upon Miss Finch, who, having -viewed the arrival from a convenient window, had withdrawn to her own -little rocking chair, a prey to lugubrious forebodings. - -The panting Agatha revealed no traces of her late misgivings. "It's -ridiculously easy, Fritz, and the greatest fun. I believe I'd have made -a star actress. I honestly felt as old as the hills, exactly as if he -were a young fellow I'd known years ago, when he was a little boy. I -was almost tempted to smooth back his hair from his forehead--he has -such a nice thoughtful forehead, Fritz--and imprint a benevolent kiss -above his nose." - -"Yes, I saw he was nice-looking," sighed Miss Finch. "Such a pity he -can't see. I've often thought I wouldn't mind marrying a blind man or -a cripple and sacrificing my entire life to making him happy. But I'm -afraid you'd tire of it, Agatha." - -"I'm sure I should. It makes me tired even to think of such a thing," -admitted Agatha shamelessly. "But you don't get my point of view, -Fritz. The kiss was to have been maternal or even grandmotherly. He -thinks I am an old lady and in spite of everything, I regard myself -from his standpoint. I never looked forward to a summer so much in all -my life. It'll be like going to a play morning, noon and night." - -Voices sounded on the stairs, a man's deep notes blending pleasantly -with the fresh tones of a growing lad. Agatha seized Miss Finch's arm. - -"Come out and meet him, Fritz. And I believe I'll begin calling you -Zaida. You're considerably younger than I, you know. Why, what's the -matter?" - -Terror in her eyes, Miss Finch was resisting the friendly propulsion. -"I'm afraid to go near him. I'll be letting the cat out of the bag, and -I'm not going to have lies on my conscience even for you, Agatha." - -With a laugh the girl released her. "Poor old Fritz, you never were -intended for a diplomatic career. But you'll get used to it. Train -yourself to think of me as some one venerable and stately, long, long -past the follies of youth." She advanced to the door with a dancing -step borrowed from Mrs. Vernon Castle as depicted on the screen, turned -to kiss her hand to the crushed Miss Finch, and disappeared in the -direction of the kitchen. And presently, mingling with the composite -fragrance of the garden and distant hay-fields, the appreciative -nostrils of Mr. Burton Forbes differentiated the less esthetic but -equally delectable odor of frying chicken. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A SOCIAL SECRETARY - - -In nineteen observant years Agatha had noted a business man's -invariable interest in the local telegraph service, and the tendency of -lovers to be dissatisfied with the mail facilities of the neighborhood. -The concern manifested by Burton Forbes on learning that the Rural Free -Delivery called at Oak Knoll but once a day, classified him definitely, -in Agatha's estimation. - -"You can always send Howard to the village for the afternoon mail," she -suggested, the new warmth in her voice an unconscious demonstration of -the truth that all the world loves a lover. - -"Thanks, that's fine!" The brightening of Forbes' face quite offset -his immediate conscientious warning that she was not to spoil him just -because she was sorry for him. - -As the Rural Free Delivery brought nothing of consequence on the -morning following Forbes' arrival, Howard was despatched to the village -after the mid-day meal, leaving Forbes in Agatha's care. Agatha -conducted her charge to a creaking rocking chair, in the shadiest angle -of the porch, and shoved a foot-stool near. "Now I'll get my knitting," -she said blithely, "and we'll talk." - -Forbes seemed delighted. "It's too good to be true," he murmured. "I -thought they were extinct, the old ladies who sat knitting. It's like -stepping into the heart of an old-fashioned story." - -Agatha smiled tolerantly. "It's clear you're just back from South -America. Up here everybody's knitting, young and old." - -"But not like you," he insisted. "I am sure you have an air about it -that differentiates your knitting from all this kittenish frolicking -with balls of yarn." He turned his wistful face toward her as if it -helped to visualize the picture, and then added, "Just the hour for -confidences, isn't it?" - -Agatha smiled at the dun colored wool in her lap. "A warm day, a cool -porch, an old lady knitting, and a young man in love. Of course it's -ideal for confidences." - -He did not seem in any hurry to take advantage of the opening he had -asked for. "I'm afraid I'm going to impose on you," he said, after -so long a pause that she wondered whether he were planning to deny -her charge. "Howard is a bright kid, and I'm sure he'll prove a -satisfactory secretary, but there are a few letters I'd hate to dictate -to a boy." He laughed with rather an engaging air of shyness as he -added, "I imagine it won't be particularly easy to dictate them even to -you." - -"Of course not," agreed Agatha, with ready sympathy. "Love-letters seem -one's own business more than almost anything in the world." His artless -confidences had brought a lovely color to her cheeks. Practical as -Agatha believed herself, she was romance-hungry, and it did not matter -in the least that in this particular love-affair she was cast for a -minor role. "And I'll read you her letters, too," she offered joyously. -"It will save Howard some trying experiences. Howard's just at the age -when he's horribly embarrassed by anything in the shape of sentiment." - -"Thank you. I'd any amount rather you read them," returned Forbes -gratefully. "But they won't be sentimental letters, at all. Howard -could read them without finding a word that would bring a blush to his -maiden cheek." - -"Oh!" observed Agatha blankly, and knitted to the end of her needle -without speaking. Apparently the path that had seemed so plain led -nowhere, after all. - -Forbes, too, seemed in no haste to speak. "Of course," he explained at -last, "I'm very hopeful. If I make a complete recovery as the doctors -tell me I'm likely to do, there's no reason why things shouldn't be as -they were before." - -Agatha laid down her knitting and regarded him fixedly, an upright -crease between her brows. The tranquillity of his unconscious face gave -the impression that she must have misunderstood him. "How were they -before?" she asked bluntly. - -Apparently he did not question her right to a categorical answer. "We -had planned to be married in January till this came up. But of course I -couldn't hold a girl like Julia when there's a possibility of my having -to grope my way through life." - -"No, of course not," agreed Agatha, with misleading calm. "But if she -were enough in love with you to plan to marry you in January, I should -suppose something would hold her, something you had nothing to do with." - -There was a moment of rather tense silence. Then Forbes laughed out -boyishly: - -"You dear old soul," he cried, "you don't know how mid-Victorian that -sounds. When you were a girl, women took all that sentimental stuff -seriously; about sacrificing themselves for love, I mean. But you don't -understand the modern girl. She's beyond that." - -"I don't pretend to understand your Julia," agreed Agatha, her eyes -aflame, "I don't want to." - -Forbes laughed again, this time with a reservation in his mirth. "Look -here," he said, "you mustn't criticize Julia, for then I can't talk -to you about her, and that would be a deuced bore. And she's a queen. -A girl of that sort is bound to know her value. Julia was really fond -of me, not desperately in love as I was--as I am--that wasn't to be -expected, but really fond of me and inclined to exaggerate ridiculously -my small achievements. But of course it's out of the question for her -to marry me if the rest of my life is to be a game of Blind Man's Buff." - -"Per--perhaps so," Agatha stammered. One of her ready rages was coming -on. She felt it distinctly. One familiar symptom was that her blood -seemed boiling in her veins, and her ears felt hot and swollen. She had -seen them before when she was angry, flaming like two danger signals, -and tempering the redness of her hair. Her shaking hands made knitting -quite impossible. "Of course people can't marry if they haven't the -money to marry on," she succeeded in saying finally, in an unsteady -voice, "but there's nothing to keep them from loving each other till -they die, and having that comfort, anyway." - -She had succeeded in making him very uncomfortable. She would have -known that by the way the rocking chair was creaking as he squirmed, -even if his astonished face had not borne witness to the facts in the -case. - -"It--it is not a question of money," he explained stiffly. "I have -plenty, and so has she. We're not extravagant in our tastes, either of -us. The thing that's out of the question--" He seemed to find a little -difficulty in making it clear, after all, and floundered at this point. -"You can't think of it," he protested angrily, "tying a girl like -Julia, a beautiful, queenly creature, to a man who has to be led around -like a poodle dog. God! I couldn't be coward enough to accept such a -sacrifice." - -"Oh, I understand, now." Agatha's anger was past the inarticulate -stage. She pulled a needle from her knitting, and brandished it -dangerously as she talked. "You mean that you wouldn't _let_ her -be engaged to you." The affected innocence of her voice was flatly -contradicted by the bitterness of her eyes. "You just insisted that -there shouldn't be anything more between you two till you were sure -that your eyes were going to be all right again. Well, I tell you -frankly that I think you've treated Julia brutally, and that she has a -right to detest you." - -Apparently Mr. Forbes was losing confidence in his ability to make the -matter clear. He sighed patiently as he tried again. - -"No, that isn't it. We were agreed perfectly on the subject. Love -isn't quite so reckless a passion as it was when you were young, Miss -Kent. Julia and I belong to a reasonable generation, tremendously -matter-of-fact. She was really cut up over the whole affair, but she -felt she owed it to herself to break the engagement since my future was -so uncertain, and I felt I owed it to her to release her. So we were -perfectly agreed, you see." - -"Yes, I see." Agatha was glaring at him with the expression of a -vixen. "Just as businesslike as if you had been planning to go into -partnership to raise chickens, weren't you? And so that's what the -modern girl is like. Dear me!" - -The edge to her voice made her irritation sufficiently plain, and -Forbes, with a gentle deference that touched her, changed the topic -to one unlikely to combat her old-fashioned prejudices. They were -discussing Thackeray and George Eliot when Howard returned. Swinging -himself from his pony, the boy came clattering along the porch, and -deposited a package of mail on his employer's knees. - -"It's lucky I went over," Howard declared. "You've got a regular -windfall, five or six letters beside the things with one-cent stamps." - -In spite of Mr. Forbes' assumption of ultra-modern reasonableness, his -countenance betrayed a boyish ardor that added to Agatha's resentment -against the recreant Julia. She took possession of the letters, saying -to her brother, "You'd better put the pony up, hadn't you, Howard? I'll -attend to Mr. Forbes' mail." - -Her boarder only waited for the beat of the pony's hoofs to tell that -Howard was out of hearing, before he leaned toward her, his face -pathetically eager. "Is there one from her?" - -"What's the post-mark?" - -"She's probably at the Briercliff Manor, this week. She writes a -striking hand, not the old-time idea of feminine, but full of -character and strength. You'll always recognize it after you've seen it -once." - -Unfortunately it appeared that Agatha's education in this important -branch of knowledge was not to begin immediately. There was no letter -from Julia. This fact established, the light went out of Forbes' face, -and it remained blank during the reading of several communications of -varying degrees of interest. For the first time he seemed an embodiment -of all the pitiful helplessness of the blind. - -"I suppose," he ventured hesitatingly, when she had finished, "that -you're too busy to take a letter for me to-day. Got to go on with that -knitting, haven't you?" - -Agatha longed to say yes. In her present mood, to transcribe an -impassioned letter to the object of Forbes' regard, seemed well-nigh -intolerable. Inexorably she forced herself to reply that she was not in -the least busy. "I'll get Howard out of the way by sending him to the -garden," she added. "He'll be perfectly willing to change jobs with me." - -Howard, who had the average boy's aversion to the use of a pen, bore -out her statement and joyfully agreed to picking peas in place of -acting as an amanuensis. He went his way, favoring her with an almost -ribald wink, a natural reaction from the profound respect he was now -required to show her. With an expression that would have befitted Queen -Elizabeth, when signing the death-warrant of Lady Jane Grey, Agatha -began her task. - -Forbes' mood, though disappointed, was not reproachful. His pale face -flushing slightly at the novel experience of giving voice to such -tender sentiments in the presence of a third person, he dictated the -letter with only those pauses necessary to enable Agatha to keep pace -with him. - - "My Dearest Girl. - - "The afternoon mail has just been brought from the village, and I was - disappointed at not receiving a letter from you. Disappointed I am, - but not surprised, for I am sure that wherever you are, you will have - little time to yourself unless you take it by main force, so to speak. - That is the penalty I pay for being in love with one so charming. - - "I wish you could look in on me here, at the home of my father's old - friend, Miss Agatha Kent. Oak Knoll is a fine old place. The house is - spacious, comfortable and homelike, the last characteristic doubtless - due to the personality of the owner. As Miss Kent is good enough to - write this for me, I must wait some other opportunity to tell you how - delightful I find her. Her type is disappearing, unluckily, which - makes me all the more ready to congratulate myself on this chance of - renewing a friendship which might almost be regarded as an inheritance. - - "The troublesome eyes pained me a little last night, but lying awake - was not altogether fruitless, as in the stillness I could bring your - dear face before me almost as vividly as if I saw it in the flesh. - To-day I feel much better. I am convinced that this wonderful air is - going to make me over, and then in a few weeks I shall again have a - right to indulge myself in the dreaming of those dreams which need no - Daniel to interpret them." - -Forbes' deep voice came to a halt at this point. He turned his face -toward Agatha, the involuntary movement showing that his blindness was -not of long duration, and smiled with that winsome boyishness which -made it impossible to believe him past thirty. - -"I believe I'll take my pen in hand for the wind-up, if you please, -Miss Kent. I think I can manage a line or two, without making it -illegible." - -She brought the sheet to him, put the pen in his hand, and indicated -where he was to begin to write. And then suddenly as she watched him, -the outline of his fine profile was blurred by angry tears. Something -in his expression gave her an inkling of the tenderness compressed in -those few straggling lines, and all for the girl who had "owed it to -herself" to break her engagement because of his misfortune. - -"She owes it to herself to break with him," reflected Agatha, "but she -doesn't owe it to him to make it final, and give him a chance to get -over it Oh, no! He can go on to the end of his life dreaming about -her, and making love to her, and feeding her vanity by his devotion. -And then he calls that deliberate heartlessness reasonable, and makes -himself believe that she's the type of the modern girl. The cat!" - -Agatha's righteous indignation was getting the best of her. She said -the last two words aloud. - -"Beg pardon!" Forbes turned, showing a puzzled face. - -"The cat is rather near the chickens," Agatha explained. "If you'll -excuse me, I'll run down and drive her away." She started at a pace -which would have been reckless for rheumatic knees, recalled herself, -and slowed down till beyond his hearing. Then she stood quite still and -stamped her foot upon the gravel like a restive horse, till she felt -better. - -When she returned, flushed but calm, the letter was completed and -folded. "Haven't any asbestos envelopes, have you?" questioned Forbes, -trying to make a joke out of his bit of sentiment. "I've made it -hot stuff, I assure you." And then he acknowledged that an ordinary -envelope would probably retain his ardent effusion without bursting -into flame, and Agatha wrote the name she already hated, eying each -letter malevolently, as she set it down: - - Miss Julia Studley - Briercliff Manor - Briercliff, New York - -Howard took her aside that night to thank her for relieving him of an -obnoxious task. "It's the only part of the work I mind, writing those -darned letters. Does he make 'em long?" - -"A great deal too long," said Agatha, "and I don't blame you for hating -that job. It's rotten." - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -COMPLICATIONS - - -For a week Forbes' spirits were fitful. Morning after morning, the -Rural Free Delivery brought a variety of offerings, and disappointment -along with the rest. Each afternoon Howard rode to the village, and -though he never returned empty-handed, he might as well have done so, -since he failed to bring the right letter. Had it not been for Agatha, -Forbes' depression might easily have become serious. She spent with him -all the time she could spare, even shelling peas and whipping cream -upon the porch within arm's length of his chair. Whatever opinion he -expressed, she promptly disagreed. She railed at modern institutions. -She professed unbounded contempt for the modern girl. She was as -prickly as a chestnut burr, as puckery as an unripe persimmon, as -ruffling as a January gale. But she gained her point. Forbes did not -mope. - -In that week of waiting, she wrote at his dictation three letters to -Julia, all of them ardently tender, and quite uncomplaining. Though he -confessed to disappointment over not hearing from her, he did not seem -to question that it was her privilege to keep him waiting her pleasure. -His humility aroused Agatha to a fury of protest. She dotted her "i's" -as if she were stabbing the paper, and crossed her "t's" with a sweep, -like the slash of a knife. Her valorous instinct to champion the cause -of the under dog had never been so constantly in evidence. - -The table at Oak Knoll was extremely good that week. In addition to -distracting Forbes' thoughts by continually opposing him, Agatha -concentrated her attention on making him eat. The fundamental common -sense, underlying like granite her girlish caprices and audacity, -assured her that an aching heart was in some mysterious fashion -relieved by a full stomach. The price Forbes had insisted on paying -for his board had seemed to her excessive, and now it justified her in -trying her choicest recipes. And while Forbes' mood would have made it -easy for him to be quite indifferent to what was set before him, thanks -to these tactics he ate with a rather shamefaced relish, and assured -Agatha that cooks of her sort had all been born before the Civil War. - -At the end of a trying week, the looked-for letter arrived. Agatha -herself took it from the mail box at the end of the long drive, and she -eyed it as if it had been a new species of noxious insect. Though she -had never seen Julia's chirography, she instantly recognized it, even -without the aid of the post-mark. The letter was a long one, evidently, -for it had called for double postage. - -Agatha walked rapidly back to the house, congratulating herself that -her duties would be less onerous, at least till the stimulating effect -of this letter had worn away. She beckoned to Howard, who was escorting -Forbes about the grounds on his morning constitutional, and despatched -him on some unnecessary errand, while she took his place at Forbes' -side. "It's come," she said briefly. - -Though terse, the statement was quite intelligible. Forbes put out his -hand eagerly, and she saw it was trembling. She gave him the letter, -conscious of a pity that had a mixture of contempt. "Shall I read it to -you?" she asked. - -"Why, of course. What am I thinking of! Shall we go to the porch? It -seems like a fat fellow, and I don't want to keep you standing." - -Agatha put her hand through his arm and steered him in the direction -of the house. She noticed the shadow on his face had lifted. A little -color had come to his cheeks, and his sensitive mouth seemed on the -point of smiling. She felt that she despised his weakness in letting -himself be played upon by the caprices of a heartless girl, but at the -same time, she wanted to cry. And Forbes, as if suspecting her mood, -entertained her as they walked, by making fun of himself and of the -rapture he could not hide. - -"What do you think, Miss Kent? Will you be equal to reading this to me -every day till the next one comes?" - -"I suppose," said Agatha with resignation, "that I can stand it if you -can." - -"Oh, there won't be any difficulty as far as I'm concerned. In fact, -if my eyes were normal, I should probably read it several times a day, -whenever I had a minute to spare. But I haven't the nerve to impose on -you to that extent." - -"Heaven forbid!" cried Agatha devoutly, and he broke into hilarious -laughter. Agatha reflected that if this was the result of falling in -love, the longer that catastrophe was postponed, the better. - -Forbes had been quite correct in saying that Julia's letter would -not be sentimental. Howard could have read it without the slightest -embarrassment. She apologized casually for not having written earlier, -and by way of explanation gave a list of her engagements for the past -two weeks, a device which lent her letter the effect of the society -column in a Sunday newspaper, and accounted for the double postage. -The names of several men appeared frequently in her record, and it -was evident that Forbes was not the only one of his sex to recognize -her charm. She even quoted one or two compliments she had received, -as if certain of his sympathetic pleasure in her popularity, and his -expression as he listened seemed to justify her confidence. - -On the last page of the fifteen, Julia detached herself from this -fascinating theme, and touched on his affairs. She was glad he was -better and she was sure he must enjoy Oak Knoll. She thought those old -colonial houses simply lovely and from his description, Miss Kent was a -perfect dear. It was good of him to write so often for she was always -glad to hear, and she was very cordially his friend, Julia. - -Agatha laid down the letter, hardly able to keep back the scornful -comment that rushed to her lips like a hemorrhage. She was rather in -hopes Forbes would say it himself. The shallowness of the missive, its -unabashed vanity, its colossal selfishness were so apparent to her -intelligence that she half expected to have Forbes break the silence by -congratulating himself on his escape from marrying Julia in January. -With this thought in her mind, the fatuous complacency indicated by -Forbes' tone came in the nature of a shock. - -"She's a bit irregular as a correspondent, but when she does write, you -see it's some letter." - -Agatha digested this in silence. - -"You can gather from this," continued the unconscious Mr. Forbes, "how -popular she is. Wherever she goes, she's the center of attention." - -Since it gave him pleasure to continue in this strain, and Agatha was -not really hard-hearted, she composed herself to listen till Howard's -return. But the sight of her brother's slender figure in the distance -was peculiarly welcome. By dint of vehement gestures, she induced him -to exchange his sauntering gait for a run, and so shortened her ordeal -perceptibly. - -Howard looked from the frowning girl to the smiling young man with -perplexity. For several days Forbes' depression had weighed on the -boy's spirits. And now Mr. Forbes was grinning like a chessy cat, -and Aggie looked mad enough to bite a nail in two. Howard continued -to stare till by a sweeping gesture Agatha indicated her wish to be -left to herself. For some time Forbes had gone through the program -of exercise his physician had outlined with a listlessness which -proved his lack of interest. Now as Howard suggested continuing their -interrupted walk, he clapped the boy on the shoulder, seized his arm -and the two went off laughing. And Agatha, recalling his boast that he -was a representative of a generation remarkable for its reasonableness, -smiled sourly and significantly after his departing figure, and asked -herself whether all men were fools, or only the nice ones. - -In her valiant effort to sustain Forbes' spirits, Agatha had for some -days neglected her household duties, and she profited by his temporary -accession of cheerfulness to despatch a number of pressing duties, -aided by Phemie Tidd, the daughter of a neighboring farmer. The most -notable characteristic of Phemie was her stupidity, and though Agatha -had sometimes found this trying, in the present emergency she derived -satisfaction from the certainty that nature had rendered it impossible -for Phemie to find out anything on her own initiative. Whether she was -positively weak-minded or not was a question on which the community did -not agree, but under careful supervision she accomplished rather more -work than would have seemed possible, considering her mental equipment. - -As there was no immediate prospect of another letter from Julia, -Howard was excused from his afternoon trips to the village, and left -to discharge his secretarial duties unassisted. For this reason Agatha -was several hours late in learning an important bit of news. It was -approaching noon on Friday when she came out upon the porch flushed and -weary, after a strenuous morning, and dropped into a chair near that -which Forbes was occupying. Though the young man was alone, his mood -was evidently cheerful. As she approached him, his smile challenged her -attention, and she pondered with frank amazement on the extraordinary -effect of Julia's inane letter. - -"It's Miss Kent, isn't it?" Forbes looked boyishly pleased over having -guessed correctly. "I am beginning to enjoy some of the perquisites of -blindness. I can recognize the footsteps of all of you. Do you know -you walk with wonderful lightness for a woman of your age?" - -Agatha immediately resolved to begin wearing a pair of Howard's -slippers, which could be kept on only by dragging her feet. - -"I've been wanting to see you all the morning," continued Forbes -light-heartedly. "I've great news for you. We're going to have company." - -"Company!" Had Forbes' sense of hearing reached the stage of acuteness -he fondly imagined, he would have recognized instantly a note of -wildness in Agatha's exclamation. - -"Had a letter this morning from a pal of mine, fellow I knew in -college. He's coming to-morrow to spend Sunday with me." - -"To spend Sunday!" Even though Forbes was unable to perceive the frozen -horror of Agatha's countenance, her appalled tone convinced him that -something was wrong. His smile gave way to an expression of anxiety. - -"It won't inconvenience you to put him up, will it, Miss Kent?" - -Agatha found herself unable to reply. Her castle in the air was about -to topple. A friend of Forbes was coming, and his would be as eyes to -the blind. Through him Forbes would learn that the house was in need -of painting and shingling and papering, that the furniture was in all -stages of dilapidation, and that she herself was not an elderly lady -with a motherly interest in youth, but a mere girl with a surprising -facility in falsehood. And while these agonized forebodings flitted -through her brain, Forbes was offering dismayed apologies. - -"I beg your pardon a thousand times. I should have realized--Of course, -this isn't a boarding-house, but the fact that you advertised for -boarders, misled me, don't you see? If Warren's coming is going to put -you out at all, I'll have Howard telegraph him at once." - -Agatha came to herself. There was risk, of course, in granting -permission for his friend's visit, yet anything was better, even -discovery, than that she should appear inhospitable. Her cheeks grew -hot as she recalled his generosity and saw him confused and apologetic -over having asked a friend to solace his loneliness for a week-end. - -"Indeed you shall do nothing of the kind," she said with authority. -"You didn't understand me. I'm only sorry not to meet your friend. I -expect to be away over Sunday." - -"Oh, but that's bad. I particularly wanted Warren to see you. We might -telegraph him to make it Sunday week." - -Agatha vetoed the suggestion. It was better that Mr. Warren should come -as he had planned. "And besides," she added with swift return of her -normal audacity, "if he is here you won't miss me so much." - -"I shall miss you under any and all circumstances, dear lady." Forbes' -air of animation had returned, and it was so great a relief to see him -smiling again, that she resolutely shut her eyes to the pitfalls ahead. - -"I shall get a girl from the neighborhood to do the cooking," explained -Agatha. "And Miss Finch will mother you all in my place." - -"But not in your way." Forbes had a confused but unflattering -impression of Miss Finch, due to the fact that she never dared trust -herself to converse with him for more than a minute at a time, for -fear of making some unfortunate revelation. "And I'm sorry," he ended -regretfully, "that Warren's not to taste your cooking." - -"Oh, Hephzibah is exactly as good. I trained her." - -"Good Heavens! You don't mean there's a living woman with a name like -that." - -"Oh, do you think Hephzibah an odd name? It wasn't uncommon when I was -a girl." Agatha felt that she had taken leave of reason as well as of -principle. "Hephzibah Diggs," she repeated thoughtfully. "I suppose it -would have rather a quaint sound to any one not used to it." - -"It's a name for the vaudeville stage," said Mr. Forbes with -conviction. He returned to the subject of Agatha's other substitute. "I -suppose Warren will have a chance to get more of an impression of Miss -Finch than I have succeeded in doing, for he'll have his eyes to help -him out. All I have been able to discover is that she never finishes -her sentences." - -"She's shy with men, poor girl," said Agatha, and then as he looked -puzzled, "Of course she seems quite elderly to you, but to me she's -only a girl." - -Forbes whistled softly, shaking his head. "A blind man would credit you -with immortal youth, and convict her of never having been less than -middle-aged. I begin to believe that eyesight is misleading." - -Agatha broke away from him before her mood of reprehensible -recklessness should have implicated her still further. Then in the -seclusion of her own room, she wept. "It's bad enough to stretch the -truth when I positively can't help it," she told herself, "but this -morning I simply wallowed in falsehood. And now I must live up to -Hephzibah Diggs. Why couldn't I have called her Mamie Thompson? It's -all the fault of that atrocious Warren person, and I wish something -would happen to him on the way down. I suppose it's too much to hope -for a railway accident, with only one passenger killed, but that would -serve him exactly right." - -Agatha's courage did not revive until she undertook to prepare Miss -Finch for the responsibilities which would devolve upon her in the -absence of the mistress of the house. Her pale eyes became unnaturally -prominent as Agatha explained. - -"Agatha, I can't. I'd go through fire and water for you, but I can't -have a lie on my conscience. At my age I've got to prepare for death, -any day, and I can't be loading my soul down with mortal sin." - -"Oh, Fritz, don't be so foolish. It's not necessary to lie." Agatha's -conscience gave a twinge like an uneasy tooth, as she recalled her -entirely gratuitous inventions of the morning. "All you have to do is -to keep from telling the truth." - -"You can do it all right, you're so quick-witted, but I have to have -time." - -Agatha had an inspiration. "If he says anything you don't know how to -answer, pretend you're hard of hearing. And make him keep repeating it -over till he gets tired, or you've thought of something to say." - -Miss Finch showed no inclination to rejoice over this simple solution -of her difficulty. Her thin nose reddened as abruptly as if it had been -pinched, and her eyes filled. - -"I know I'm going to make a mess of things. I've felt from the start -that no good could come of cheating a blind man. And after you go -to-morrow--" - -"But I'm not really going, Fritz. Somebody must do the cooking. I shall -be in the kitchen, and my name will be Hephzibah Diggs." - -"Hephzibah Diggs!" Miss Finch repeated, appalled. "You're going to be -somebody else?" - -"Only till Mr. Warren gets out of the house." - -"And you picked out that name yourself, just for the fun of it?" - -Agatha reddened under her old friend's accusing gaze. "I had to have -some name," she protested weakly. - -"You didn't have to have that. It almost looks to me as if you were -getting where you took pleasure in deception." - -As this only echoed Agatha's self-accusation, she exclaimed, "The -idea!" with an air of indignant protest. - -"It keeps me awake nights," Miss Finch continued mournfully, "the way -things are in this house. It seems as if there might be an explosion -any minute. You're young and light-hearted, Agatha, and you can't -understand my feelings." - -"Can't I, though," mused Agatha, as her old friend tottered toward the -house. "And what's more, I shouldn't wonder if the explosion came off -in just about twenty-four hours." - - - - -CHAPTER V - -COMPANY MANNERS - - -Agatha took leave of Forbes about two hours before Warren's train -was due. She had worked valiantly most of the morning to render the -room he was to occupy approximately presentable. She had patched -the worst places in the carpet, provided two chairs with seats of -cretonne, and brought all the pictures from her own quarters to help -disguise the defaced condition of the guest-room walls. Her feeling of -dissatisfaction with the result, rather than her labors, had tired her, -and she had no heart for making the most of the dramatic possibilities -of the farewell. In her faded print dress, with a dusting cap drooping -limply over one ear, she presented herself on the porch, hastily -drawing on a kid glove, her sole make-up for her role. - -"Well, good-by, Mr. Forbes. I'm going now." - -Forbes took her gloved hand in both his. "I hope you'll have a -delightful week-end," he said cordially. "Nobody deserves it more." - -"I'm not anxious to get my deserts," Agatha assured him with truth, and -then to head off inconvenient questionings, "Give my apologies to Mr. -Warren, and say that if it had been possible I would have been here to -receive him myself. But I am sure that Miss Finch and Hephzibah between -them will make you perfectly comfortable." - -She released her hand and pulling off her glove as she went, betook -herself to the kitchen, where Phemie was still washing the dishes from -the mid-day meal. Left to herself, Phemie could be trusted to stretch -that uninspiring task over the better part of the afternoon. Thanks to -Agatha's presence, the splashing at once became animated. - -Deprived of the stimulating companionship of his elderly hostess, -Forbes decided to accompany Howard to the station. From the kitchen -window Agatha watched the carryall pass and recalled the sensations -with which she had first seen Forbes approaching in the same shabby -vehicle. Perhaps her present apprehensions would prove as groundless -as those. Agatha whistled a martial tune, as she beat up her cake, -and sought diversion in addressing Phemie with that disregard of -grammatical precedent to be expected from a girl named Hephzibah Diggs. - - * * * * * - -The usual number of loungers was in evidence at the Bridgewater -station, and the approach of Howard and his passenger was the signal -for animated comment. The rumors Agatha had been at such pains to -disseminate had taken on new and startling details as the village -gossips rolled them under their tongues. It was stated on indisputable -authority that Forbes had been the victim of sunstroke during his South -American sojourn, and that this had left him blind and with his mind -permanently affected. Another equally authoritative version pictured -him the slave of an appetite for liquor and accounted for his presence -at Oak Knoll by the fact that the village was "bone dry." All the -rumors agreed, however, in emphasizing Forbes' aversion to society, -and though Howard was surrounded and questioned as soon as he stepped -on the platform, it was not till the train was in sight that any one -ventured to approach the vehicle where Forbes sat alone. - -Howard, absorbed in the responsibilities connected with the -recognition of Mr. Warren, failed to notice the intrusion on Forbes' -privacy, but a number of other people were more observant. For once the -arrival of the four o'clock express had a rival in the public interest. -The unconscious Forbes was the target for a dozen pair of curious eyes, -as Jim Doolittle slouched toward him. - -Jim paused by the carryall and looked Forbes over with the agreeable -certainty that he could make his scrutiny as prolonged and insolent as -he pleased, without being called to account. Then as the noise of the -approaching train warned him to make the most of his conversational -opportunities, he ventured a remark: "How do you find yourself to-day?" - -Forbes' face showed no change of expression. Though Jim's nasal tones -reached him distinctly, it did not occur to him that he was the object -of solicitude. Jim waited vainly for a reply, and then, spurred to -persistence by his grinning audience, he tried again, this time lifting -his voice to a bellow, as if Forbes were deaf as well as blind. "Air -they treatin' you right out to Kent's?" - -Forbes turned with a start. "Beg pardon! I didn't know you were -speaking to me." - -"You're stayin' out to Kent's ain't you, for the summer? Folks say you -came for your health." - -"Yes." Forbes spoke stiffly, sharing the impression of most men who -have always been robust, that illness is a disgrace. "The doctors -advised a change of air." - -"And does Aggie Kent take good care of you?" - -The formality of Mr. Forbes' manner became more pronounced. "Miss -Kent," he replied, with marked emphasis on the prefix, "has made me -most comfortable." - -"Glad to hear it, glad to hear it," Mr. Doolittle assured him affably. -"Seems as if takin' boarders was pretty risky for anybody of her age." - -Forbes' irritation deepened. "Miss Kent is perfectly capable and -extremely vigorous. I believe she could tire me out." - -"Yes, I shouldn't wonder," Jim agreed, rather to Forbes' annoyance. -"And I guess Zaida Finch steadies her down when there's a chance of her -doin' something flighty." - -As this suggested to Forbes the weakening of his hostess' intellect -through age, necessitating the guardianship of Miss Finch, he contented -himself by a disdainful silence. The approach of Howard with a -stranger in tow checked further conversational angling on Jim's part -He tore himself away with a genial, "See you later," to which Forbes -responded by a non-committal grunt. But he forgot his annoyance as -Warren shouted his name, coupled with those abusive epithets with which -his sex are wont to disguise sentiment toward one another. - -Mr. Ridgeley Warren took an unaffected pleasure in his own society, -which as a rule proved contagious. He was an inveterate talker, noisy, -slangy, in every way Forbes' antithesis. Warren admired Forbes' -dignity, and Forbes found diversion in Warren's flow of spirits. And -beneath this mutual admiration was one of those steadfast affections -which springing up between two men is more lasting, in nine cases out -of ten, than the love between men and women. - -It was fortunate that the staid bays knew the way home, for though -Howard sat with the lines in his hands, he left to the horses all -responsibility for keeping to the road, and turning at the right -crossing. Warren told stories steadily all the way, and roared his -appreciation of each. Howard laughed too, and Forbes shared their -amusement, though less boisterously. Though the horses moved with -deliberation, the five-mile drive seemed short. - -As they turned up the driveway at Oak Knoll, Forbes said with the pride -of a proprietor, "Fine old place, isn't it?" - -"You bet," agreed Warren, his eyes upon one of the splendid oaks which -had given the place its name. Then beyond, he caught sight of the -house, and he leaned forward for a better look. "House been standing -for some time, from appearances." - -"Built by Miss Kent's grandfather," Forbes replied boastfully, "and -she's well on to seventy. I imagine the house is a hundred years old." - -Warren, staring at the sagging roof of the old building, looked as if -he could easily believe it, but unaware of his lack of enthusiasm, -Forbes continued: "I'm sorry you're not going to see Miss Kent, as -she's away for over Sunday. You'd fall in love with her on sight." - -Warren shrugged his shoulders. "Seventeen is nearer my style than -seventy. Can't you trot out some pretty girls for me to fall in love -with?" - -"I'm afraid Miss Finch is all we can offer you in the way of feminine -society, old man, and I've found her 'uncertain, coy and hard to -please.' But you always had a way with the ladies. You might do better." - -The carriage stopped at the door. Howard alighted and possessed himself -of the visitor's suit-case. Miss Finch, who from the window of the -living-room had watched their leisurely progress along the driveway, -appeared on the porch, prepared to do her duty as hostess if it killed -her. Miss Finch's nose was red and her lips were blue. Despite the -warmth of the mild summer day, her teeth chattered. - -Warren's hilarious air had disappeared with his first view of the -dilapidated country house where his friend was spending the summer. -His introduction to Miss Finch completed his undoing. He stared at -the tremulous little figure in silent stupefaction. What on earth -was Forbes doing in this tumbledown building with two old women for -company? And the extraordinary part was that Forbes seemed contented -with his quarters. Warren ascended the stairs to his room, trying to -make up his mind how to handle the situation. He had an uneasy feeling -that his friend was being imposed on. - -The appearance of his quarters confirmed his worst apprehensions. -Warren looked around him, shook his head, and rejoined Forbes on the -porch, feeling the necessity of immediate action. But Forbes' air of -tranquillity made him hesitate. After all, if Forbes himself were -satisfied, that was the main thing. - -He broached the topic cautiously. "I judge your friend, Miss Kent, -isn't what you'd call opulent." - -"Hardly, or I shouldn't be here. She advertised for boarders. Some one -was reading me a few of the promising ads from the _Onlooker_, and I -recognized her name. You see I visited her once when I was a boy, and -I've always remembered the beauty of the place." - -"Trees are fine," agreed Warren with reserve. "But the buildings all -seem rather seedy. Need paint badly." - -"Do they?" Forbes spoke indifferently. "Paint is the least of my -troubles." - -"I suppose so. But say, Forbes, are you sure it's a good thing for you -to be cooped up here all summer with two old hens?" - -He had fancied he was being tactful, but to his surprise Forbes seemed -irritated. - -"You haven't seen Miss Kent. If you had, you'd know that she's a -regular beef, iron and wine combination." - -"If she's like Miss Finch," Warren was beginning, when Forbes -interrupted him with such spontaneous laughter that he dropped his -sentence unfinished. - -"She's about as much like Miss Finch as a collie pup is like those -Teddy bears the kids lug around. She's an old lady in years, but -otherwise she's as young as you or I. She's so full of vitality that -you can't be near her ten minutes without feeling braced up. She's like -a mountain breeze." - -"Pity a woman of that sort didn't marry," commented Warren dryly. - -"That's what my old dad thought. Miss Kent was his first love, and he -stayed single on her account till he was well on to forty." - -"Maybe that's why you're ace high with the old lady. She's trying to -make up to the son for turning down the father." - -"Can't say, I'm sure. I imagine it's her disposition to be kind to the -crippled and disabled and generally good-for-nothing." - -His tone was suddenly bitter, and Warren's look sharpened. "How's -Julia?" he asked with seeming irrelevance. - -"Julia's well and enjoying herself." Forbes' manner seemed to defy his -friend to criticize, and Warren, who would have enjoyed nothing better -than expressing his opinion of Julia, changed the subject abruptly. -If Forbes liked this gone-to-seed place and the society of old women -it was no concern of his. Queer how differently men were affected -when their love-affairs went wrong. Some took to drink and some were -women-haters. With Forbes it had developed a craving for the atmosphere -of an Old Ladies' Home. Every man to his taste. - -Supper partly dissipated Warren's concern. The dining-room was as rusty -as the rest of the house. Miss Finch at the head of the table looked -tinier and more frightened than ever. The girl who waited on the table -was, without exception, Warren decided, the most unattractive specimen -of youthful femininity he had ever come across. But the supper was -unique. As Warren ate, his high spirits returned. Old Forbes knew what -he was about, after all. A homely waitress need not trouble a blind -man. Warren was almost inclined to believe that he himself could put up -with the sight of Phemie's vacant face for the rest of his life, if he -could be sure of three such meals every day. - -In the relief from his anxiety regarding Forbes, Warren turned his -attention to Miss Finch. She looked so helpless over all his jokes, -that he realized the necessity of strict literalness in dealing with -her. "I suppose you've known Miss Kent for a long time," he said by way -of beginning. - -Miss Finch paled over the shock of being addressed, but answered with -unusual promptness, "Yes, ever since she was a teething baby." - -In an instant she knew what she had done even before Forbes, turning a -perplexed face in her direction, asked, "But you're the younger of the -two, are you not?" - -Miss Finch opened her mouth like a newly-landed fish, and closed it -again without speaking. The device Agatha had suggested and which -she had mentally dismissed as "acting a lie," thrust itself upon her -recollection, and she clutched it with the avidity of the desperate. -Putting her hand to her ear with the immemorial gesture of the deaf, -she quavered, "What did you say?" - -"I asked if you weren't the younger of the two. Miss Kent said to me -the other day that she thought of you as a mere girl." - -"I didn't quite catch what you said," faltered Miss Finch, but before -Forbes could again repeat his inquiry, Phemie created a diversion. -She had taken the water pitcher to refill it, and as she advanced -to the kitchen door, her tray extended before her, she looked back. -It was characteristic of Phemie to walk in one direction and look -in another. Agatha was beginning to congratulate herself on having -at last eradicated this tendency, but she had not reckoned on the -effect of a handsome and lively young man on Phemie's susceptible -temperament. As she turned for another look at Warren, Phemie's tray -came into collision with the door and the pitcher, overturning, broke -in fragments. - -As was inevitable, every one turned to look. Warren, who was in range -of the door, saw it open, apparently of its own accord. A figure stood -in the passageway, fairly dazzling in its effect after the gray tints -of Miss Finch, the subdued tan and tow of Phemie. His eyes drank in the -colorful apparition for some ten seconds and then a rounded arm closed -the door. Phemie picked up the fragments of the broken pitcher, and -tearfully withdrew. - -Miss Finch sat through the remainder of the meal without tasting a -morsel, waiting in an agony of apprehension for Forbes to ask her again -whether she was older or younger than Miss Kent. She might have spared -her anxiety, for Warren's flow of conversation gave no chance for -settling such minor perplexities. Warren was one of the men to whom the -propinquity of a pretty woman is as stimulating as champagne. He did -not think it probable that the apparition in the kitchen could hear his -witticisms, but he assumed that she must realize who was responsible -for the hilarity at the supper table. And even without this confidence, -he would probably have talked and jested in the same breezy fashion, -this form of responsiveness to beauty being instinctive with him rather -than deliberate. - -The moment he was alone with Forbes, Warren broached the subject -engrossing his thoughts. "Burton, you have my sympathy. You don't know -what you're missing. Under this roof there's as pretty a bit of flesh -and blood as ever wore petticoats. Take it from me, she's a peach." - -"Phemie?" exclaimed Forbes. "The waitress?" - -Warren's derisive yell effectually settled Phemie's claims. "Gosh, no! -That girl would stop a clock. This one was out in the kitchen, but I -could see her peeking through after the smash-up." - -"Oh, yes," exclaimed Forbes, recollecting. "I know. That's Hephzibah." - -Warren positively staggered. "Lord, forbid," he ejaculated piously, -"she can't be." - -"She is, though, Hephzibah Diggs." - -Again Warren's stentorian tones shattered the peace of the night. -He used his first spare breath in announcing his intention to get a -nearer view and see if a girl named Hephzibah Diggs could possibly be -the beauty she had seemed. The announcement of this intention rendered -Forbes uneasy. - -"You let Hephzibah alone," he warned his friend. "These self-respecting -country girls think themselves as good as anybody--they _are_ as good -as anybody. And I'm responsible to Miss Kent for your behavior." - -"I don't want anything of the girl except to see her by daylight. She's -not too self-respecting for that, is she?" And then seeing that Forbes -was really annoyed, Warren dropped the subject of Hephzibah, though -without the least alteration in his intentions. - -It did not prove so easy as he had anticipated to get a satisfactory -view of the girl whose face, glimpsed in the half-light of the -previous evening, had seemed so alluring. At breakfast time Phemie met -with no accident, and though Warren watched the swinging door that led -to the kitchen with the alertness of a cat at a rat hole, it swung open -and shut without revealing anything more seductive than a corner of the -kitchen table. The day was warm, but the outside kitchen door remained -obstinately closed, and on the rare occasions when it opened, it was -Phemie who emerged. - -Warren was not a man who readily surrendered. Indeed, difficulties -were likely to stiffen a careless desire into adamantine resolution. -When his watch showed noon and Hephzibah Diggs continued invisible, he -decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He rose from -his chair on the porch stretching his sinewy length lazily. "I believe -I'll walk about a bit," he said, "and work up an appetite for dinner. -With meals like these, a man wants to be able to do himself full -justice every time he sits down to the table." - -"You ought to try Miss Kent's cooking," boasted Forbes. "She trained -this girl, and she does well, but she's not a patch on her teacher." - -Warren's stroll took him no farther than the kitchen door. He ascended -the steps jauntily and knocked. After waiting vainly for an invitation -to enter, he decided to assume that it had been spoken, and pushing the -door ajar, he walked in. - -Over in the corner Phemie was chopping something in a wooden bowl, but -in spite of the insistent tapping of the knife upon the wood, he was -hardly conscious of her existence. A girl stood at the table rolling -out biscuit, and her sleeve turned back almost to the shoulders, -revealed a faultless arm, white and rounded and tapering to the -finger-tips. She turned her head at his step and he thrilled with -amazed pleasure. His glimpse of the previous evening had not been -misleading. Indeed his impression had fallen short of the actuality. He -was looking at the handsomest young woman he had ever seen. - -Mr. Ridgeley Warren did not lack self-confidence. His momentary silence -was due to wondering admiration, not to any doubt of his power to -please. With smiling self-possession he advanced into the room. In her -corner Phemie chopped on steadily, without removing her fascinated -eyes from his face. Hephzibah--it was preposterous that this radiant -creature should be encumbered with such a name--continued to roll -biscuit. - -"You seem busy here," remarked Warren in his most ingratiating manner. -"Don't you want an assistant?" - -He was sorry to discover that the voice of Hephzibah Diggs was not in -accord with her bodily perfection. She talked through her nose and that -fact impressed him so painfully he almost lost the force of her reply, -"Guess me and Phemie kin manage." - -"I'm quite a little cook myself," continued Warren, saddened but not -discouraged. "In my last place they said my parboiled cauliflower beat -anything they had ever tasted. And my string-bean _parfait_ has become -popular in the best New York restaurants." - -Phemie's delighted gasp was his sole applause. Hephzibah Diggs gave her -attention to her biscuits. - -Warren seated himself on one corner of the immaculate table and began -to talk with his customary volubility. His remarks took the form -he imagined would please a country farmer's daughter, lacking the -rudiments of education. He soon realized, and with some irritation, -that he was making an impression on the wrong girl. Phemie chortled -joyfully over her chopping. Hephzibah Diggs listened as if it were -against her principles to smile. - -She brought three eggs from the pantry presently and broke them in a -workmanlike manner, whites in one bowl, and yolks in another. "Got to -have three more," she said to Phemie in that unpleasant nasal voice -which helped to reconcile Warren to her continued silence. - -A little flicker of triumph crossed Warren's face. Her sending Phemie -for eggs was obviously a ruse to be alone with him. When Phemie had -departed on her errand, with obvious reluctance, he leaned toward -Hephzibah, his smile so confident that it was almost a smirk. She -looked up with a directness rather disconcerting and he reflected that -her eyes even in a face like Phemie's, would have given her a certain -claim to beauty. - -"I don't like men folks hangin' 'round when I'm busy." Her speech, it -appeared, was as direct as the gaze of those adorable, reddish brown -eyes. - -"Then what do you say to a little walk when you've finished your work?" - -"I ain't got the time." - -"You mean you've got another fellow up your sleeve, don't you? Say, -let's give him the slip. You ought to be nice to me after I've come so -far to see you." - -She turned her attention again to the cooking, drawing her arched brows -into a frown. He noticed with approval that her beauty lost nothing of -its distinction by her look of ill temper. But perhaps that was because -the ill temper was a make-believe. - -He leaned toward her persuasively, losing his head a little in her -proximity. His pulses quickened. He thought he had never seen anything -prettier than the way her hair crinkled away from her creamy neck. -It occurred to him that he would like to kiss the cheek whose vivid -freshness seemed an invitation to such temerity. Country people were -primitive and direct. With a girl of the type of Hephzibah Diggs, a -kiss was simply a natural expression of admiration. - -As his lips brushed that blooming cheek, she reached for the bowl -containing the egg yolks. She did not look in his direction as she -flung the contents in his face, but her aim was true. He sprang to his -feet with a gasp and a sputter. There was an incredible quantity of -that sticky yellow stuff, matting his hair, dripping from his eyebrows, -trickling in sickening streams down his neck. - -"You little vixen. Does this stuff spot?" - -Hephzibah ignored his inquiry. Warren backed away, laughing nervously, -his mood divided between anger with her and shame for himself. Then -panic seized him at the thought of encountering Phemie and he took a -hasty departure, mopping himself with his handkerchief as he ran. - -Howard had driven Miss Finch to church and Forbes was alone on the -porch. "You didn't walk far," he said, recognizing his friend's step. - -"No--o. Had an encounter with a wasp. I'll be down in a minute when I -repair damages." - -He hoped Hephzibah would not tell Miss Kent of the episode, but he -decided to take the chance, and suggested to Forbes his coming up again -in two or three weeks. To his surprise Forbes was not enthusiastic. - -"It was awfully good of Miss Kent to take me in," he explained, -apparently forgetful of the advertisement which was responsible for -his presence at Oak Knoll. "And I don't want to bother her with too -much company. I think she finds it upsetting to have strangers around, -and it's not singular when you come to think of it. For all she's so -wonderful, she's really getting to be an old lady." - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -HEPHZIBAH COMES TO LIFE - - -Miss Kent's company at breakfast Monday morning was an agreeable -surprise to Forbes, his pleasure chastened only by his regret that -Warren had left on the late train the previous evening. "I particularly -wanted you to meet him," Forbes complained. "If I'd known you were to -be back so early I should have insisted on his staying over." - -"It's only the young who can make a good impression at breakfast," -Agatha responded. "Old people need twilight and candles." She raised -her eyebrows in the direction of Howard, who was indicating his -approval of her answer by a soundless show of spirited applause. - -"I'd risk the impression you'd make any hour in the twenty-four," -rejoined Forbes gallantly. "But it is too late now. Serves Warren right -for being in such a rush to get back to his confounded business. Tell -us all about your good time, Miss Kent." - -"I didn't have one." Agatha felt the statement to be indiscreet, but -her imagination was not equal to lending any glamour to her nightmare -of a Sunday. - -"You didn't enjoy yourself?" Forbes' voice indicated sympathetic -surprise. "Why, what was wrong?" - -"I didn't say I was going away to enjoy myself. I didn't expect to. You -took that for granted." - -"I see. One of those formal visits that are even more deadly than -formal calls, because they're longer." - -"And it turned out worse than I expected." Agatha was finding a certain -melancholy pleasure in speaking her real sentiments. "Because I had -a disagreeable encounter with a perfectly obnoxious person. But it's -over, thank heaven, and I don't want to talk about it." - -This topic being tabooed by mutual consent, it was natural that Forbes -should begin to talk about Julia, as a theme eminently calculated to -cheer the despondent, and lend interest to the most tedious hour. -Agatha, listening, realized that her week was to be a hard one. It was -time for Forbes to expect another letter from Julia, and of course -Julia would not write so promptly as he expected, and it would be -increasingly difficult to keep him in good spirits. Over her coffee -Agatha laid plans for distracting her boarder's thoughts from his -elusive correspondent. - -Her apprehension proved correct. That afternoon Howard was sent to -the village to do one or two little errands for his employer, and -incidentally to get the mail. The next day the same program was -followed and the third brought no change. And meanwhile the arrival of -the Rural Free Delivery wagon was daily awaited with an anticipation -not justified by results. - -Agatha starting down the long driveway one morning, as the fateful hour -approached, saw Forbes and Howard on ahead, evidently bound on the same -errand. Before she could turn back, Howard caught sight of her and -abandoning his charge, he came toward her on the run. - -"You were starting for the mail, weren't you, Aggie? Would you mind -taking him along while I see if I've got a rat in my trap?" Then -dropping his voice to a scornful undertone, "He's got to go himself -because he's expecting a letter from his girl, and can't wait for it to -be brought up. See?" - -Agatha accepted the commission without comment. She joined Forbes, -and taking his arm, guided him the length of the shaded drive. Neither -had much to say. Forbes was evidently bracing himself for possible -disappointment and Agatha was not in a talkative mood. They had hardly -reached the main road before Agatha's observant eyes detected in the -distance a significant cloud of dust. "He's coming," she said with -a reservation in her tone intended to warn her companion not to be -over-sanguine. "We won't have long to wait." - -The wagon approached and halted. The driver produced a miscellaneous -assortment of letters and one good-sized package, the latter he -scrutinized as if reluctant to part with it. "Do you know anybody -around here," he brought out with irritating deliberation, "by the name -of Diggs--Hep--Hephzibah Diggs? Ain't that a name for your life?" - -Agatha gazed at him wild-eyed, incapable for the moment of speech. - -"It's addressed to Oak Knoll," the speaker continued. "But I thought -mebbe there was some mistake. I never knew any Diggses in these parts." - -Agatha recovered herself and extended her hand. "Yes," she said -hurriedly. "It's all right. I'll take it." - -The mail-carrier surrendered the collection. "You're getting to have -quite a raft of boarders," he commented affably. "Feller has to have -his wits about him to keep track of so many new names." He clucked to -his horses and the wagon rattled on. - -Oblivious to her responsibilities as temporary post-mistress, Agatha -stood quaking. To her guilty conscience the significance of the -mail-carrier's inquiry was unmistakable. He had never heard of a -family in the vicinity named Diggs. He assumed that Hephzibah was -a summer boarder. Agatha did not doubt that Forbes was pondering -these extraordinary facts, and that his first words would demand -an explanation. With hanging head she waited for him to begin his -cross-examination, but his voice when he spoke was anxious rather than -peremptory. "Well?" - -Agatha gasped. "I--why--you see--" - -"You know her handwriting, don't you?" asked the lover. "I'm not sure -where this letter will be posted." - -Agatha reflected that love is sometimes deaf as well as blind. So -engrossed was Forbes in his own anticipations that the compromising -conversation with the mail-carrier had made no impression on his -consciousness. After a hasty survey of the handful of letters, Agatha -announced in a stifled voice that there were two letters for Forbes, -but neither seemed to be from Julia. Her face betrayed an emotion due -not to the tragedy of Forbes' disappointment, but to the discovery that -there was a letter as well as a package, addressed to Hephzibah Diggs. -That young woman, the fantasy of a day, had taken on a terrifying -vitality. There was no way of estimating her possible activities. -Agatha's emotions were those of Frankenstein when he discovered that -his monster was alive. - -They made their way back to the house, Forbes valiantly explaining why -it was foolish to have expected a letter before afternoon, and Agatha -making irrelevant replies. She turned her companion over to Howard -and escaped to her room with the mail addressed to Hephzibah Diggs. -An absurd scruple regarding the opening of other people's letters -temporarily paralyzed her efficient right arm, and she stood staring at -the address of the communication without coming any nearer a knowledge -of its contents. It was impossible to rid herself of the feeling that -she was on the point of attempting something dishonorable. - -"What a fool I am," she groaned in exasperation. "Hephzibah Diggs -isn't anybody, but if she were anybody, she'd be me." She tore open -the letter without giving herself a chance to evade the inevitable -conclusion of this bit of logic. - -It was from Warren, of course. She had been prepared for that, -even without the testimony of his bold signature. With a curiosity -that momentarily made her oblivious to the menacing aspects of the -situation, Agatha read the brief communication: - - "My Dear Miss Diggs: - - "I am writing you a line to apologize for my conduct Sunday. You were - all right, and I was all wrong. At the same time, you'll have to take - a little share of the blame for being so distractingly pretty that a - man's likely to lose his head when he comes near you. - - "I am sending you by this mail a package which I hope you will accept - as indicating my regret for having offended you, and my sincere wish - to be - - "Your friend, - - "Ridgeley Warren." - -Agatha turned her thoughtful attention to the package which bore -Hephzibah's name. She proceeded to strip off the wrapping paper with -a haste indicating that her scruples were finally set at rest. Then -as she took the cover from the five-pound box of chocolates, and gazed -enraptured at the triumph of the confectioner's art, she temporarily -laid aside the feeling of age due to the faithful impersonation of her -great-aunt, and became nineteen or a trifle less. - -"Chocolates," murmured Agatha. "And millions of them. In the person of -Hephzibah Diggs I accept the apology." - -When she reappeared upon the porch, her manner was cheerful, and a -number of yawning cavities marred the symmetrical arrangement of the -topmost layer of chocolates in the box up-stairs. Forbes greeted her -with more animation than she had looked for, considering his recent -crushing disappointment. - -"That's you, isn't it, Miss Kent?" - -"Yes." - -"Here's a letter Howard has just read me. I want you to look it over -and tell me what you think of it." - -"Very well." Agatha seated herself comfortably and took the letter from -his extended hand. But Forbes was evidently desirous of preparing her -for its contents. - -"It will be a surprise to you, I imagine, Miss Kent. What is your -opinion of Hephzibah? Is she really such a stunning beauty?" - -"I suppose she would be considered fairly good-looking if anyone -liked the type." Agatha flattered herself that she had spoken with a -creditable lack of prejudice. - -"According to Warren she's considerably more than that. The fact is, -he--but you'd better read the letter. That makes it plain enough." - -With a return of her previous misgivings, Agatha followed his -suggestion. - - "My Dear Forbes: - - "If you had shown a little more enthusiasm over my suggestion of - dropping in on you again soon, I should have run down at the end of - the week, and had a good talk with you. Owing to your inhospitable - reluctance I'm obliged to trust to writing, which I sometimes think - was invented, as somebody said about speech, for the purpose of - concealing thought. - - "To come straight to the point, I must confess that I had a short and - not wholly satisfactory interview with the fair Hephzibah on Sunday, - in the course of which my earlier impression of her beauty was more - than confirmed. By jove, Burton, she positively is a dream. And the - idea that a creature of that sort should spend her days amid pots - and kettles is obnoxious to any right-thinking man. We've got to do - something about it, Forbes. What do you think of sending her to - school somewhere, and having her educated? It would be virgin soil, - I imagine, for the poor girl can't open her mouth without taking a - bite out of the king's English, and her voice is like a guinea hen's. - But that could be trained out of her. For all her ignorance, she's - nobody's fool. You can see that by looking at her. - - "Now I'm putting the thing up to you because I suppose it would be - better to have Miss Kent act for us in the matter. Judging from my - brief experience Hephzibah--can't we find some euphonic substitute - for that name?--is as self-respecting as the devil. Explain to Miss - Kent that I'm a respectable man of philanthropic tendencies--hitherto - unrecognized--and ask her what would be the best way to go about - taking the girl in hand, and giving her an education, or enough of one - so she can make a reasonably good appearance. And then we can decide - on the next step. A few hundred a year will be enough to do the job - properly, and if you feel like going into it with me, it might help to - reassure Miss Kent as to the impeccability of my motives. - - "Lord! What a letter! I haven't written so much with my own fist since - I was in college, and at the same time I feel as if fifteen minutes of - chinning would have made the matter a heap clearer. If the girl should - prove to have enough head for the legitimate stage she ought to make a - hit as Katharine, in _Taming the Shrew_. She's exactly the type, red - hair and all. - - "Regards to the voluble Miss Finch, to Howard, and of course to Miss - Kent. - - Yours, - - "R.W." - -Agatha was glad the letter was a long one, as this gave her time to -think. And yet the result of her thinking was but a confused jumble -of varying apprehensions. Her recollection of Warren's face as he -leaned toward her, was that of a man not easily turned aside from a -purpose. But somehow or other he must be forced to surrender his absurd -philanthropic intentions in behalf of Hephzibah Diggs. - -Forbes was waiting for her verdict. "Well?" he said at last, when she -showed no inclination to speak. "What do you think of it?" - -Agatha cleared her throat. "It's out of the question," she shot at him -so violently that he looked startled. - -"I'm ready to vouch for Warren," he hastened to say. "I don't mean -that he would be as ready to help a plain girl as a pretty one, but I -assure you that your protegee would be perfectly safe as far as he's -concerned. And I suppose he's right in thinking that beauty is one of -the talents, and it's hardly fair to keep it wrapped in a napkin." - -"But she doesn't want to be educated," Agatha protested. "She's -perfectly satisfied just as she is." - -Again Forbes seemed to find her vehemence perplexing. "Perhaps her -ignorance explains her indifference," he suggested. "Do you think -she's capable of learning?" - -"I suppose she's capable enough." - -"If she's really a strikingly handsome young woman with a fair mind, -and Warren is sufficiently interested in her to give her an education, -doesn't it seem that she should be encouraged to accept his offer? -Surely if she is what he thinks, she is capable of something better -than the work she is doing at present. Unless you have some good reason -for feeling that it would not do--" - -"But I have," flashed Agatha. "I have." - -"Oh, indeed!" He seemed to be waiting for her to explain, and she -floundered on with a horrible sensation of being caught in a quicksand. - -"She doesn't wish to be educated. She doesn't wish any notice taken of -her; she only asks to be let alone." - -"To be let alone." He said the words over as if they had a hidden, -mysterious meaning. "Oh, I think I begin to see." - -Agatha sighed her satisfaction. She had no idea what explanation had -presented itself to the perspicacious Mr. Forbes, but she perceived -that at length her protests had taken effect and he was prepared to -relinquish the argument. So great was her relief that the processes of -his mind failed to interest her. - -Unluckily Forbes was one of the people who insist on certainty. "I -suppose," he said, a note of sympathy in his deep voice, "that the poor -girl has been unfortunate." - -Agatha blanched. He waited for her avowal, then tried again: "You -mean, I suppose, there's some unhappy episode in her past life and she -doesn't want to attract attention for fear of its bobbing up again." - -Agatha stared at him aghast. Her first impulse to defend the character -of Hephzibah Diggs at any cost yielded to a less worthy caution. If -she gave Hephzibah a clean bill of health, figuratively speaking, -what other reason could she invent for her invincible repugnance -to attracting attention? With fascinated horror she realized that -Forbes' conjecture exactly filled the requirements of the case. There -was no help for it. The fair name of the blameless Hephzibah must be -sacrificed to that most merciless of the divinities, the exigency of -the moment. - -"You have expressed it," faltered Agatha with an unnerving sense of -rank injustice, "as well as I could have myself." - -"Poor girl!" Forbes repeated, "and so young, too. At least I suppose -she's young, from Warren's idea of educating her." - -Again he waited for an answer, and Agatha stammered, "Ni-nineteen." - -"And all this happened some time ago, I suppose." - -"Oh, a long time." Agatha was crimson to her ears. - -"It seems a shame," mused Forbes aloud. "Her whole life to be -sacrificed for one step aside from the straight and narrow path. You -and I know the world, Miss Kent. And we know--" - -"Oh, please," protested Agatha faintly, "I don't know anything about -it." - -He leaned toward her quickly, touched by the appeal in her voice. - -"Excuse me, Miss Kent. I know you belong to a generation whose women -were trained to shut their eyes to a great many things. I don't believe -in that theory of life, but I haven't any intention of violating your -prejudices. All I wanted to say was that you and I have lived long -enough to know that thousands of our respected citizens, prominent -socially and otherwise, are every bit as guilty as that poor girl. And -since this is the case, isn't it a pity that her morbid sensitiveness -should shut her out of making something of herself?" - -It was unbelievable. Hephzibah's reputation had been blackened in -vain. Even now he was unwilling to leave her in the seclusion her -sensitiveness craved. He was determined to drag her into a garish -publicity. Iphigenia had been sacrificed and still the winds were -unfavorable. - -"Oh, I wish you would not talk of this any more," cried Agatha, the -intensity of her feeling showing in her moved voice. "I understand -Hephzibah's case a great deal better than you do, better than you ever -can. And I know that the thing you're talking about is out of the -question." - -His face reflected her agitation in the shape of profound sympathy. -"You're sure that if we talked it over, we wouldn't find a way out? Two -heads are better than one, you know?" - -"I'm absolutely certain." - -"Then I won't distress you any further. Of course Warren has barely -seen the girl, and it's evident that his head was a little turned -by her beauty. You know her, and I'm sure you appreciate the -responsibility of deciding a question that concerns her so closely, -without even consulting her." - -"I can speak for her as I would for myself." - -"Then I'm sorry if the suggestion has worried you. I'll see you're not -bothered again." He spoke confidently, and Agatha hoped he did not -overestimate his influence where Ridgeley Warren was concerned. When -she remembered the square chin of the last-named young man, she did not -feel sure. - -In her heart she gave Forbes credit for having done his best. Later -in the day Howard showed her a letter he had written to Mr. Ridgeley -Warren at Forbes' dictation. Without explanation but in the most -emphatic manner possible, Warren was assured that his scheme was -impracticable. "I can not very well go into details," the letter ran, -"but Miss Kent, who knows the case thoroughly, has convinced me that -the kindest thing, as far as the girl is concerned, is to leave her -alone." And to this sentiment Agatha sighed a tremulous amen. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -DAY DREAMS - - -For the first time since she could remember, Miss Finch felt herself -living in an atmosphere of romance. If a young man's fancy turns to -thoughts of love only under the allurements of spring weather, Zaida -Finch surpassed the average youth by full three seasons. Love and -matrimony occupied her thoughts twelve months in the year, and to an -extent inconceivable in view of her general colorless and withered -aspect. - -Though as far as possible removed from the designing spinster of -the comic stage, Miss Finch had not as yet surrendered the hope of -changing her name. From her point of view the unmarried woman was a -self-advertised failure. Husbands, as far as she had been able to -observe, were always disappointing, and not infrequently obnoxious, -yet to lack one somehow proved one's self less than a woman. In those -dreams which never passed the bounds of maidenly reserve, she sometimes -imagined herself addressed by the prefix which indicates the dignity of -wifehood--she would have died sooner than have coupled it with the name -of any man of her acquaintance--and then in the words of a simpler and -more direct age, she felt that her reproach among men had been taken -away. The secret weighing heaviest on her heart was the knowledge that -no man had ever indicated that he wanted her. - -Needless to say, Miss Finch's present mood of sentiment was entirely -vicarious. Agatha's prospects absorbed her almost to the exclusion of -her own timid dreams. Miss Finch was constitutionally incapable of -realizing Agatha's vivid beauty, though she sometimes told herself that -if it were not for her red hair, which she innocently assumed to be a -misfortune, Agatha would be a really pretty girl. Forbes had no sooner -made his appearance than Miss Finch had inventoried his qualifications -for Agatha's future husband, and had not found him altogether wanting. -His blindness was a misfortune largely offset by his amiability, -and free use of money, and in her association with him, Agatha had -developed a sympathetic patience her old friend could not regard as -characteristic. - -"And it looks to me as if he were taken with her," Miss Finch had -congratulated herself. "He chirks up as soon as she comes near him. If -he likes her so well when he thinks she's an old woman, he ought to -like her better when he finds she's a young one." - -There was, to be sure, one serious difficulty to be met in the -readjustment of Forbes' ideas on the important subject of Agatha's -identity. At this point Miss Finch's dreams ended in chaotic confusion -and with her oft-repeated lament, "There's no good going to come from -cheating a blind man." - -After Warren's visit, Miss Finch's match-making tendencies took -another direction. If Warren had failed to make an impression on the -unsusceptible Hephzibah, he had nothing to complain of as far as Phemie -and Miss Finch were concerned. In spite of the agitation induced by her -unwonted responsibilities on the occasion of Warren's visit, Miss Finch -had been keenly alive to the young man's cheerful good humor, and his -naive self-enjoyment had communicated itself to the one of his audience -who seemed least responsive. "Exactly the one for dear Agatha," -declared Miss Finch. - -With the discovery of the source of the box of chocolates, Miss -Finch's smoldering hopes leaped into flame. Caution had dictated -Agatha's concealment of Warren's tangible apology, but to a girl -of her temperament the solitary consumption of a five-pound box of -confectionery was a moral impossibility. Her innate generosity forced -her to share the sweets with Forbes and Miss Finch and Howard and -even with Phemie. Three of her beneficiaries accepted their shares -as unthinkingly as the lilies of the field, but Miss Finch showed a -troublesome tendency to ask questions. - -"Agatha, you don't mean you've been wasting your money on candy? A box -of that size must have cost something awful." - -"No, Fritz, I didn't buy it." - -Experience had taught Miss Finch to be on her guard when Agatha -wore that look of wide-eyed innocence. She pondered the seemingly -straight-forward reply. - -"Having things charged is the same as buying 'em, Agatha. You've got to -pay for 'em some time." - -"But these were given me, Fritz dear. They were an apology." - -"Mr. Forbes!" gasped Miss Finch, and at once the strains of the wedding -march rang in her ears. - -"Mr. Forbes! The very idea! The only trouble with him is that he never -did anything in his life to apologize _for_. He's so perfect that -people mistake him for a worm and trample on him." - -"I didn't mean to make you mad, Agatha," Miss Finch protested timidly, -shrinking from the flame in Agatha's eyes. The inexplicable girl stared -for a moment and then to Miss Finch's great relief, burst into a laugh. - -"Fritz, you're funnier than a box of monkeys. If you must know, Mr. -Warren sent the chocolates." - -"To you?" Miss Finch almost screamed it. And forthwith the summer -breeze brought to her nostrils the odor of orange blossoms. - -"That's the question that's troubling me, Fritz. The box was addressed -to Hephzibah. But as I am her nearest living relative--you might almost -say her mother--" - -Miss Finch swept these fine points aside. "I didn't know he'd ever seen -you." - -"He walked into the kitchen while you were at church. That's exactly -his style, I imagine. And when he saw me there rolling biscuits, he -talked a lot of nonsense and ended by kissing me." - -"Agatha!" gasped Miss Finch. Her emotions were confused. She was under -the impression that this recital confirmed her wildest hopes and at the -same time outraged her finer sensibilities. Possibly her reprehensibly -exultant feeling was due to an overwhelming certainty that this at -least was life. - -Her face aflame as if she and not Agatha had been the recipient of that -kiss, Miss Finch attempted to discharge her responsibilities as mentor -of youth. "Agatha, I can't understand it. I'm afraid you must have -acted bold. I never heard of a gentleman's walking into a kitchen, and -kissing a young lady he'd never seen before." - -"Nor I, Fritz. And that leads me to the conclusion that Mr. Warren -isn't exactly a gentleman. At the same time," Agatha added, helping -herself to another chocolate, "he apologized very sweetly." - -"Is he coming to see you?" demanded Miss Finch, who in her ignorance of -the ways of the great world assumed that so spontaneous a tribute must -be merely preliminary to an ardent courtship. - -"He had an idea of taking my education in hand." Agatha briefly -outlined Warren's philanthropic scheme in behalf of Hephzibah Diggs, -and Miss Finch turned all colors as she listened. Now at last she knew -that the romantic novels with which she solaced her leisure hours had -not misled her. There really _was_ such a thing as love at first sight. - -"Agatha!" she ventured tremulously, "you could marry that man to-morrow -if you liked. It's as plain as the nose on your face that he's dead in -love with you." - -"If it were as plain as the nose on _his_ face, that would settle it. -But as nothing would induce me to marry him to-morrow or any other day, -the state of his feelings doesn't matter." - -"But I'm sure, Agatha," remonstrated Miss Finch, "that you wouldn't -want to break his heart." - -Agatha's reply was a paroxysm of laughter that left her gasping and -tearful. "Oh, Fritz," she half sobbed, as she wiped her eyes, "I'm so -glad you didn't die when you were little." - -Miss Finch was on her dignity. "I know you're making fun of me, Agatha. -But it's no laughing matter to wreck a man's life." - -Again Agatha yielded to mirth. "You've seen Mr. Warren and yet you say -that." - -"I can't see why you take that tone, Agatha. I'm sure he's a nice young -man and so lively." - -"I'll admit the liveliness but not the heart, at least not the broken -heart. That young man owns a good, tough, thoroughly seasoned organ, -take it from me." - -Miss Finch sighed but with less dejection than her manner indicated. -Little as she had learned of the ways of men and women in her guileless -spinsterhood, she had somehow gathered the impression that girls -occasionally abused the admirers who stood highest in their maidenly -affections, for the pleasure of hearing them defended. And though she -could not be sure that this explained Agatha's slighting references -to a most agreeable young man, Miss Finch resolved to lose no -opportunity of sounding Warren's praises. In his case, too, there was -an unfortunate confusion of identity to be cleared up, but from Miss -Finch's point of view, a young man who could give a kiss and a mammoth -box of chocolates to a pretty girl, under the impression that she was -a servant, would not hesitate to lay his heart at her feet when he -discovered that her blood was as good as his own. - -Developments convinced Miss Finch of the wisdom of her chosen tactics. -She overlooked no opportunity to speak a good word for the absent -Warren, acquiring a certain irrelevant eloquence on the theme. And -though Agatha gave no indication of agreeing with her, it was evident -that she enjoyed her earnestness and was more inclined to lead her on -than to check her fluency. - -Whether because of Miss Finch's judicious opposition or some less -obvious reason, Agatha was in noticeably high spirits. She entered into -playing her role with a whimsical abandon that at times moved even Miss -Finch to laughter, in spite of her conscientious misgivings. Indeed the -spirit of cheerful animation pervaded the entire household. Whether -because Forbes had at length resigned himself to hearing from Julia -only once in two or three weeks, or whether the improvement in his -health furnished the necessary elasticity for resisting disappointment, -his moods of depression were becoming very infrequent. He spent less -time on the porch and more on long jaunts with Howard. The two went -fishing frequently and sometimes Agatha made a third, in which case -the pace was regulated strictly according to Forbes' view of what was -due her advanced years. Agatha was sure she would find more enjoyment -on the occasions when the two males went as fast and as far as they -pleased, undeterred by consideration for the aged. - -One exhilarating morning Forbes and Howard left soon after breakfast, -taking their luncheon with them, and advising Agatha to expect them -only when she saw them. With her customary knack for utilizing the -moments, Agatha improved their absence to despatch a number of tasks -awaiting her attention, and wound up by washing her hair. She made -her appearance on the lawn in the early afternoon, her splendid mane -falling almost to her waist and reflecting the sunshine like burnished -copper. Already the little tendrils were beginning to curl about her -face while the water dropped from the long ends. - -Agatha seated herself in the sun, lifting the coppery mass strand by -strand, that it might dry more quickly. Had Miss Finch been versed in -classical lore, she might have been reminded of the golden fleece for -which men risked so much. As it was she said chidingly, "Agatha, you -will freckle terribly if you're not careful." - -"This sun is worth a peppering of freckles," Agatha answered -recklessly, but she pulled her hair over her face and then she -resembled Danae veiled by a shower of gold. It was several minutes -before she made a peek-hole in the screen, and looked at Miss Finch -apprehensively. - -"Fritz, I hear wheels. Don't tell me that in spite of my repeated -warnings, we're going to have callers." - -Miss Finch stood up. The very slight advantage due to an upright -position was sufficient to enable her to recognize the occupant of the -approaching vehicle. "It looks to me like Jim Doolittle." - -"Jim Doolittle!" exclaimed Agatha, amazed. "Why, what can he want? He -must be coming to see you, Fritz." - -"Agatha!" quavered Miss Finch, and flushed a painful purple. - -"Well, he certainly isn't coming to see me, and I find it hard to -believe that Phemie is the magnet. He doesn't know Mr. Forbes and -Howard is a trifle young to attract him. Please see what he wants, -Fritz." - -"I--I'd rather not, Agatha." - -"Why, Fritz, what ails you? You can see for yourself that I'm in no -condition to interview Mr. Doolittle. His modesty would never survive -the shock. Send him away as soon as you can. It won't do to have all -the busybodies of the neighborhood dropping in whenever they feel like -it." - -Reluctantly Miss Finch departed on her inhospitable mission. But it -seemed that Agatha had done Mr. Doolittle an injustice. He had come on -an entirely altruistic errand. - -"There was a telegram at the office for Aggie's boarder, and I offered -to bring it out, being as I was driving by." - -"A telegram for Mr. Forbes!" fluttered Miss Finch, forgetting her -shyness in sympathetic concern. "I hope there's no more trouble in -store for that poor young man." - -"Wal, the Bible says to him that hath shall be given, and I've noticed -that's likely to come true, as far as trouble's concerned. How's the -poor feller getting on? I had a little talk with him one day, and I -made up my mind he warn't the June-bug sort of crazy, just the glum, -hold-your-tongue kind." - -"I guess Mr. Forbes' brains would hold their own alongside yours or -mine!" Miss Finch spoke with some heat and realized her mistake in time -to add, "Though of course he thinks a lot of things that aren't so." -It soothed her conscience to realize the absolute truth of her closing -statement. - -"I know, hallucinations they call 'em," said Mr. Doolittle, proud of -his mastery of the polysyllable. - -Miss Finch was not sure whether Agatha could be reckoned a -hallucination or not and she evaded the issue by adding pointedly, -"He's got quite an aversion to company." - -"I could see that. You'd have thought it would be a real relief to -him to talk with me, man to man, after being shut up with a passel of -women-folks, but no! I couldn't scarcely get a word out of him." Mr. -Doolittle shook his head in sad wonder over the vagaries of a mind -distraught, and then his attention wandered to a patch of color on the -lawn. "Is that Aggie Kent in the brown dress with her hair hanging?" - -"Yes." - -"Looks like a haycock struck by lightning." Again Mr. Doolittle shook -his head. "Aggie's a lucky girl to have you on hand to steady her and -keep her acting sensible. I guess everybody 'round here knows who's the -backbone in this house." - -"Agatha's an awful capable girl," said Miss Finch. She was aware that -she did not deserve the compliment, yet because of that contrary twist -in human nature from which the most exemplary are not altogether free, -it gave her pleasure. "Agatha don't need any backbone but her own," she -insisted. - -Mr. Doolittle straightened his sagging figure and tightened his lines. -"Wal, if the young man should get vi'lent any time just call on me." He -clucked to his horse and the ramshackle buggy creaked away. - -The great moments of life come and go while we remain oblivious. As Mr. -Doolittle jogged down the shaded drive, he said to himself that Zaida -Finch would make some man a good wife. He even turned his head to look -back, and the prim little figure hurrying across the grass seemed to -his elderly eyes to radiate a certain maidenly charm. - -All unconscious of this momentous occurrence, Miss Finch carried the -telegram to Agatha, and that young woman shared her apprehension, -though for a somewhat different reason. - -"It's not so likely to mean trouble for him as for me. Perhaps some -more of his city friends are coming to visit him. If they do, I think -I'll have an attack of smallpox and quarantine the place." She stood up -extending her hand for the message. "I must hunt him up right away and -find out." - -"You're not going that way, are you, Agatha, with your hair all down? -You look like a crazy girl." - -"What's the difference? Mr. Forbes won't be scandalized, because he -can't see me. And the birds and the squirrels won't mind. It's not dry -enough to put up yet." - -Telegram in hand, she started up the slope behind the house. Miss -Finch's faded, troubled eyes saw her silhouetted in glowing relief -against the intense blue of the summer sky, and then lost her as she -passed out of sight over the brow of the hill. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE RESCUE - - -Forbes and Howard had spent the morning in the open. They had tramped -miles under the genial sun, had eaten a luncheon which disproved the -accepted theory as to the capacity of the human stomach, and at the -conclusion of the meal had rested in the shade, Forbes smoking, and -Howard sprawled upon the turf, idly watching the woolly clouds that -like a flock of sheep grazed across a pasture of luminous blue. - -Suddenly Howard leaped to his feet, and the next moment the report -of his shotgun shattered the lazy hush of the summer day. To Forbes' -secret annoyance, his nerves betrayed him into a violent start. He had -not been aware that firearms were included among his young companion's -impedimenta. "Hello!" he exclaimed disapprovingly. "What are you -shooting at this time of year, boy? You'll get yourself into trouble if -you're not careful." - -"It's a chicken hawk. They're awful thick around here. Much as ever -Ag--Miss Kent raised any chickens this spring." - -"Oh!" Forbes subsided, with a smile. "Every season's open for chicken -hawks, I suppose." - -"Well, there's one robber out of the way," Howard boasted. "He went -down like a stone. Say, Mr. Forbes, would you mind staying alone a few -minutes while I run down the hill and see if I can find him?" - -"Go ahead, my boy." Forbes smiled again, as Howard's headlong rush told -how promptly he had acted on the permission. Forbes' mood was hopeful, -and therefore indulgent. There was something tranquillizing in the -atmosphere of the summer day. It was easy to believe in his ultimate -and complete recovery, and even that Julia would wait for him instead -of engaging herself to one of the men who were helping to make her -summer enjoyable. Young Prendergast was the rival he had most reason to -fear, and that was a sore spot with him, for Murray Prendergast had his -father's money to recommend him, and little besides. Forbes was ready -to defend Julia for breaking their engagement, but though tortures -could not have elicited the avowal, in his heart he was humiliated by -the possibility that Julia might turn from him, to throw herself into -Murray Prendergast's arms. Eyes or no eyes, Forbes knew himself the -better man. - -Yet to-day in the sunny peace of this Arcadia, the thought of -Prendergast had lost its power to sting him. He could reflect on -Julia's love of admiration with a tolerant smile. Flirtation was -the feminine equivalent of masculine wild oats, and he would be a -fool to put an exaggerated importance on a beautiful girl's innocent -coquetries. Miss Kent was hard on Julia. That was the way with the best -of women. They did not know how to be fair to one another. - -"Bless her dear heart!" Forbes was not thinking of Julia now. His smile -had become tender. "What a champion she is! She never can see but one -side, and that's yours--if you happen to be the fellow she likes." - -His fancies, tenuous as the smoke of his cigar, wove themselves into -pictures as he sat dreaming. He saw himself restored to health, and in -a home of his own. He saw Julia beautiful as ever, but with matronly -dignity replacing her girlish charm. And there were little shapes -whisking in and out of that dreamland, creatures half sprite, half -human, and his cigar went out as he watched their capers. An observer -would have noted a hint of pathos in his smile as well as a whimsical -humor. - -He roused himself from his long reverie to wonder what had become of -Howard. Making all due allowance for the ardor of the chase, Howard's -absence had been protracted beyond all reason. Forbes whistled long and -shrilly, shouted Howard's name, and waited with growing uneasiness. He -could only make a rough estimate of the time that had elapsed since the -boy's departure, but he knew it must be nearer an hour than the few -minutes Howard had asked for. And it was not like Howard to forget him. - -He had no way of measuring the time as it dragged on, but he ceased at -length to assure himself that he was becoming a fidgety old woman, and -frankly admitted he had reason for alarm. It was impossible to explain -Howard's continued absence on the ground of boyish thoughtlessness. -There was another and possibly a sinister explanation. His heart -sickened as he realized that Howard might be seriously injured and with -no aid near. As the thought suggested itself, he sprang to his feet in -furious rebellion against his helplessness. - -"I've got to get to the road somehow. Then I can hail the first wagon -that passes, and send some one over here to look for that boy." He -realized that the thing was simpler in the statement than in the doing. -The last road they had crossed was at least half a mile from where he -stood, and to grope his way unguided over half a mile of open country -was a desperate undertaking. He was not even sure of the points of the -compass. - -Forbes was angry to find himself trembling. He took a stronger grip -upon his self-control, and racked his brain for any information that -would be of service. Howard had spoken of a south wind that morning and -Forbes was under the impression that when they returned home from their -jaunts up into the hills, they walked toward the setting sun. He wet -his finger and held it up to test the direction of the breeze. He was -likely to go wrong, he knew, but anything was better than inactivity. - -Stumblingly and with his hands outstretched, he started on his way. -His progress was slow. At first he was continually halted by imaginary -obstacles from which he shrank till his groping hands convinced him -that the way was clear. Resolving on bolder tactics, he marched along -at a swinging pace till a collision with a stalwart pine sent him -reeling back, gasping and half stunned. Again he tried caution and -after an interminable half-hour abandoned it, as intolerably slow. He -picked up a rotting branch over which he had stumbled, and waving this -before him to make sure that no tree barred his way, he found himself -making very creditable speed for a blind man without a guide. - -After a little, again he halted, thinking he heard a faint, wailing -cry. He strained his ears, his heart thumping. "Howard!" he shouted. -"Howard!" He wondered if his nerves were playing him a trick, or -whether he really did hear a second time, that faint sound of distress. -He started on at a reckless pace, brandishing his stick before him, and -occasionally shouting Howard's name. - -So utterly had the thought of his own safety passed from his mind that -a second collision was only to be expected. But this time it was not -a tree, whose impact sent him staggering backward, but a human form. -Involuntarily he dropped his stick, catching at the nearest object to -save himself, and was aware that two hands had seized him in a clutch -as desperate as his own. For a moment they clung together in an embrace -like the locked clasp of two drowning swimmers. Then a voice deep down -in Forbes' consciousness said, "Good God, it's a woman." - -As his head steadied he knew he was not mistaken. There was a -smothering quantity of hair for one thing and it seemed to be -everywhere at once. When he moved just a little to get away from it, he -put his cheek against another cheek of exquisite smoothness. Surprise -rendered him incapable of moving, and standing like a statue, he made -other interesting discoveries. The woman in his arms was breathing in -long-drawn gasps like sobs. He could feel the convulsive straining of -her chest against his, as her breath came and went. Under his hand her -heart plunged like some frantic creature in a trap. Then he realized -that she was trying to speak. - -"You fool," she could only whisper it, with that strange sobbing -breath. "You fool! Oh, you fool!" - -"My dear girl!" Forbes remonstrated. He could not have told why he was -so sure of the fitness of this form of address, except that the curves -of the pliant body, that lay limp against his heart, were somehow -eloquent of youth. "I don't understand you." - -His protest had an immediate and in some respects an unwelcome effect. -At once her relaxed form stiffened and withdrew from his arms. A strand -of hair rasped across his cheek producing a curious tingling like a -mild electric shock. But she had not gone far, for he could distinctly -hear her difficult breathing. - -"You were walking to your death. In another minute you would have been -over the cliff." - -"Is it possible!" No normal man can escape death by a hair's breadth -and remain unmoved. Forbes' face paled. For a moment he was intensely -conscious of the myriad fragrances steeped in the sunny air, of the -myriad sounds, significant of teeming life. But he had no time to waste -on himself. - -"I knew I ran a risk but it was necessary. As you see I am blind, and -my attendant, a young fellow named Sheldon, left me for a few minutes -while he hunted for a hawk he had shot. That must have been two hours -ago. I'm afraid the boy is hurt." - -She murmured something he failed to understand and he did not ask her -to repeat it. "As soon as you are able to walk, please go somewhere and -get help. He may be seriously injured." - -"I said he was coming--I see--him coming." She still whispered but her -breathing was obviously less painful. - -"Howard coming? Do you mean Howard?" - -"Yes." - -"Are you sure you know him?" - -"Yes." - -"Does he seem to be hurt?" - -"Not that I can see--he's running." - -"Thank God!" Forbes exclaimed. He had time now to think of himself and -his deliverer. He took a step nearer her, and it seemed to him, though -he could not be sure, that she drew back a little. - -"As I understand it, you saw me from a distance, and realized I was in -danger. And you ran to help me." - -"Yes." The monosyllable was hardly more than a breath. - -"I thought I heard a cry once. Did you call?" - -"I tried--to. Running up hill--I didn't--have breath." - -There was a hysterical catch in her voice. Forbes seized her by the -arm. "Oh, you're crying. Please don't." - -"I'm not." She sobbed aloud as she denied the charge and continued -to sob to his immense distress. He found her hand and patted it -soothingly as if she had been a child. - -"Poor girl! I can see how unnerving all this has been. But won't it -help a little if you remember that you've saved my life?" - -"Oh, don't! Don't!" - -"I'm afraid you'll have to let me say it, but I'll wait till another -time if you'd rather. Please tell me your name." - -"It d--doesn't matter." - -"It matters a great deal to me. It isn't every day, you know, that a -man has his life saved by a beautiful girl." He felt singularly secure -regarding his adjective. "And of course I want to know who you are." - -She trenched her hand away with disconcerting energy. "It--doesn't -matter about me," she said as well as she could for weeping. "But don't -take such risks again. Good-by." - -"Now this is positively absurd," exclaimed Forbes in real annoyance. -"You've done me a tremendous service, the biggest one human being -can do another, and I'm not the sort of man to remain ignorant of my -benefactress. I want a chance to show that I'm not unappreciative." - -Silence! - -"Are you there?" Forbes demanded sharply. So vivid and illuminating -were his recollections of the woman his arms had enfolded that it -seemed preposterous he should never know how to address her. - -Continued silence. - -Forbes bit his lip and waited. And behind his back, a singular -pantomime was being enacted. A young woman whose heavy red hair -fell about her like a cloak, ran into the arms of a breathless boy -approaching from the opposite direction. She put her lips to his ear -and whispered, "Don't tell him who I am." - -"All right, but what's the matter, Aggie? What are you crying for?" - -"Never mind. Nothing. Don't tell him my name." - -"But what if he asks me?" - -"Don't tell him, that's all." She drew herself away from him and -started by a circuitous route for home. Howard approached his waiting -employer with a new perplexity superimposed on his former perturbation. - -"Mr. Forbes, I don't know what you'll think of me--but down there I ran -into the game warden." - -"Oh, did you!" Forbes' attitude was a trifle absent-minded. "Then you -weren't hurt." - -"No, sir, I'm all right. But he'd got hold of a partridge some one had -shot and he was bound I'd done it. And he made me go along with him and -I thought I would never get away." - -Howard's voice showed strain. Forbes' groping hand found his shoulder -and patted it. - -"All right, old man. No harm's done. I own I was anxious when you -didn't show up, but no harm's done." - -"Are you ready to go home now, Mr. Forbes? It's nearly four o'clock." - -"Yes, we'd better go." Forbes took the boy's arm. "By the way, Howard, -did you see a girl talking with me a few minutes ago?" - -"Ye--es, I saw her." Howard's manner betrayed reluctance. - -"What is her name?" - -An incomprehensible silence followed. Forbes repeated the question with -more than his customary peremptoriness. - -"I--I don't think I can tell you, Mr. Forbes." - -"Do you mean you don't know?" - -Howard was a truthful boy. "Yes, I know it," he replied hesitatingly. -"But she"--a sudden inspiration came to his aid--"Miss Kent don't want -me to talk about her." - -"I shall ask Miss Kent myself," Forbes rejoined coldly. - -"Yes, sir," said Howard, brightening. "That would be better." He felt -that it really was up to Aggie to get out of the difficulty as best she -could. It was all very well to say to a fellow that he was not to tell -a certain thing, but she didn't take into account that he would feel -like a fool when he was asked a plain question. - -As it proved, however, Forbes did not appeal to Miss Kent for -enlightenment. As they neared the house Howard proved the youthful -resilience of his spirits by making a little joke. "It's a good thing -you're not married, Mr. Forbes." - -Forbes did not agree with him, but he forced himself to smile amiably, -and ask the reason for the conjecture. - -"Because there's a long red hair on your coat collar." - -Forbes saw the point and much besides. Understanding came in a flood. -The girl was Hephzibah, of course, poor unfortunate Hephzibah, ashamed -even to give her name and yet more sinned against than sinning, he was -strangely sure. Without seeing it, he had felt the spell of her beauty, -that beauty that had enthralled Warren. As he thought of his friend, -Forbes was instantly convinced that he had too readily yielded to Miss -Kent's insistence, regarding Warren's offer. He even felt a certain -tempered irritation with his old friend for having taken on herself the -responsibility of deciding for another so vital a matter. Now that the -girl had saved his life it was unthinkable that he should leave her -to her fate just because of an old-fashioned theory that there was no -future for a woman who had once gone wrong. - -He felt so strongly on the subject that he might have spoken his mind -to Miss Kent on reaching home had he been given the opportunity. But -Zaida Finch met him with the information that Miss Kent had gone to bed -with a severe headache, and that a telegram had come for him about the -middle of the afternoon. She hoped it was not bad news. - -The telegram proved to be from Forbes' physician, who was going away -for his vacation, and wished to look his patient over before leaving. -It gave him his choice of coming to the city on Wednesday or Thursday, -and Forbes chose Wednesday. He had decided to waste no time before -having a talk with Warren. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES - - -No human being expects to die and all expect to marry. Observation -continually proves the groundlessness of one or both of these -anticipations, without altering the attitude of the survivors. In the -background of the consciousness of the most confirmed bachelor or -spinster, stands the shadowy form of the possible wife or the possible -husband. - -Mr. James Doolittle, at fifty-five, had no idea of escaping the -matrimonial yoke. He thought of himself always as an eligible young -fellow, waiting for the right girl to come along. On two or three -occasions earlier in life he had temporarily congratulated himself on -finding the right girl, but as the ladies in question had disagreed -with him, there had been no escape from the conclusion that he was -mistaken. These disappointments he had accepted with an edifying -equanimity, reminding himself that there were still as good fish in -the sea as had ever graced a frying pan. - -Just why, on a certain summer afternoon, Jim's vague and groping -expectations should suddenly have focused upon Zaida Finch, and why her -familiar, faded features and diminutive, gnome-like body should have -taken on the quality of allurement, is one of the mysteries which will -remain a mystery when the riddle of perpetual motion has been solved. -As the memory of Miss Finch hurrying across the grass continually -recurred to him, Jim said to himself that though a trifle more flesh -would not hurt her, she was a cute little thing. And forthwith he -was conscious of a feeling of youthful irresponsibility, flatly -contradicting the testimony of the family Bible. - -Yet it was with no very definite purpose in his mind that on the -Wednesday following his brief call at Oak Knoll, Mr. Doolittle resolved -on a second visit. Even incipient love is fertile in excuses. He argued -that the most elementary sense of courtesy demanded his ascertaining -the nature of the telegram of which he had been the bearer, and -extending his sympathy in case it had brought bad news. With the lack -of candor with himself, frequently manifested by wiser men in his -condition, Mr. Doolittle failed to explain the fact that he assumed -for the call the necktie which for thirty years he had worn on dress -occasions, hand-painted daisies on a pink background. The silk was -faded now and the daisies had lost much of their original perky luster, -but with the hand-painted necktie tied under his chin, Mr. Doolittle -felt himself a figure to appeal to the exacting feminine taste. - -His state of mind pleasantly indeterminate, Mr. Doolittle jogged -through the dust in the direction of Oak Knoll. As yet his ardor had -not reached the point where the leisurely pace of the gray nag got on -his nerves. The droning peace of the mid-summer world was reflected in -the serenity of his spirit. But as he neared Oak Knoll, the sound of -wheels halted him at the foot of the long driveway, and waiting there, -some intuition ruffled the placidity of his mood, and left him alert -and uneasy. - -Jim knew his suspicion justified when suddenly upon his startled and -hostile vision emerged another buggy, smarter than his own, and newly -washed. The driver, Deacon Wiggins, looked up from the contemplation of -his sorrel mare to bark a gruff greeting, "Afternoon, Jim." - -Deacon Wiggins was eminently a marrying man. He had married early, -and as often as a complacent Providence, assisted by pneumonia, heart -disease and typhoid, had permitted. A rather rusty band of crepe around -his hat, preserved with commendable thrift from one bereavement to -another, bore witness to his latest loss some three months earlier. And -with a lover's quick suspicion, Mr. Doolittle leaped to the conclusion -that the deacon's errand to Oak Knoll was the same as his own, that -in his eyes, too, Zaida Finch had found favor. His voice rasping as -he realized the insatiable greed of some of his sex, Jim Doolittle -returned the deacon's greeting with a sneering, "Wasn't looking to see -you here." - -Deacon Wiggins at once drew rein. His errand had not been a sentimental -one. He had called to collect from Miss Finch the amount of her very -modest subscription to the cause of foreign missions, and had been met -by Phemie with the news that the blind boarder and Howard had gone to -the city on the early train, and that the ladies of the family were -celebrating by spending the day with friends. Whereupon the deacon had -replied that he would call again, and had gone his way unruffled, till -halted by Doolittle's challenge. Though Deacon Wiggins was well past -fifty and had been thrice married, he had not outgrown that instinct -which impels two young cockerels to assault each other with murderous -intent. - -"You wasn't looking to see me, eh?" repeated Deacon Wiggins, -ponderously sarcastic. "Well, I don't know as that matters, Jim, as -long as I didn't come for the sake of seeing you." - -Doolittle reddened violently. "No, it's plain enough what you've come -for." - -The note of unreasonable jealousy was unmistakable. And while the -deacon was quite in the dark as to the other's meaning, all his -masculine dignity was in arms over the realization that another man -was attempting interference with his doing as he pleased. "Whether I -came for one thing or another," he retorted, "I don't have to ask your -leave." - -"Must make Zaida Finch feel terrible proud to know you are thinking of -her for Number Four." - -The introduction of Miss Finch's name into the conversation took the -deacon by surprise, but he made no attempt to allay the groundless -suspicion. Instead he replied, "A good many women would rather be -Number Four with some men than Number One with others I could mention." -The magnanimity which kept him from giving names was clearly a -pretense, for his significant smile pointed his meaning unmistakably. - -"There's no accounting for tastes," acknowledged Mr. Doolittle, -transformed by his fury to an unbecoming turkey red. "But sometimes -folks have better taste than we give 'em credit for." - -The deacon's smile was as belligerent as a blow. - -"You're right there, Jim. You're right. I've always said that the sort -of men who die old bachelors show the women ain't such fools as some -folks take 'em to be." - -He clucked to his horse and drove on. Doolittle, breathing hard and -unable to think of a sufficiently crushing rejoinder to this final -insult, waited till the deacon was out of sight before turning up -the drive. To him Phemie repeated her story of the blind boarder's -departure for the city, escorted by Howard, and the consequent gadding -of the ladies of the family. - -Mr. Doolittle drew a long breath as he realized that the fell designs -of Deacon Wiggins had been temporarily foiled. He was not the man, -however, to underestimate the gravity of the situation. His rival was -notable for prompt action, as his previous marriages had abundantly -proved. Left to himself, Doolittle might have meandered through several -years of more or less ardent courtship, before reaching the point -of asking Miss Finch to change her name, if indeed, he ever reached -it. But the certainty that Deacon Wiggins would waste no time in -such preliminaries forced him to realize that he, too, must act with -promptness, or resign himself to loss. Jim's vague intention became -definite in view of the purposes with which he credited the deacon. -With mingled sorrow and indignation he wondered at the man's grasping -nature. - -Meanwhile Deacon Wiggins, jogging homeward, was undergoing a very -similar psychological experience. The most pronounced trait in the -deacon's character was his obstinacy. He was an ardent Democrat, for -the reason, it was generally believed, that he lived in a community -of devout Republicans. He had been drawn irresistibly to the -Congregationalist body because, as his acquaintances were certain, -he sprang from Methodist stock. In all his dealings Deacon Wiggins -could be safely counted on to take the off-side. But it had been long, -indeed, since anything had so whetted his native stubbornness as his -brief interview with James Doolittle. - -In a general sense it might be said that Deacon Wiggins was looking for -a wife. He was always looking for a wife in those interruptions to his -marital bliss, whose brevity shocked the finer sensibilities of Mr. -Doolittle. But at present his attitude was one of critical observance -rather than active search. Mentally he had inventoried the attractions -of several unattached females of the community, though the thought of -Zaida Finch, as designed by Providence to solace his loneliness, had -never crossed his mind. But now that Doolittle's indiscreet opposition -had turned his thoughts in her direction, Deacon Wiggins said to -himself that he might go further and fare worse. Miss Finch was a fine -woman, a little undersized and scrawny for his taste, but a woman -of good temper and good principles, eminently qualified to make a -satisfactory wife. Seemingly the newly-awakened ardor of Jim Doolittle -was like a searchlight, illuminating virtues hitherto unnoticed. The -deacon reached for his whip and surprised the sorrel mare by a cut -across the flank. Mentally he had crossed his Rubicon. - -Miss Finch, placidly ignorant of the designs of Destiny, had passed a -pleasant day. She had found it an immense relief to have Mr. Forbes -away, even for twenty-four hours, for she never lost the sense of -walking amid pitfalls while he was in the house. Agatha, in the rebound -from the necessity of acting the role of an elderly maiden lady, had -been more whimsically childish than usual, and had imparted to her -faded little friend something of her own irresponsibility. Accordingly -Miss Finch passed a pleasant day, and a peaceful night, and woke in the -morning quite unprepared for what fate had in store. - -In Forbes' absence, the arrival of the Free Delivery was only an -ordinary incident in the day's routine. Miss Finch went down the drive -to get the mail a half-hour or so after the wagon had passed. And when -in another half-hour it occurred to Agatha to inquire as to the results -of that expedition, it took her a good five minutes to locate Miss -Finch. At length her search brought her to a weather-beaten bench under -the trees, where Miss Finch had seated herself as if to rest from the -fatigue of the walk up the drive. At her feet were scattered various -items of mail, which had slid off her lap in the stress of her emotions -and lay on the grass unnoticed. - -"Well, Fritz, you must have found some absorbing reading," Agatha -began. "I've screamed myself hoarse calling you." She paused, -regarding her old friend with sudden concern. Miss Finch's face was -singularly flushed and her pupils dilated like those of a sleep-walker. -In either hand she clutched a letter. - -"Fritz, what it is?" Agatha exclaimed in real alarm. "Aren't you -feeling well?" - -Much to her relief, Miss Finch's head turned in her direction. Up to -this time she had seemed oblivious to her presence. - -"Yes, I feel all right, Agatha," she replied, her voice dreamy and -unnatural. "I--I'm going to be married." - -The violence of Agatha's start indicated an almost uncomplimentary -incredulity. - -"You are--what did you say, Fritz?" - -"I'm--I'm going to be married." - -"For heaven's sake! Who is it?" - -Miss Finch's manner lost something of its assurance. - -"I haven't quite--made up my mind." - -Agatha's expression of astonishment changed quickly to consternation. -She came close to the little lady, slipping a hand through her arm. - -"Fritz, dear, hadn't you better come to the house and lie down? The -sun is awfully hot, and you shouldn't have gone out without a hat." She -studied Miss Finch's unnatural color with a sinking heart. Was it a -touch of the sun or something worse? - -Miss Finch, though perfectly aware of the nature of Agatha's -apprehensions, showed no resentment. Indeed the difficulty she had -experienced in combating her own incredulity enabled her to sympathize -with her young friend's perplexity. - -"When I say I haven't made up my mind, I mean I haven't decided which -one to marry." - -"Yes, I see, Fritz. Now let's go to the house. Just lean on me." Phemie -would have to go for the doctor, Agatha decided. She herself would not -dare to leave. - -"If you don't believe me," exclaimed Miss Finch, a sense of injury at -last making itself manifest in her voice, "you can read the letters for -yourself." - -Agatha snatched the extended missive, thankful for anything that would -throw light on Miss Finch's singular hallucination. Her stubborn -incredulity received its first shock when she saw Miss Finch's name -written across the yellow envelope in an unmistakably masculine hand. -The contents of the letter completed her undoing. - - "Miss Zaida Finch: - - "Dear Friend--I have always believed the truth of those words of - Scripture that it is not good for man to be alone. (Gen. 2:18.) Three - dear companions have I taken to myself only to yield them to the cold - and silent tomb. Have you ever thought of changing your state? You are - so much in my thoughts that it seems a leading to show that it is you - who should fill the place of my three lost companions, till you, too, - shall be called from battle to reward. - - "I hope you will make this matter a subject of prayer, and will see - your way clear to accept me as your husband. Write me how you feel - about it. I enclose stamp. - - "Yours truly, - - "Hiram L. Wiggins." - -Agatha read the unusual document breathlessly, too relieved by the -discovery that Miss Finch's mind was not seriously affected to -appreciate to the full the unique literary quality of the composition. -Deacon Wiggins actually was proffering Miss Finch his hand and so much -of his heart as had not been consigned to the tomb along with the three -deceased ladies who had borne his name. Agatha's impressions of the -deacon were vaguely hostile, yet she realized that from Miss Finch's -standpoint, the occasion called for congratulations. Agatha was not -unaware of the little spinster's attitude of wistful anticipation -where matrimony was concerned. And though it was difficult to think -of Deacon Wiggins as the realization of a romantic dream, she warned -herself that she must not be a kill-joy. - -"I'm sure, Fritz," Agatha said, with no trace of her usual mischief, -"that the deacon will be very fortunate if you decide--" She checked -herself, for Miss Finch was extending a second letter. - -"For the love of Mike," Agatha gasped, borrowing from Howard's -vocabulary as her own seemed inadequate. "You don't mean there's -another?" - -"Yes, there are two, Agatha," said Miss Finch, and under the -circumstances her flitting expression of complacency was quite -excusable. - -The dreadful suspicion flashing through Agatha's mind, that the -guileless Miss Finch had been made the butt of a peculiarly obnoxious -practical joke, vanished as she read Jim Doolittle's letter. It was too -characteristic for her to doubt its authorship. - - "Dear Zaida: - - "Please excuse me calling you Zaida, for as Zaida you are enshrined in - my thoughts, and I think of you very often when I am sad and lonely - and I wish I had a wife like you to cheer me, and to be a help-meet to - me like the Bible says, and while I have not married again and again - like some people I could name it has not been because I do not have - a high opinion of women. And if I should be left alone I should not - go looking for some one to take your place right away, for with me to - love once is to love always, and, dear Zaida, my heart beats for you - alone. - - Yours truly, - - "James Doolittle." - -Agatha was seized with a paroxysm of coughing, the businesslike -conclusion of the letter seeming decidedly inconsistent with its -impassioned prelude. Then, recovering herself, she went over to Miss -Finch and kissed her. - -"Well, Fritz, you're a lot too good for either one, but women are, as a -rule. Which is it to be?" - -Miss Finch looked down at her first love-letters with an anxious -expression, hardly befitting the occasion. - -"Well, Agatha, I'm not sure. There is a great deal of sentiment in Mr. -Doolittle's letter. It's almost poetical in spots. I wouldn't have -thought he had so much poetry in him?" - -"Nor I," admitted Agatha. - -"But the deacon's letter shows a beautiful religious spirit, and when -you are choosing a husband you have to think of the things that are -really important." - -"The deacon is better off than Mr. Doolittle," suggested Agatha. -"Though I've always heard he was inclined to be close." - -"I wouldn't let such things weigh with me, Agatha. I can't imagine -marrying a man because he had more money than somebody else. It's what -a man is himself that counts with me." - -"Then I suppose it's the deacon," said Agatha, with youth's -characteristic readiness to jump at conclusions. - -"I don't know, I'm sure. Don't hurry a body so, Agatha." Miss Finch -spoke more sharply than was her wont. "If you were picking out a -husband at my time of life, you wouldn't want to be rushed so that, -like enough, you'd pick the wrong man." - -Agatha shook her head. "No, Fritz, if I ever became such a -heart-breaker that I had a batch of proposals in a single mail, I'd -take as long as I could to make up my mind. I'd make the sweetness last -like an all-day sucker." - -Miss Finch's brief irritation vanished as she heard herself referred to -as a heart-breaker. She blushed not unbecomingly. - -"The names might help you in making up your mind," continued Agatha, -bent on giving all the assistance in her power. "Which is the -more--what is that word--mellifluous in your ears, Mrs. Wiggins, Mrs. -Deacon Wiggins, or Mrs. James Doolittle?" - -"I'm afraid you're not as serious-minded as you ought to be, Agatha," -chided Miss Finch. "Marriage is 'most anything you like except a joke, -and you can't make a joke of it, no matter how hard you try." As she -moved toward the house with her two letters, leaving Agatha to collect -the widely scattered mail, her face wore a troubled, anxious look, as -if the fateful solemnity of the married state already had reached out -from the future and enveloped her. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -A CONFESSION - - -Because of her absorption in Miss Finch's engrossing problem, Agatha -gave the travelers of the household less of her attention on their -return that afternoon than those rather spoiled individuals had reason -to expect. Not till the following morning when she read Forbes a letter -from Julia, even more egotistic than the average communication of that -self-centered young woman, did Agatha realize that something was amiss -with her boarder. He seemed tired and low-spirited, disinclined to -conversation, in decided contrast to Howard, who was bubbling over with -items of interest relating to their brief trip. Clearly the jaunt had -been too much for the convalescent's strength. - -A little conscience-stricken that she had not earlier made the -discovery, Agatha set herself resolutely to the task of reviving -Forbes' drooping spirits, though with less than her usual success. -And when late in the afternoon she suggested a walk, pleading that her -knees were growing stiff from lack of exercise, he turned the tables -on her unexpectedly by insisting that she go for a stroll with Howard -as an escort, leaving him at home. And as her protest stirred him to a -most uncharacteristic irritation, she yielded the point without further -argument. - -"Of course, if you really want to get rid of us, we'll go. Only I hate -to leave you alone." - -"I'm better company for myself than for others, dear lady. I'd rather -be alone for a little. I'll try to sleep and perhaps I'll wake in a -better humor." - -Her only thought an impatient haste to have the ordeal over, Agatha -started out, Howard in attendance. But her dejection yielded by degrees -to the magic of the summer afternoon. It vanished completely when she -challenged her brother to a race across a green stretch of pasture. -They reached their goal laughing and breathless, Agatha in the lead, -and climbing the low stone wall they dropped panting in the shade of -a guardian elm. Agatha snuggled back against the huge trunk, tucking -her feet under her, while Howard sprawled happily at her side, laying -his head in her lap. Agatha's contented sigh as she ran her fingers -through his hair, told of relaxed nerves. - -"What a pity Mr. Forbes wouldn't come! It's so restful here. What did -he do yesterday to tire him so?" - -"He didn't do much of anything. Saw the doctor and Mr. Warren and -then--" - -"Warren? Did he see him?" - -"Sure. Telephoned the first thing when we got to the city and Mr. -Warren came up to the hotel for lunch. They let me go out and look -around for a couple of hours while they talked. Say, Aggie, I wish you -knew Mr. Warren. He's a dandy." - -Agatha's expressive face betrayed no especial impatience to meet -the object of Howard's eulogy. Indeed a grim tightening of her lips -indicated that on this theme her brother and herself were far from -agreement. But before the boy had time to be impressed by her lack -of responsiveness, his attention was distracted by a cough from the -direction of the road, eminently a stagey cough, due not to a tickling -in the throat, but to some one's desire to announce his presence. -Howard turned sharply, then sprang to his feet with a shout of mingled -pleasure and astonishment. - -"Why, hello, Mr. Warren! Did you come out to find us? It's the funniest -thing but I was talking about you this very minute." - -Warren, immaculate in a gray business suit and spotless panama, gave no -indication of sharing the boy's pleasure in the unexpected encounter. -He looked at him with disconcerting steadiness, and Howard, turning to -his sister, saw her unconcealed consternation and realized that the -game was up. He had momentarily forgotten the necessity of explaining -Aggie. Mr. Warren would have to know the truth and undoubtedly would -take it on himself to acquaint Mr. Forbes with the surprising state of -affairs. Yet after all, Mr. Warren was a good sport. Perhaps if the -thing were put up to him-- - -Warren's peremptory speech broke in on the boy's confused thoughts. -"Chase along, Howard. I don't want you at present." - -"What do you want me to do, Mr. Warren?" - -"I don't care what you do as long as you don't stay here." - -"I--but I--" Without understanding his sense of discomfiture, Howard -blushed an angry scarlet, and faced the intruder with instinctive -defiance. Then Agatha spoke wearily. - -"It's all right, Howard. Run along, please." - -She was not easily daunted, but something in Warren's manner was -accountable for a singular chill at her heart that was like fear. She -had forgotten how big the man was, and his nose was so unexpectedly -long and his chin so heavy, and his eyes bored into her like augers and -were of a steely gray besides, which made the figure more impressive. -He seemed quite another person from the silly young man who had talked -nonsense in the kitchen that Sunday morning and ended by kissing her -cheek. - -She heard Howard stumble away, muttering angrily to himself. Very -deliberately Warren moved toward her. She forced herself to lift her -eyes. He was looking down at her with the air of one who has the -whip-hand and knows it. For some undefined reason she felt herself at a -tremendous disadvantage. - -"Look here," said Warren with the same hardness in his voice she had -noticed when he spoke to Howard, "this won't do, you know." - -Agatha remembered that she was Hephzibah Diggs just in time to drawl -the inquiry through her nose. "What won't do?" - -"You mustn't be putting ideas into the kid's head. He's a nice kid. -Forbes is tremendously interested in him and so is Miss Kent. On Miss -Kent's account if there were no other reason, you ought to let the boy -alone." - -She glared at him, fury growing with understanding. Her baleful gaze -fought its way to him through tears of pure rage. - -Her unexpected emotion softened him perceptibly. He laid aside his air -of judicial sternness as easily as he would have removed his coat. - -"Come now," he said, seating himself beside her. "We mustn't quarrel. -And I dare say you meant no particular harm. Only keep in mind that -it's hands off where the boy is concerned." - -"Have you got anything to say to me?" - -"You bet I have. I've come clear from town to say it, Hephzibah. By the -way, isn't there something I could call you for short?" - -"Yes, Miss Diggs." - -He eyed her approvingly. A tear had splashed upon her burning cheek, -and was making its leisurely way toward her chin, but tears with Agatha -seldom gave the impression of feminine softness. Warren had the usual -masculine horror of weepy women. It was a relief to perceive that for -all her tears, Agatha's mood was murderous. - -"No indeed, we mustn't quarrel," he repeated. "Because I've come on -purpose to see you, and do you a good turn. I'm interested in you, and -want to help you." - -"I don't want none of your help." - -"That's because you don't understand, little girl. This world is a -pretty big place and so far you've seen only a measly little corner." - -"It suits me." He saw an added enmity in her eyes, over this aspersion -on her native village, and smiled tolerantly. - -"I wouldn't waste any loyalty on this burg if I were in your place. -I asked half a dozen people where I could find you and every one -pretended he'd never heard of you." - -Agatha's look showed her taken aback and Warren was not slow to follow -up his advantage. - -"Of course I knew they were lying. Even in this unobservant community, -my dear Hephzibah, you could hardly escape notice any more than on -Broadway. I assume these young men were protecting their reputations by -denying the pleasure of your acquaintance." - -"Oh," murmured Agatha, "I never thought I could hate anybody the way I -hate you." - -"You shouldn't feel that way, my child. I'm not trying to hurt your -feelings. I'm perfectly ready to let bygones be bygones and give you a -hand up. I only mentioned this to show the narrowness of these little -country places. They never forget, Hephzibah, and believe me, they -never forgive." - -The fire of her wrath had dried her tears. Her eyes bright with hate, -she met his gaze in silence. - -"There's something about you, Hephzibah," continued Warren, a slight -uneasiness of manner showing that his _sang froid_ was not quite proof -against her silent hostility, "something which makes me certain that -it would pay to educate you. You could learn, I'm positive of it. And -you'll take on polish. You say you're satisfied with things as they -are. That only shows your ignorance, my dear child. Instead of being -a poor little drudge, slighted and snubbed by a lot of country jays, -you could make a place for yourself in the big world. I can't tell you -now just what will open up for you, but at the least it would be like -fairyland compared with what you have to expect here." - -Her anger seemed to have moderated to tranquil contempt. She sat aloof -and disdainful, waiting for him to finish and take his departure. - -"I own you don't know me well enough to feel sure of my motives in -making this offer," Warren went on almost humbly. "But you can ask Miss -Kent about the blind man who's boarding with her this summer, and see -what sort of reputation she gives him. And he's in this thing with me. -In fact it was at his suggestion that I came down here to-day." - -At last he had succeeded in interesting her. Although she did not speak -she turned with a quickness that had the effect of an interruption, and -the recent disdainful calm of her expression was replaced by a rather -wistful look. - -"Yes, Forbes is in for this, tooth and nail." Warren was pleased at the -altered demeanor of his audience. "When I first suggested it to him, -he talked it over with Miss Kent, and the old lady discouraged him. I -imagine she's a good sort but about as broad as a knitting needle. She -insisted that it was better for you to be let alone, and she talked old -Forbes over, and I thought the whole thing was settled. But after you -saved Forbes' life--" - -"Why," cried Agatha. "How--how--." Her usually ready tongue failed -her, and in her blushing confusion Warren thought her adorable. - -"I suppose you wonder how he knew you were his rescuer," Warren -continued, enjoying to the full the pleasing effect of his revelation. -"It came to him by a sort of intuition. He quizzed the kid, but Howard -wouldn't tell. It simply goes to show how strait-laced the old lady -is. She'd forbidden him even to talk about you. But something you said -or did fitted in with what I had told Forbes about you, and he decided -that he couldn't rest easy under such an obligation." - -"It's only a guess." Agatha had found her voice. "You don't know -anything about it." - -"It was a safe bet, even before I told you and watched your face. Now -it's a dead certainty. Listen! Forbes came to see me yesterday and we -cocked up this scheme. See how it strikes you." - -He had her attention now, close and serious, with no suggestion of -disdain. Painstakingly he explained the plan. They had selected a woman -both knew to act as Hephzibah's tutor. They would send her to some -quiet place where there would be little to distract the girl's thoughts -from her work. Her tutor, an impoverished gentlewoman, would undertake -the cultivation of manners befitting the best society, and would mold -her literary taste by reading to her from the English classics, in -addition to her regular instruction. - -"I don't say it will be so very much fun for six months," Warren owned -frankly. "But we both think it would be a good idea for you to work for -all you are worth at the start, and make all the progress possible. And -when once you--well, when the rough edges are smoothed off a little, -you can come to town and mix in a little fun with the day's work. What -do you think of the idea?" - -Agatha's answer was a shake of her head. - -"Too strenuous a program, is it?" Warren looked disappointed at her -lack of ambition. "Well, it isn't necessary to travel at such a pace. -Both Forbes and I felt it would be more encouraging to you in the long -run, if your advancement was so rapid that you couldn't help realizing -it." - -"Yes, that would be better if--but it won't work. Thank you. It's kind -of you, but I--I can't go away." - -"Away? Do you mean away from this hole in the woods?" - -Agatha nodded with no attempt to defend her native place against his -sneers. - -"This home of yours, where a nice kid like Howard is forbidden to speak -of you, and where older men look scared when your name is mentioned and -say they never heard of you?" - -"You said all that before." Agatha had turned rather white. "And it -won't do any good to say it again." - -Warren studied her averted face, a pensive face at that moment. He had -a confused certainty that he had been too hard on her. He had only -spoken the truth and for her good, but he had overdone it. He had been -brutal. - -"Hephzibah," he said suddenly, a new gentleness in his voice, "I know -what's the matter with you. You're in love." - -There was something so virginal in her protesting recoil that he had to -stop a moment for breath. Yet a quality in the movement gave him an odd -conviction of her innate fineness, in spite of that chapter in her past -he found it hard to forget. - -"There's no other explanation, Hephzibah." He tried to speak lightly -without any great degree of success. "When a girl of your sort sticks -to a place of this sort, like a barnacle to a ship's bottom, it's as -sure as shooting that there's a man in the case. Come, Hephzibah, own -up." - -She lifted her chin in a regal way she had--an incongruous motion in -a country girl who "worked out"--and looked at him squarely. With a -little thrill he saw that her eyes had filled again. And though she did -not speak, those brimming eyes seemed a brave, frank avowal that his -surmise had hit the mark. - -"Well, Hephzibah, I'm glad you aren't going to need our help--Forbes' -and mine--in order to be happy. I hope your young man knows he's -lucky." He was astonished at the keenness of the pang which marked this -formal renunciation. "When is it to be, Hephzibah?" - -"Why, it's not--you don't understand--I'm not going to be married." - -Warren sat up straight. "The devil, you're not," he said, his voice -harshly cynical. - -The girl rose and stamped her foot on the grass. The soft turf -swallowed the sound, but the passionate gesture was not less impressive -because noiseless. "You hush!" she said. "Don't you dare to think -things like that about him. He's perfect. He never harmed anybody, -never! And for you to dare to blacken him with your beastly thoughts -just because I've been fool enough to care." - -Swayed by unprecedented emotion, Warren rose to his feet. In her -earlier anger the girl had been merely a lovely virago. Now, in her -furious defense of the man he had apparently misjudged, she was superb. -Warren felt himself swept from his moorings. - -"Very well, Hephzibah. I'll take your word for it that he's all right." - -"He doesn't know. He doesn't even dream. There's--He loves some one -else." - -"Don't, Hephzibah. Poor little girl! What a damned muddle life is." He -was fumbling for his card. - -"Can you write, dear?" - -"After a fashion." All in a minute she was another woman, with radiant -mischief peering out of her eyes. - -"Here's my address on this card. If you should change your mind, write -me. I hope and believe you will. Just because one man is blind, it -doesn't follow that there's nothing else in life." - -She gave a slight start, looking at him obliquely, the mischief -quite gone from her eyes. But she accepted his card, and then of her -own accord gave him her hand. "You have been good to take so much -trouble," she said. "Thank you." The two had changed markedly since the -dialogue under the elm tree began. The girl's hostility had vanished as -completely as the man's condescension. - -On his way back to the city that night, Warren evolved the theory -that Hephzibah was originally of gentle blood. That accounted for the -quality of her beauty, for something in her manner suggesting one -accustomed to homage rather than to service. Warren was inclined to -believe it also explained a singular fact which impressed him more as -he thought over the events of the afternoon than it had at the time. -There could be no question but that in moments of extreme excitement, -a certain uncouthness disappeared from her speech and manner, and -she lapsed, so to speak, into the idioms of her presumably cultured -forebears. In Warren's opinion this cast a most interesting side-light -on the subject of heredity. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -A WILFUL MAN MUST HAVE HIS WAY - - -Though there was no likelihood of another letter from Julia for a week -at least, Forbes showed an abnormal interest in the contents of the -mail bag, and Agatha guessed he was expecting to hear from Warren. -She, too, found herself anxiously anticipating the arrival of the -letter addressed in the vigorous hand which in some obscure way was so -suggestive of the man's personality. When it came four days after that -unique dialogue under the elm tree, and the duty of reading it devolved -upon herself, Agatha's heart beat suffocatingly. - -But as it proved, all her thrills were anticipatory. The letter itself -contained nothing she did not already know, and that little was told -tersely and obscurely, evidently with the intention of preventing Miss -Kent, the probable reader, from learning that her counsel had been -ignored. With businesslike brevity Warren stated that he attended -to the matter they had discussed the previous week. He, Forbes, was -correct in his conjecture as to the identity of the party who had -done him the service he had spoken of, but said party had turned his -proposition down flat. "And now that our consciences are clear," Warren -wrote, "the only thing left is to drop the whole matter. Hope the -unpleasant effect of your treatments has worn off and that your eyes -are feeling better. - - "R.W." - -It was plain from the expression of Forbes' face that he shared -Agatha's uncomplimentary opinion of the communication in question. The -remainder of the day he was frowningly contemplative, resisting all -efforts to draw him into conversation. For the first time Agatha saw in -his face lines suggesting a determination akin to stubbornness. - -By morning his manner showed the relief of having reached a decision. -Agatha was not unprepared to have him say at the conclusion of the -morning meal, "Miss Kent, when you have a little time I would like to -have a talk with you." - -"I can come now." - -"There's no hurry--no especial hurry, that is. Any time this forenoon." - -But Agatha's curiosity was awakened. She conducted him out upon the -porch, ensconced him in a comfortable chair, and seated herself beside -him. As a preliminary, he took her hand and kissed it. - -"I must begin with a confession, my dear lady. I have been keeping a -secret from you, in fact more than one." - -"Dear me! And I thought you had accepted me as mother confessor." - -"So I have. I decided not to tell you for fear of worrying you. But the -truth is that I came near walking over the cliff one afternoon, when I -was out with Howard, and ending my troubles by breaking my neck." - -Agatha succeeded in expressing a sufficient degree of shocked horror in -her exclamation. - -Forbes patted her hand reassuringly. "But I didn't, you see. My life -was saved in a conventionally romantic way. A beautiful girl flung -herself into my arms, and when she could get her breath, gave me a -terrific scolding." - -"Oh!" Agatha looked at him with unfeigned interest. "How did you know -she was beautiful? Did Howard tell you?" - -"No, Warren." - -"Oh!" She seemed a little disappointed. "But he wasn't there, was he?" - -"No, but he'd told me about her. And I think I should have known -anyway." - -"How?" Again he noted the animation in her tone. - -"I'm not quite sure. Perhaps a blind man develops a sort of sixth -sense. Anyway, as I stood there with my arms about her--it was -necessary in the circumstances, and you needn't look shocked as I -suspect you're doing--I had as vivid an impression of youth and beauty -as if I'd seen her." - -"More so, probably," amended Agatha joyously. - -"No, not if Warren's right. He says she's something extraordinary. -Can't you guess who it was?" - -"I believe that Mr. Warren"--Agatha seemed to be searching her memory -for details--"talked rather extravagantly about Hephzibah." - -"Yes, Hephzibah was the girl. And that puts quite a new light on -Warren's plan for educating her, don't you see?" - -"No, I don't." Agatha's brevity implied distaste for the subject. - -"Well, I do. A man's chance interest in a pretty girl may be perfectly -innocent and unobjectionable, but you can't compare it with what one -feels for the woman who has saved one's life." - -"I told you that she wanted to be left alone. I told you that it would -be kinder." - -"Wait, please." Under the deference of his manner, she perceived a -resolution that was adamant. "I've told you only one of the secrets -that I have kept from you. Here's the other. When I was in town I saw -Warren and we laid plans for taking Hephzibah's case in hand, regular -uplift proposition, don't you know. Warren was to see her and arrange -matters. We had everything settled. We had a governess selected and -had decided on a little sea-side place for them to stay until she was -presentable. Warren was going to ask a girl he knows to buy her a -suitable outfit." - -"I don't wonder you've been blue," Agatha said in tones of soft -reproach. "Planning all this out and not a word to me." - -To her surprise he blushed high. "No," he said after a moment, "I've -been down in the depths, God knows, but not for that reason. I -thought--well, you seemed to feel so strongly on the subject of not -interfering with Hephzibah, that I didn't want to bother you." - -"And now you do? Is that why you're telling me about it?" - -"I'm telling you because I want your help." He set his jaw grimly as he -faced her. "I left Warren to engineer the thing and he's bungled it." - -"It wasn't his fault." Agatha evinced a commendable eagerness not to be -unjust to the absent. "When Hephzibah has made up her mind, trying to -change it is like going against a stone wall." - -"Possibly. But I shan't feel satisfied till I've tried my persuasive -powers on her." Forbes sat waiting for some comment from Agatha, and -when none was offered, explained firmly, "I want an interview with her." - -Still Agatha did not speak. She was beginning to feel an aversion to -Hephzibah Diggs which amounted to positive hatred. That talk with -Warren had been trying enough, with his repeated references to some -scandalous episode in her past. But for reasons perfectly clear to -Agatha herself, the interview with Forbes promised to be vastly worse. - -"Well?" Forbes was puzzled by her silence. "Had she better come here? -Or shall I have Howard take me to her home?" - -"Oh, no." The dismay in Agatha's voice negatived the last suggestion -conclusively. Forbes found her tremors a trifle irritating. He had -to remind himself that she was an old lady, and that for many years -her will had been supreme in her little circle. He found her hand -and patted it affectionately. He was beginning to think that these -sentimental attentions counted more with elderly women than with -younger ones. - -"Well, then, we'll have her here. Will you send her word, some time -to-day?" - -"I'm not sure she'll come." - -"Then I'll go to her." His obstinacy showed in his voice. "I tell you -I'm going to talk to that girl. She's got a chance at last. She's young -and it's inconceivable that she should turn down such an offer if she -really understood it." - -"That's the sort of girl she is. Worthless, trifling." - -Forbes withdrew his hand from hers. To her amazement Agatha saw she had -really offended him. And now to her dislike of Hephzibah was added a -preposterous jealousy. She, Agatha Kent, had devoted herself to Forbes -all summer only to have him act like a spoiled child when she ventured -a criticism of a girl he had met only on one occasion, a girl with a -past, at that. What was Hephzibah to him or he to Hephzibah, that for -her sake he was ready to affront his father's old friend and his own? - -"I shan't need Howard this morning," remarked Forbes pleasantly but -with a relentless holding to his purpose which forced her to realize -the hopelessness of altering his intention. "So if you please, ask him -to take the message. The girl may be all that you say, and my interest -and effort may all be wasted, but I prefer to see for myself." - -"Very well," said Agatha swallowing. She perceived that he considered -her a narrow-minded old person, who thought it impossible for a woman -to return to the paths of rectitude, after once stepping aside. He -would not take her word for Hephzibah. He was determined to interview -her for himself. Agatha looked at him with narrowing eyes. Very well! -Let him take the consequences. - -"I'll see that Hephzibah gets the message," she said with dignity. "I -can't answer for results." - -"Of course not." Now that he had gained his point, his manner was -thoroughly friendly. "I'll take the entire responsibility for the -outcome." - -Agatha realized that she was dismissed. She went up-stairs feeling -out of sorts with Forbes and positively murderous where Hephzibah was -concerned. She even played with the thought of having that obtrusive -young woman smitten with mortal illness, too sick for the interview -Forbes insisted on, and in a few days reaching the end of her brief -and troubled life. She dismissed the thought when she realized that -Forbes was capable of summoning a physician from the city to attend the -patient. - -The door of Miss Finch's room was ajar. Miss Finch sat at the table -with a sheet of paper spread out before her and a pen in hand. The -seriousness of her expression suggested that she was on the point of -making her last will and testament. - -"Fritz," exclaimed Agatha, appearing in the doorway, "I have a message -for you to give Hephzibah Diggs." - -Miss Finch looked at her wildly. - -"Will you please say that Mr. Forbes would like to see her some time -to-day. Say it's very important." - -As Miss Finch continued to stare, Agatha showed signs of impatience. -"Well, why don't you begin?" - -"Begin what, Agatha?" - -"Why, say what I've just told you, that Mr. Forbes wants to see me this -afternoon." - -Miss Finch groaned and shook her head. "Oh, Agatha, it seems so wicked." - -"Wicked! If that's not unreasonable. Here I am taking all the pains to -come up-stairs to you, to have you give me the message so I won't need -to stretch the truth the least little bit, and then you talk as if I -were an ordinary prevaricator, without a conscience." - -Miss Finch quailed before Agatha's simulated indignation. "Oh, if you -look at it that way," she replied feebly and made an effort to recall -the message. "Hephzibah, Mr. Forbes wants to see you to-day." - -"Tell me it's very important," prompted Agatha. - -"It's very important," Miss Finch repeated, and looked on the point of -bursting into tears. - -"I'll be there at three o'clock," replied Agatha in the person of -Hephzibah. Then her gaze fell on the letters lying open on the table -and she temporarily forgot her own perplexities in the perennial -feminine interest in a love-affair. - -"Oh, Fritz," she exclaimed, coming closer. "You're writing the letter, -aren't you? Which one is it to be?" - -Miss Finch looked at the blank sheet before her with an expression -equally blank. - -"Agatha," she hesitated, "it almost seems to me--at least don't you -think Mr. Doolittle is rather the best-looking?" - -Agatha pondered the question with the seriousness its importance -deserved. - -"I rather think he is, Fritz. The deacon is much too fat. My ideal of -manly beauty isn't broad enough to include a fat man. It's surprising -how some people thrive on bereavement." - -Miss Finch fidgeted with her pen. "But perhaps the deacon is a little -more careful about his appearance." - -Again Agatha acquiesced. "Mr. Doolittle is far from particular. I've -seen him in the village with only one suspender, and the usefulness of -that dependent on one anemic-looking safety-pin. I've honestly trembled -for fear of what might happen. The deacon's away in the lead in the -matter of clothes." - -Again Miss Finch looked nervously at the paper before her and then -surprised Agatha by laying down her pen. - -"I rather thought I'd write them to-day," she said. "It's been--well, -not long, but quite a time since their letters came, and I thought--" - -She fell into an indeterminate silence, and Agatha finished the -sentence for her. "Of course they're getting impatient. It's cruel to -keep them on the rack this way. Why don't you put them out of their -misery, Fritz?" - -"Why, I don't want to hurry, Agatha. I must wait to be sure. There's -some nice things about each one and some that aren't so nice. I'll have -to think it over a while yet." - -Agatha was watching the little woman keenly. "Fritz," she asked with -unusual, gentle gravity, "are you sure you want either of them? Don't -you think you'd be happier just to stay on with me?" - -Miss Finch regarded her interrogator with evident amazement. "Why, -Agatha, I might never have another chance." - -This was too true to question. Agatha remained silent. - -"I sometimes can't help wishing," Miss Finch owned plaintively, "that -there hadn't been two. That's what makes it so puzzling--having to -choose. And there seems so much to be said on both sides. But to -refuse them both--why, Agatha, it would be flying in the face of -Providence." - -Agatha said no more. Leaving Miss Finch to her dreams, she went up -to the garret to find an appropriate costume for Hephzibah in her -forthcoming momentous interview. She felt she could act her role -with more spirit if dressed appropriately to the part. Agatha did -not underestimate the difficulty of her proposed masquerade. It was -an easy matter to evolve a personality sufficiently consistent to -deceive Warren, for Warren had never met the dignified and elderly -spinster, Miss Agatha Kent. Forbes, on the contrary, had spent hours -in that lady's company nearly every day through the summer, and knew -every inflection of her voice. The forthcoming interview with Forbes -presented any number of terrifying possibilities. - -She had a word with him at a suitable interval after their late -conversation. "She's coming." - -"Good!" he cried triumphantly. "Did Howard go?" - -"No. Miss Finch was going to see her, anyway. She'll be here at three." - -"Good!" said Forbes again. He turned to her with that mingled -gentleness and resolution which somehow revealed him in a new light. - -"Now, my dear friend, I'm going to ask a favor of you. Promise me you -won't misunderstand." - -"I'll try not," she said faintly, and her heart misgave her. - -"Promise me that you'll leave us to ourselves when we have our little -talk. I know your interest in Hephzibah's future--" - -In her relief Agatha became jocular. "No, you don't know. You can't. -Her welfare means as much to me as my own." - -"I'm not doubting that. Please don't misunderstand me. But sometimes I -think these sensitive natures can open up better to a stranger than to -a friend. And the fact that I'm blind may be a help to her." - -"Yes," agreed Agatha with unmistakable sincerity, "I'm pretty sure it -will be." - -"There's something mysterious about that girl," Forbes continued. "The -way she refuses to listen to propositions that are all clearly for -her good, puzzles me. I'm convinced that if I can have her to myself -an hour or so, I'll get at the root of the trouble. Anyway it's worth -trying." - -Relieved from the terrifying certainty that he was about to ask her to -chaperon them during the interview, Agatha had almost ceased to dread -the prospective ordeal. But prudence suggested the advisability of -seeming a little hurt. "I shouldn't have interfered in any way," she -assured him plaintively. "Since you've set your heart on talking to -Hephzibah, I should have sat quietly in the background and not said a -word." - -"Better not," Forbes interposed hastily. "Let me have my way this time. -And when we talk it over afterward, I'll tell you every word that was -said as nearly as I can remember." - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -HEPHZIBAH TURNS THE TABLES - - -Hephzibah Diggs was prompt. As the grandfather's clock in the hall -struck three, Agatha advanced to the French window opening on the -porch, and said in her natural voice, "She's here, Mr. Forbes." - -Forbes smiled approval. "Send her around, please, Miss Kent." His -manner suggested that the difficulties in the way of his philanthropic -plan were now a thing of the past. - -The clumping footsteps that presently announced the approach of his -visitor took him back a trifle. There was no particular reason why -Hephzibah should not be an ordinary clumsy country girl, in heavy shoes -that clattered noisily as she moved, but somehow he had not expected -it. He rose and stood awaiting her. - -The voice was more unexpected than her heavy tread. It made him wince. -He remembered that Warren likened it to the melodious notes of a -guinea fowl and he appreciated the aptness of the comparison. There -was no reason why Hephzibah Diggs should not talk through her nose, and -in a harsh, strident, generally unpleasant tone. But the fact that she -did so, though he had been abundantly forewarned, took him by surprise. - -"Miss Kent says you've got something to say to me." - -Thus Hephzibah announced her presence. And Forbes, hastily summoning -a smile, and resolutely excluding his pain from his voice, extended a -cordial hand. - -"I'm very glad to meet you, Miss Hephzibah. Won't you sit down? I think -there's a chair near." - -"I'll wait on myself, don't you bother none." A grating noise indicated -that a chair was being dragged across the floor of the porch into -convenient nearness to his own. A plumping sound gave evidence that -Hephzibah had seated herself. - -The picture in the rustic chair deserved a more appreciative audience -than a blind man. Hephzibah wore a costume best described as a medley, -since garments originally the property of Miss Finch and Howard, -as well as her own, contributed to the startling effect. A pair of -Howard's outgrown shoes accounted for her clumsy tread. She wore a -little bonnet which Miss Finch had discarded after some dozen years of -service, and which seemed genuinely scandalized at finding itself atop -Agatha's brazenly assertive mass of hair. A very short calico skirt, -also the property of Miss Finch, and a sky-blue silk waist, evidently -designed for festive wear, completed the grotesque costume. Just why it -should have given Agatha confidence in playing her role, she knew as -little as any one. - -Forbes commented pleasantly on the weather as some such preliminary -skirmishing seemed necessary before coming to the point. He had -resolved on establishing a friendly understanding between Hephzibah -and himself, before making the offer which, he realized, might readily -arouse the suspicion of a girl who knew by bitter experience that men -are not always to be trusted. He was inclined to suspect Warren of -lacking tact, startling her by his failure to employ _finesse_. He did -not take himself into his own confidence fully enough to admit that he -was also sparring for time in the effort to recover his poise. It was -singular that he had received so different an impression of Hephzibah -in the brief, bewildering interview which had opened by his clasping -her in his arms, and ended by her refusal to tell her name. He had -to remind himself that on the springy turf her clumsy tread would be -soundless, and that the gasping whisper in which she spoke gave him no -clue as to the quality of her voice. Still, if Warren's letter had not -expressly assured him that Hephzibah was his mysterious rescuer, he -would have felt sure that he had been mistaken. - -Hephzibah was in full accord with his favorable opinion of the weather. -She expressed her agreement so heartily that he winced again, and -conquered an impulse to tell her that it was unnecessary to speak so -loud. - -"I suppose," he began, deciding that after all it would be better to -waive further introductory remarks, "that you must have wondered why I -wanted to see you." - -"I didn't bother about that none," replied Hephzibah. "I've had a lot -to do with sick folks, and I know they're likely to take 'most any sort -of notion into their heads." - -Forbes reddened smartly. He felt as if he had been slapped. Clearly -tact was not in Hephzibah's line. - -"I've heard a good deal about you, first and last," he assured her -pleasantly. "And of course my interest in you was increased by what -happened near Indian Rock the other afternoon. I'm not going to talk -about that for I know you would rather I wouldn't." - -"Oh, don't mind me," Hephzibah returned comfortably. "You can say -anything you like. You can't make me mad." - -Forbes hesitated. There is no doubt that on the moment he acquitted -Miss Kent of a certain charge to which she had been given no chance to -plead guilty. He realized that women sometimes understood one another -better than a mere man might hope to do. But he had put his hand to -the plow with the intention of proving Warren's unfitness in matters -requiring diplomacy, and he had no intention of turning back. - -Deliberately and with carefully chosen words, Forbes explained to -Hephzibah the plan he had evolved for her regeneration. He went more -into detail than Warren had done. He traced her future years from the -present modest start, up to the time when she should bear the stamp of -culture, and be able to hold her own in the best society. The picture -that he drew seemed to him an attractive one. He showed himself not -altogether lacking in a knowledge of the opposite sex, by the emphasis -he placed upon the friend of Warren's to whom had been assigned the -responsibility of selecting a suitable wardrobe for Hephzibah. - -He did not pause till he was pleasantly confident that he had done the -subject justice. He turned his sightless eyes upon her expectantly. -Hephzibah said nothing. There was a chilling quality in her protracted -silence. - -"Well?" questioned Forbes, and though he had been so favorably -impressed by his putting of the case, he spoke a little anxiously. -"What do you think of it all?" - -Hephzibah laughed unmusically. - -"Well, I let you go on, just so's to get it off your chest. There ain't -nothing to it, not so far as I can see. The clothes would be nice -enough, but if I had to study all the time and have some dame bossing -me my days off and all, I'd pay for 'em dear." - -"But wouldn't you like to be educated?" - -"Laws, no. I never hankered to be a school-teacher. I'd rather cook any -day in the week." - -By this time Forbes was convinced that Miss Kent was right. Something -was lacking in Hephzibah. He realized that he himself had been -influenced more than he knew by Warren's extravagance, and Warren, it -was apparent, had been swept off his feet by the girl's fresh beauty. -Just how to explain the impression he himself had formed of her that -day when she swung her lithe body between him and mortal peril, Forbes -did not know. She had said little, and that with difficulty, because -of her breathless condition, and yet the impression he had formed of -her was infinitely removed from the truth. He felt now that he had made -a mistake, and that Hephzibah was not of the fiber to take on polish -readily. He would show his gratitude in some more appropriate way than -by attempting her education. But since he had blundered into this -rather absurd situation, there was nothing left but to go through with -it. - -"You do not have to use your education in teaching school, unless you -wish to," he explained patiently. "But it will fit you for a better -social position." He realized that this was over her head and kindly -simplified it. "I mean that the more you learn, the nicer friends you -will have and the more things you will find to interest you." - -"I know enough now," Hephzibah insisted calmly, "for anybody that ain't -a teacher. When I went to district school I learned to read and write -and figure, and I 'most always stood up till near the last when we had -spelling matches. Oh, I've got an education all right." - -"Possibly, my child, it would be better to rely on the judgment of some -one else." His manner was patiently paternal. - -Hephzibah Diggs shuffled her feet noisily. "I guess I know enough to -'tend to my own affairs," she said, her tone truculent. - -"I'm not so sure about that, Hephzibah. I think you would do much -better to take advice." - -"How'd you like it yourself if folks you didn't know came butting in, -telling you how to manage your business?" - -"If it was meant kindly, I should be grateful." - -"Oh, very well." He could hear that she was breathing hard. "Then I'll -tell you that for a sensible man you're making as big a botch of your -affairs as anybody I ever knew of." - -Forbes was unfeignedly astonished. "Why, Hephzibah, you don't know what -you're talking about." - -"Don't I, though. I know about that girl of yours, and what a fool -she's making of you." - -Forbes caught his breath. Then he realized that it was beneath his -dignity to be angry. "I think it is hardly necessary," he said stiffly, -"to discuss that subject, Hephzibah." - -"Oh, no! you can stick your finger into my pie all you want to. You can -tell me I ought to go to some place I never heard of, with somebody I -never knew, and do everything I hate for years and years, but when I -say one thing about your girl, it's hardly necessary to discuss that -subject." - -The last words were given with what he realized was an excellent -imitation of his own air of dignified aloofness. This amused him and -had the additional effect of mollifying his irritation. "But I am -interfering in your affairs, because I have your interests at heart," -he said very kindly. - -"Same here. I hate like the mischief to see a nice gentleman made a -fool of by a vain, silly girl with about as much brains as a cockroach, -and as much heart as a pancake." - -This description of Julia, though he would have indignantly denied that -it had the remotest resemblance to truth, roused him to the realization -that this uncouth young woman knew more of his personal affairs than -she had any right to know. - -"Hephzibah," he said sternly, "I don't understand where you could have -secured information about any friends of mine. Surely Miss Kent--" - -For all her faults, Hephzibah was capable of magnanimity. On one -critical occasion Miss Kent had sacrificed Hephzibah's reputation to -save herself, and Hephzibah was under no obligation to spare hers. Yet -without hesitation she threw herself into the breach. "I listened," she -explained quickly. - -"You mean when Miss Kent was reading me my letters?" His flushed face -told that he was not disposed to belittle her eavesdropping. - -"Yes, and when you talked things over. I heard enough to know that -you'd better use the brains the Lord gave you to manage your own -affairs. Why don't you put it up to that girl of yours that she can -take you or leave you?" - -"Really, Hephzibah--" - -"Oh, it's all right for you to come along and pry into my business, and -tell me what _I'm_ to do. But when I turn the tables you squirm. Funny -what a difference it makes whose foot the shoe's on." - -Forbes subsided. Under his feeling of bewilderment was a vague -suspicion that perhaps there was something in Hephzibah's point of view. - -"In the first place," continued this intrepid young woman, "she showed -she was no good when she throwed you down like she did. She was going -to marry you, wasn't she? And if she cared enough about you for that, -it was up to her to stand by you when trouble came. Pretty kind of wife -she'd have made if she turned her back the minute hard luck struck you." - -Forbes remembered vaguely that Miss Kent had once said something -similar. He wondered that two human beings so unlike should have the -same view-point. - -"You got off easy," Hephzibah continued. "You might have married her. -When she showed herself up for what she was, you'd ought to have got -down on your marrow-bones and thanked the Lord. But look at you! -Instead, you keep on telling her how much you love her and that a -yellow streak don't matter--in a woman." - -Forbes suddenly realized that he could endure no more. He could not -listen longer to these preposterous statements. But underneath his -panic of anger, something whispered that he shrank from listening -longer to Hephzibah's frantic speech, not because she was uttering -slanders against Julia, but because what she said was true. - -He struck the arm of his chair with his clenched fist. "Stop!" he said -in a voice unlike his own. "I won't listen." - -"All right," said Hephzibah Diggs. "But what's sauce for the goose--" - -She stopped, starting to her feet. The blow from Forbes' fist had -loosened the arm of the chair in which he sat. It had bounced out of -place and then slipped back again, catching his finger as it returned -to base. It was his sudden startling pallor that checked Hephzibah's -fluency. - -"Can you help me a little--Hephzibah?" Forbes' voice was faint, his -lips blue. "My hand--seems caught." - -Hephzibah's clattering haste was too late to save him from ignominious -faintness. He had not been well since his trip to the city, and the -shock of the pain was too much for his nerves. She caught the arm of -the chair and wrenched it savagely away, just as his head fell over -against her shoulder. She released the imprisoned hand, and slipping -her arm about him kept his limp body from sliding to the floor. Upon -his white face, she saw, conscience-stricken, there seemed to rest an -expression of piteous bewilderment. - -Forbes reviving found himself indoors. He was stretched on the couch in -the living-room. The odor of camphor was much in evidence and his hair -felt damp, as if he had been taking a dip in the surf. Some one was -chafing his hand. "Hephzibah," he said faintly. - -The voice of Miss Kent answered him, speaking in a muffled fashion, as -if she had a cold in her head. - -"She's gone. That horrible girl is gone. She shall never come near you -again." - -Even after his late experience the adjective seemed to indicate -prejudice. But he did not press the point, as there was another matter -he wished cleared up. - -"Did I frighten you terribly?" - -"Yes--I was frightened." Her voice shook as if she wanted to cry again. -"You're not so strong as I thought. I shall have to take better care of -you. I blame myself--terribly." - -This was unreasonable, but he did not stop to argue the case. "Was that -why you kissed me?" he asked. "I didn't seem to come to all at once; -consciousness came in waves and receded, you know, and once I felt -sure some one kissed my cheek, and a big tear splashed down--" - -Miss Kent spoke hastily. "Oh, that was only part of your dreaming. -Fainting people often have such fancies." - -"Very likely," Forbes agreed. "You see, I don't know much about -fainting. It never happened to me but once before." He turned his -head on his damp pillow and lapsed into silence. It was the part of -discretion, perhaps, to leave Miss Kent under the impression that the -kiss was an illusion, due to his semi-conscious state, but he knew -better. It was as real as music, or flame, or electricity. It had -certain characteristics of all three. - -It must have been Hephzibah. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -CONGRATULATIONS ARE IN ORDER - - -Murray Prendergast had proposed. The summer sport had become dead -earnest. Julia wrote Forbes the full details, explaining that the young -man was awaiting her answer, and that she had asked two weeks in which -to come to a decision. Apparently Julia, like Miss Finch, felt that -to refuse Prendergast would be flying in the face of Providence, even -though accepting him seemed a harsh necessity. - -"'It's not what you and I dreamed of in the dear old days,'" wrote -Julia. "'Oh, Burton, how far away those happy times seem when we sat -hand in hand and planned our future. How merciless life is, Burton! Is -there some dark fate in whose hands we are only puppets?'" - -Agatha broke off in her reading to lift a scarlet face. "Must I go on -with this?" - -"Do you mean that you're tired?" Forbes' voice was self-controlled but -in his pale cheeks a pulse beat like a trip hammer. Even his tears -would not have hurt her like that palpitating spot over which his will -was powerless. - -"Yes, I _am_ tired. I'm terribly tired of the people who talk about -fate when it's all their own cowardice, and pity themselves for losing -what they deliberately threw away." - -"It's a matter of view-point," said Forbes tonelessly. "If that's all, -I'm afraid I must ask you to go on. I--I could hardly have Howard -read it." All at once his white cheek showed a stain of red, as if -the mere thought that any eyes but his own should see that letter was -humiliating beyond endurance. - -Julia's letter was as long as usual and decidedly more sentimental. -She surrendered herself with abandon to the luxury of heart-break. -She recalled a number of tender episodes, and wondered pathetically -why fate could not have spared lovers so fond. To Agatha, Julia's -melancholy was a theatrical make-believe on the face of it, as much -a pose as her pretense of affection. Agatha did her best to spoil -the effect of the letter by reading rapidly, and in a monotonous -sing-song, but she could not keep her eyes from the face of the man -before her, and she saw that every tender memory the missive evoked -found response in his tortured heart. - -She wound up breathless and hot and trembling uncontrollably. Forbes -thanked her with a formal courtesy that added to her pain, for it -seemed to set her at a distance. She wanted to put her arms about him, -and cry over him, and tell him that the hurt would not last. Then she -remembered with bitterness that she was a withered old woman in whose -heart the fires of love had burned to ashes, long, long before, if -indeed they had ever been kindled. - -"I'd like a sheet of paper, please," Forbes said with the same -laborious politeness. "I'll scrawl a line myself." - -"What are you going to tell her?" - -His air of surprise at the question indicated that there was but one -answer. "What is there to say, except to wish her all happiness?" - -"You're not going to blame her, then?" - -"God forbid." He took the sheet she gave him, wrote upon it rapidly -and folding it across, handed it back to her. "I'll have to ask you to -direct the envelope for me," he said, still heart-breakingly patient. -"I can write well enough for Julia's eyes, but not for Uncle Sam's." - -Agatha did not reply. The breeze, always fresh upon the porch, had -parted the folded sheet, and her reluctant gaze caught the signature, -"Always yours, B.F." She turned away her eyes and caught her breath. -"Always yours." That was the cruelty of it. Julia would marry Murray -Prendergast and yet keep her hold on the heart of the man she had -abandoned in his need. Her selfishness could not alter his loyalty. -If the letter just read did not reveal her to him in her incomparable -egotism, nothing ever would. - -Agatha's heart bled for him in his white resignation. If he had done -anything but sit there like a man under sentence of death, she would -have felt equal to the occasion. But this white suffering terrified -her. She dared not trust herself to look at him, for her eyes ran -over at the sight of his drawn face. She stared out over the serene -landscape as she said unsteadily, "Did you ask her to wait?" - -"Wait? Why wait?" - -"For you to get well, of course. If she's so fond of you, she ought to -be able to wait a year or two until you've recovered your sight." - -He shrugged his shoulders without replying, but the gesture revealed -more than hopelessness, something alarmingly akin to indifference. And -though Agatha knew that in the nature of the case, this mood could not -last, it added fuel to her hatred of the shallow, selfish woman who -was responsible. In her serener moments Agatha comforted herself by -the reflection that however unhappy Forbes might be without Julia, he -was bound to be more unhappy with her. But in the present crisis that -consolation failed her. She was swayed by the desire to give him, at -all costs, the thing he wanted. - -Her plan was formed in an instant. Agatha was aware that with many -women as with all men, undisputed possession tends to indifference. -Forbes' one chance with Julia, she implicitly believed, was to awaken -in the mind of that complacent young woman a doubt as to whether her -unfortunate lover was in reality hers always, as he declared himself. -Forbes, who scorned to ask even for a few months' delay, could not be -expected to lend himself to the scheme unfolding in Agatha's fancy. -Some friend must do for him what he would not stoop to do for himself. - -As Agatha walked to the writing-desk, holding the folded sheet pinched -shut with thumb and finger, for fear of again reading the assurance of -Forbes' unalterable devotion, there was something oddly gallant in her -bearing. Her keen common sense was temporarily quiescent. Her heart had -things all its own way. Since the prospect of losing Julia irrevocably -had graven that terrible look upon Forbes' face, she must find some way -of making Julia hesitate to engage herself to Prendergast There was but -one chance, as far as Agatha could see. She resolved to take it. - -No one could consider it singular, Agatha decided, as she seated -herself, if an amiable old lady should send a note of congratulation to -the girl to whom she had penned so many communications. Agatha almost -snatched the stationery from the drawer. She had a most unnatural -fear of losing her courage by delay. At the moment she lacked neither -courage nor inspiration. - - "My Dear Miss Studley: - - "I'm sure you will pardon a line from a woman old enough to be your - grandmother." - -Agatha paused, bit her pen and frowned. "I am, of course," she told -herself, with that odd impression of dual identity, which at times -made it difficult for her to remember whether she was nineteen or -sixty-seven. "But it isn't worth while to make her feel so youthful." -She reached for a fresh sheet of paper and made a new start. - - "My Dear Miss Studley: - - "I am sure you will pardon a line from a woman old enough to be your - mother, who has come to feel right well acquainted with you through - Mr. Forbes, and through reading your letters aloud to him. I want - to be one of the first to congratulate you, and to wish you all the - happiness you deserve." - -Her pen poised in air, Agatha combated the temptation to underline the -last two words. "It's exactly what I _do_ wish her," she mused. "All -the happiness she deserves, not a bit more nor a bit less. Poor wretch, -it's an inhuman sort of wish but I can't help it, and I'm afraid she -won't realize that I'm consigning her to Purgatory." - -The pen resumed its hurried scratching. It was not necessary for Agatha -to wait for inspiration. Words came in a flood. - - "Some people might blame you for your engagement, so soon after - breaking with Mr. Forbes, but I assure you I do not feel that way. I - am unmarried myself, and I know that when a woman loses one chance, - she may never get another. Mr. Forbes might die or change his mind. I - think you are very sensible to make sure of Mr. Prendergast while he - is in the mood. Whatever ill-natured people may say about you, I for - one will always take this view." - -Agatha drew a long breath of pure satisfaction. She had undertaken the -letter with the sole thought of rushing to Forbes' assistance in his -extremity. But virtue was proving its own reward. She was enjoying -herself immensely. Her sense of satisfaction made her reckless. When -again the pen began moving down the sheet, it wrote more than Agatha -had originally intended. - - "I suppose you sometimes feel a little anxious about Mr. Forbes - and his future. It is hard for us women to get rid of a feeling of - responsibility for the men who love us. And I am glad I can set your - natural misgivings at rest. It would not be a great surprise to me - if you should hear of another engagement in the near future. Yet Mr. - Forbes is a very honorable gentleman, I need not assure you, and as - long as you were unmarried, or at least not engaged, he would not have - permitted himself to become entangled with any other woman. But this - summer he has spent a great deal of time with a girl who lives in the - neighborhood. She is considered extremely pretty and though that does - not mean anything to him at present, it is evident that he finds - her company most enjoyable. Indeed I believe he is more interested - in her than he himself realizes, while the fact that she has devoted - practically her entire summer to him, seems to indicate that it would - not be difficult to bring her to think of him as something more than - a friend. And I've noticed that she seems quite responsive when he - pats her hand or holds it, as he has a way of doing. I suppose he - feels that an invalid has a right to some little privileges. On one - occasion he did so far forget himself as to take her in his arms, - but the circumstances were quite unusual, and I saw to it that the - indiscretion was never repeated. I always manage to be around when the - young people are together, for, as our beloved Longfellow expresses - it, 'Man is fire and woman is tow.' - - "I'm afraid I am a poor one to talk about discretion when I am writing - you all this. I'm sure if Mr. Forbes knew he would be very much put - out with me, and so I am going to ask you not to speak of this if you - should happen to write again. Very likely Mr. Prendergast will not - approve of your corresponding with an old flame, and who can blame - him, for as Will Carlton says so ably, 'She that is false to one can - be the same with two,' or words to that effect. I'm afraid my memory - is not what it once was. - - "Excuse this garrulous letter. How I have run on about Mr. Forbes - instead of merely carrying out my first intention, and wishing you the - future you so richly deserve. - - "Very truly yours, - - "Agatha Kent." - -Agatha re-read the closely written sheets with growing delectation. In -every respect they measured up to her anticipations. She had expressed -her sentiments toward Julia with a plainness she would hardly have -believed possible in a letter superficially observing the amenities -of civilized life. She had planted some barbed suggestions where she -flattered herself they would render the reader most uncomfortable. -But that was not all. It is a thoroughly human weakness to wish to -eat one's cake and have it too, and Agatha suspected Julia of having -more than her share of this familiar characteristic. Julia, so Agatha -argued, saw herself the irreproachable wife of a wealthy man, enjoying -all the dignities incident to the Prendergast social sphere, and at the -same time the object of another man's hopeless adoration. The doubt -Agatha's letter suggested, that she could continue without a rival -to rule in Forbes' affections, was, in Agatha's opinion, Forbes' one -chance to keep her from the decisive step. - -Agatha enclosed Forbes' brief communication with her own lengthy one -and despatched it by Howard before qualms could assail her as to the -advisability of dropping this particular bomb into the enemy's camp. -She knew vaguely that a host of suggestions stood marshaled at the back -of her brain, ready to demonstrate conclusively her lack of wisdom. If -Julia did not choose to consider the letter confidential, trouble would -ensue. The fact that Agatha saw all Forbes' letters, and that he knew -only what she chose to tell him, gave her but slight advantage, since -she confessed to scruples in the matter of other people's letters. And -if it had the result she believed possible, and Julia refused to engage -herself to Prendergast till Forbes' recovery was certain or proved -impossible, Agatha could not congratulate herself on having assured her -friend's happiness. - -"I'm afraid I'm a good deal like a mother who gives the baby the -scissors to play with because he cries for them. Only with a baby you -can distract its attention, and make it think that something else is -just as good, and with Burton Forbes that wouldn't work." - -And then having satisfied herself by peering through the window that -Forbes' face still wore the dazed look of a creature incomprehensibly -wounded, Agatha threw herself upon the couch and sought the relief of -tears. She wept as she did everything else. Hot tears rained down upon -the pillow. Sobs shook her. Every now and then mirth got the upper -hand and she laughed hysterically, interrupting, though briefly, the -Niobe-like activities. - -The storm was over as suddenly as it had begun. Agatha rose and -regarded her swollen features in the mirror with much disfavor. - -"I suppose it's no use to put powder on my nose. It would only look -like a strawberry sprinkled with sugar. And anyway, Mr. Forbes can't -see what a fright I am." - -As if that thought had a miraculously sustaining power, Agatha drew a -long breath and passed into the kitchen to help Phemie with the dinner. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -CONFIDENCES - - -Agatha had reached the conclusion that Julia was more venal than vain. -A full week she had awaited a sign that her ruse had succeeded. For -seven creeping days, dry-lipped and with unsteady pulses, she had -scanned the mail for a letter directed in Julia's familiar, hateful -hand, and in the beginning she could not have told whether there was -more of hope or of apprehension in her expectancy. - -But now she knew by the way her heart was singing. Her insane attempt -to give Forbes the thing he wanted, whatever the consequences, had -gloriously failed. She had played a friend's part, if a fool's part, -and had not been punished by success. Naturally Forbes' numerous -letters had never made the slightest reference to an attractive young -girl, who was devoting her summer to rendering his exile tolerable, and -such an omission would have awakened doubt in the least suspicious -nature. To Agatha, Julia's continued silence, in the face of such -facts, was convincing proof that she had thrown up her hand and was out -of the game. - -Agatha had fought Forbes' depression stubbornly while the week was -young, and then as hope strengthened, with an audacious, irresistible -gaiety that occasionally swept him off his feet. Never had it seemed -so difficult to simulate age. A score of times a day she found it -necessary to strangle a peal of girlish laughter, or tone it down to -the subdued quaver appropriate to her years. It was incredibly irksome -to subject her buoyant feet to the yoke of decorum. Never had she so -courted exposure as now when the lightening of her heart impelled her -to all sorts of foolish youthful pranks. Miss Finch watched her in dumb -fascinated terror. And Forbes despite his abysmal gloom, found himself -responding with astonishing frequency to her whirlwind spirits. - -She woke early the morning of the eighth day and lay musing, too -pleasurably excited to fall asleep again. Julia was out of the way. -She had engaged herself deliberately to another man, and now it was -not Julia but a radiant memory against which she must pit her wit and -beauty. Had Agatha been older she might have questioned whether this -were an occasion for self-congratulation, since the unfading, perfect -dream has an undeniable advantage over fading and faulty beauty. But -thanks to her inexperience, the removal of Julia from her path left -her with a reckless confidence in her star. There was a tangled web -to be unraveled, to be sure, before matters were established on a -satisfactory footing, but her blithe hopefulness hurdled these grim -preliminaries, and busied itself with a future all rose-color. - -A sound in the next room roused Agatha from her sanguine -self-communion, the plaintive little whine of Miss Finch's creaking -rocking chair. Agatha sprang out of bed, and carried her watch to the -window. The faint light showed the hour hand still plodding on toward -four o'clock, no hour surely for Zaida Finch to be indulging her -propensity for rocking chairs. - -A white-clad figure, censoriously erect, appeared in Miss Finch's -doorway. Miss Finch gasped, jumped, and made a rush for her bed, as -if with the hope of persuading her youthful visitor that the sound of -footsteps had roused her from peaceful slumbers. Then realizing the -futility of evasion, she stopped short, and stood with hanging head, -her air of confusion together with her diminutive figure, giving her -the appearance of a naughty child. - -"Fritz," began Agatha impressively, "why on earth aren't you asleep?" -As she came closer her judicial air changed to consternation. Miss -Finch's pale little eyes showed red even in the dim light. Her small -nose was redder still. Her thin cheeks were wet with tears. - -"Fritz, dear," cried the girl, her voice vibrant with tenderness, -"are you sick? Does your head ache? Get into bed and let me make you -comfortable. Why didn't you call me? I've been awake an age." - -This affectionate concern was too much for Miss Finch's self-control. -As she climbed into bed, she gave way to loud sobs. Agatha hung over -her, distressed and vaguely self-reproachful, because she had not -discovered earlier the urgent need of her presence. - -"Don't cry, Fritzie! Shall I get you the hot water bottle, or is it -the camphor that you need? Where does it hurt?" She patted the little -sob-shaken figure with a motherly hand. Even when not impersonating her -great-aunt, Agatha frequently felt years older than Zaida Finch. - -It took a minute to elicit an answer. It came finally in a little -sniffly whisper. - -"My head's all right, Agatha." - -"Probably that short-cake disagreed with you. I wondered at the time, -if two helps weren't too many, with the whipped cream." - -"My stomach's all right, too," declared Miss Finch, a trifle pettishly. - -"Then where's the pain?" - -Miss Finch deliberated. Her tears gushed afresh. "I--guess it's in my -heart. I'm worried, Agatha." - -Agatha sat down on the side of the bed, and sighed remorsefully. - -"I know it's been a hard summer for you, Fritz. All this deception -is very trying for one of your candid temperament. I should mind it -frightfully myself if it wasn't for the fun of the thing. But I adored -amateur theatricals when I was in boarding-school, and this is exactly -the same, except that you have to make up your part as you go along. I -knew that you'd been worrying, but I didn't dream how dreadfully you'd -taken it to heart." - -Miss Finch opened one swollen eye. She looked rather taken aback. - -"I don't deny all this deception has worried me, Agatha. But just -now--I was thinking of something else. I'm worried about my own -affairs." - -For a moment Agatha was nonplused. Miss Finch was one of the people -who seem to be without personal "affairs." She had no relatives to -die, no money to lose, no friends to disappoint her, no prospects to -be overcast. She was painfully immune against loss, by comprehensive -lack. Then on Agatha's incredulity flashed the recollection of Deacon -Wiggins and James Doolittle. In her absorption with her own concerns -she had forgotten that Miss Finch stood at a cross-roads, doubtful -which turning to take. "Oh, Fritzie," she cried self-reproachfully, "I -hope nothing's gone wrong with your love-affairs." - -Miss Finch's grief lost something of its poignancy. Agatha's -exclamation seemed to establish her status. It was something to know -love's pangs, even though ignorant of its joys. Her husky voice was -controlled as she replied, "The trouble is that they haven't gone at -all, right or wrong." - -"Oh!" Agatha became meditative and Miss Finch's confidences trickled on -plaintively, like a sad-hearted brook. - -"I got another letter from Deacon Wiggins yesterday. He said he -guessed his first must have gone astray since he hadn't heard from me. -He went over about the same ground as he did in the first letter and -he put in a lot of Scripture. It gives one a feeling that a man can be -depended on, when he's got so much of the Bible at his tongue's end." - -"Well?" Agatha interrupted hopefully. - -"Then I met Mr. Doolittle on the road this afternoon and he looked -at me real reproachful, and said he was coming to see me in a day or -two. I thought he seemed," faltered Miss Finch in conscience-stricken -accents, "kind of thin and pale." - -Agatha suppressed a smile. "You're keeping them dangling a rather long -time, Fritz. I never suspected you before of being a flirt." Then as -Miss Finch groaned aloud, the girl repented of her little witticism and -hastened to ask, "Aren't you any nearer to making up your mind?" - -"The trouble is, Agatha," sighed Miss Finch, "that there's so many -good reasons on both sides, for and against. I've thought and thought -till it's seemed as if my head was spinning 'round on my shoulders. -You see there was a cousin of my mother's who was a second wife. She -married a man named Flagg, and I've heard her tell Ma that she got so -sick of hearing about the way the first Mrs. Flagg did things, that if -she'd risen up out of her grave, she'd have given her back her husband -as quick as she'd have turned her hand over. She said he was always -talking about his first wife's mince meat and her mustard pickles and -how saving she was, till it seemed as if there wasn't any use in her -trying to do things right." - -"Well?" Agatha prompted, more to afford Miss Finch the relief of -unburdening her mind than because she failed to see the application of -the tragedy of the second Mrs. Flagg. - -"Deacon Wiggins has been married three times. It's likely that some -one of those three women could do pretty near everything better than I -can," explained Miss Finch, with characteristic humility. "If it was -hard for Cousin Caroline Flagg to have one wife held up to her for an -example day and night, I don't know how I'm going to stand three of -them." - -Agatha patted the limp hand clutching the damp pocket handkerchief. -"I'm sure _I_ should find three predecessors a drawback. That's where -Mr. Doolittle has the advantage." - -"Yes, he seems to have, Agatha. But there's no denying that a -man who's lived fifty years without being married to anybody gets -dreadfully set in his ways. My father's sister married a man when he -was along about fifty, and she was twenty years younger. He was a -nice man, but stubborn. For one thing he always kept a pair of extra -boots standing under the bed, with the toes sticking out, so he could -change quick if he came in. Aunt Hannah was one of the nervous kind and -she had looked under the bed for a burglar all her life. When she'd -come into the room and see the toes of those boots, it always gave -her a turn, and she'd feel sure she'd found him at last. Anybody'd -have supposed she'd get used to it after a time, but she never did. -She tried her hardest to get him to keep his boots in the closet, and -she'd make shoe-bags for him, all bound around with tape and real -pretty-looking, but it wasn't any use. He said he'd always kept his -boots under the bed, and he'd feel lost if they was anywhere else. -Seems as if when a man lives single long enough, he gets to think there -ain't but one way of doing things and that's his." - -"Deacon Wiggins should be adaptable, then," hazarded Agatha. "He's -accommodated himself to the ways of three women." - -"There's another thing," Miss Finch continued, ignoring Agatha's -tentative encouragement. "And that's the first wife's relations. I -remember Cousin Caroline used to say she didn't mind his folks dropping -in, and of course she didn't mind her folks, but when his first wife's -folks came to Sunday dinner, or to spend the day, she was on pins and -needles. And she said if ever the bread wasn't as light as usual, or -the roast got overdone, it would be when some of the first Mrs. Flagg's -relations stopped for a meal. She'd been a member of the Methodist -church from the time she was thirteen, Cousin Caroline had, and she was -president of the Women's Foreign Missionary Society, but I've heard -her say with my own ears that she'd rather see the devil coming up the -walk any day, than one of the Sawyer tribe--the first Mrs. Flagg was a -Sawyer. And she had one set of wife's relations to worry her. I--I--if -I took Deacon Wiggins, I'd have three." - -"If you married James Doolittle," contributed Agatha cheeringly, "you -wouldn't be troubled in that way." - -"No, I wouldn't. But I'm not sure that too little company wouldn't be -worse than too much. Mr. Doolittle ain't ever been what you'd call a -social man, and except for that sister of his who lives out west, he -hasn't any folks to speak of. And as long as I haven't any, I don't -see how between us we could scare up enough mourners for a respectable -funeral." - -"Oh, come, Fritz, you're talking of weddings, not funerals. -It certainly is a pity that these lovers of yours have their -advantages--or disadvantages--so evenly balanced. It's like a see-saw, -first one's down and then the other, and that makes it hard to come to -a decision." - -Miss Finch took the banter seriously. "Yes, Agatha, it seems a wicked -thing, but I almost wish I'd find out something dreadful about one or -the other, like drinking or Sabbath-breaking, and then I'd know what -to do. But this weighing things and trying to make up my mind is just -wearing me out. Agatha, it ain't what I expected. I supposed it would -be an awful pleasant feeling to know that two men wanted you, but the -way it's turned out, I don't believe I ever was so worried in my life." - -"Perhaps proposals are like wisdom teeth, Fritz, and the slower they -are coming, the more trouble they make. But don't forget that you -aren't under any obligations to take either of these men. We were -getting along fine before they thought of wanting to marry you, and if -you say no to both of them, you and I will keep Old Maids' Hall and be -happy ever after." - -"I don't believe you're likely to remain single," objected Miss Finch -with perfect simplicity. "It's a pity that nice Mr. Warren never -came again. You could have had that man if you'd tried. Look at the -chocolates he sent you, after only seeing you once, and that in your -kitchen clothes." - -"If my name must be either Kent or Warren, I'll stay an old maid to the -end of my days." - -"I don't see why you don't like the name Warren, Agatha, and I think -Mrs. Ridgeley Warren sounds awfully nice. But you're the one to be -pleased. It's a pity Mr. Forbes is so afflicted. If it wasn't for that -he'd make a grand husband." - -"Mr. Forbes' worst affliction at present," pronounced Agatha tartly, -"is being very much in love with an absolutely heartless and generally -despicable young woman named Julia." - -"My gracious," lamented Miss Finch. "Nice prospect for him, ain't it?" - -"Not so bad as you'd think. She's going to marry another man." - -"Oh!" Miss Finch's limp hand came suddenly to life, found Agatha's -fingers and squeezed them. "Maybe he'll get over it," she hinted. - -"Maybe." Something in Agatha's tone suggested she was smiling. - -"And then if he'd get his eyesight back, the way he expects to--" - -"Then he'd have to be introduced to me all over again. You know he -thinks I'm a kittenish old lady of seventy." - -"If he doesn't like you better when he finds you're not quite twenty, -he's different from most men, that's all." There was a new authority -in Miss Finch's pronouncement. She spoke as one who knew the sex, to -whom its little idiosyncrasies were an open book. And hardly less -significant than the change in herself was the fact that Agatha -accepted her altered attitude without surprise. - -At the same time the girl's impulsive kiss on her old friend's -tear-stained cheek was irrelevantly tender. "I must go back to bed," -said Agatha. "It'll soon be time to get up. And don't worry over those -adorers of yours. It'll do them good to be kept waiting. Men--most -men--need to have the conceit taken out of them." - -Though she paused in the doorway to charge Miss Finch to go to sleep -immediately, she did not act on her own counsel. Instead she ensconsed -herself on the broad sill of the east window and swinging her dangling -bare feet, watched the face of the sky slowly brighten, flushing pink -at last, like the cheek of a girl. Overhead little rosy clouds floated, -like cherubs, listening to the chorus of bird song which grew in volume -moment by moment. - -Another day was beginning, a good day, Agatha was ready to believe. For -though between herself and her heart's desire a tortuous deception lay, -to be explained and forgiven, the prospect no longer seemed hopeless. -It was an eminently satisfactory world, Agatha decided, with Julia out -of the running. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -UNDERNEATH THE BOUGH - - -The kind-hearted Miss Kent had decreed a holiday for Howard. With -characteristic thoughtfulness she had volunteered to take Forbes off -his hands, and suggested they fill in the time by a long walk with -a picnic lunch in some shady place, dinner to be postponed until a -convenient hour after their return. Howard showed hilarious approval of -the plan, and Forbes aroused himself from his melancholy abstraction -sufficiently to agree, whereupon Agatha fell to making sandwiches, -giving directions to Phemie as she worked. - -Nature in the raw did not appeal to Miss Finch. She hated long -walks. She hated sitting on the grass; while sandwiches, without -an accompanying cup of tea, were as ashes to her taste. The others -accepted her excuses with fortitude, and left her at home to see that -Phemie did not set the house afire, and to grope wearily toward a -solution of her vexing problem. Howard, having stuffed his pockets -with a generous proportion of the sandwiches, shouldered his fishing -rod and departed to make the most of his holiday. And while the -fragrant freshness of the night still lingered in the air, Forbes and -Agatha set out in the direction of the woods. - -The serene confidence of her morning vigil still enfolded Agatha. She -walked as if keeping time to music, inaudible to all ears but her -own. Forbes had insisted on carrying the basket of lunch which also -contained a book or two, in case their mood should take a literary -turn. Agatha kept fast hold of his arm, the better to steer his steps, -and he thought there was a hint of friendliness in the firm clasp. The -lonely and unhappy man felt a disproportionate sense of gratitude. - -They walked and rested, strolled on and rested again. Neither was -inclined to talk. Forbes had plenty to occupy his thoughts, and Agatha, -too, was reflective. She realized that the time was at hand when she -must confess to Forbes the deception she had practised on him, or else -allow him to go out of her life altogether. Neither alternative was -agreeable, but the latter was unthinkable. - -A scheme occurred to her so in harmony with her native audacity that -she dallied with it lovingly, before reluctantly renouncing it as -impracticable. She could tell Forbes that she expected a visit from her -grand-niece, Agatha Kent, and prejudice him in favor of the newcomer -by assuring him of the extraordinary likeness existing between the -twentieth-century Agatha and her girlhood self. After the new Agatha's -arrival, she could leave him more and more to the society of the -younger woman, withdrawing by degrees into the background until her -sudden demise would hardly shock him, though he would naturally feel -more or less responsible for consoling her namesake and heir. Agatha's -final rejection of the plan was due less to doubt of her ability to -act the dual role, or to manage the embarrassing details of her own -interment, than to the realization that if her intimacy with Forbes -was to continue, it must be established on a foundation of absolute -truth. This deception on which she had entered so light-heartedly, -had its sole excuse in the impermanence of their relationship. Before -their friendship could become real there must be perfect understanding -between them. - -They ate their sandwiches shortly after noon, washing them down with -deliciously cool water from a convenient spring. The day had grown warm -and very still. "It feels as if a thunder-storm might be brewing," -Forbes remarked, breaking one of the periods of friendly silence. - -"I think not," Agatha answered in a dreamy voice. "Don't you love this -stillness here in the shade? It's perfect, perfect!" - - "'A book of verses underneath the bough, - A loaf of bread, a jug of wine--and thou,'" - -quoted Forbes inevitably. He was laughing but the lines stirred her, -and to disguise the fact she spoke nonchalantly. - -"There _is_ a book of poems in the basket, but I don't care for reading -to-day, do you? It's one of the times when you feel everything that has -ever been written and more too. You simply want to sit and think how -wonderful it is to be alive." - -"By jove, it's you that's wonderful," Forbes exclaimed. "That -sensitiveness wears off with most people long before they're my age, to -say nothing of yours. But you feel the thrill of life and the mystery -and the adventure, as if you were a girl." - -"Yes," Agatha acquiesced, "I do." - -"I'd have known it without your telling me. It's been a continual -marvel all through our acquaintance, that ardent freshness of yours. -It's confirmed my faith in immortality." - -Agatha had no answer ready. He groped for her hand and took possession -of it with becoming masterfulness. - -"I've got something to say to you, something very important. I've meant -to say it for an age, but I've been too much of a coward to risk a no." - -Agatha was obliged to remind herself that she was almost seventy years -of age. Otherwise she might have suspected she was listening to a -proposal. - -"Before I can explain my plan, I want to ask you something. Aren't you -ever lonely here in winter?" - -The question was less formidable than she had anticipated. Her quick -assent showed relief. - -"And aren't you going to miss me a little when I go back to the city?" - -"Of course I shall," she said faintly, and instinctively tried to -withdraw her hand. He tightened his hold, laughing. - -"Please don't take it away. It does me good, and I'm sure it can't do -you any harm. Now you've given me just the encouragement I needed. If -you're lonely here, and if you're going to miss me, why shouldn't you -and I set up housekeeping together?" - -"I--I don't understand." Again Agatha steadied herself with the -recollection of her three-score years and seven. - -"I'm afraid you've spoiled me," Forbes continued with sudden -seriousness. "I've grown shamefully dependent on you. It isn't -altogether or chiefly that you've looked after my physical comfort -so wonderfully, though, of course, that counts. But you've been so -interested in all that concerns me, so sympathetic, such a good pal--" -He broke off, apparently at a loss for words. "You're as bracing as an -October breeze," he said. "God knows what I should have done without -you, this damnable summer." - -The thought crossed her mind that this was her opportunity. Now that -they were alone, now that he had acknowledged his indebtedness, she -could safely throw herself upon his mercy. Her lips parted for her -confession, and an overmastering cowardly fear paralyzed the organs -of speech. Suppose he refused to forgive her. Then he would go away -and she would never see him again. She must make herself still more -indispensable. She must foster that feeling of dependence before she -risked self-accusation. - -"Of course I must be in town next winter," Forbes went on. "Why -shouldn't I take a furnished apartment and have you as a sort of mother -confessor? We can get some good servants so you will be relieved of all -responsibility as far as the establishment is concerned, and your sole -duty will be to keep me content with life. How does that appeal to you?" - -Agatha heard herself faltering something about Miss Finch. - -"Oh, we'll find a place for Miss Finch," Forbes said tolerantly. "I -took it for granted Miss Finch would come along, just as I assumed that -your shadow would accompany you." - -"It may be that Zaida will be married by fall," exclaimed Agatha, -seizing the opportunity to postpone the necessity of answering him. -She would not have risked the story on Warren, but she trusted Forbes -to understand that even while her voice broke with uncontrollable -laughter, she was not holding her old friend up to ridicule. As -she described Miss Finch's singular quandary, Forbes joined in her -laughter, more spontaneously than for many weeks, though he made no -effort to conceal his amazement. - -"Miss Finch! I begin to feel that I haven't done justice to the lady's -charms. She has impressed me as colorless, not faded, you know, but -colorless from the start." - -"It's well we don't all see alike," Agatha said demurely, though a -little startled by his perspicacity. - -His next remark took her by surprise. "It's a thousand pities you never -married." - -Her impertinent retort that there was still time for that, was checked -before it left her lips, and replaced by the less hazardous rejoinder, -"In that case, probably I shouldn't be sitting here with you." - -"True. But my good luck has meant loss to so many. You would have been -an incomparable mother. It's a shame you didn't have a dozen children. -Do you know I've never in my life felt such a sense of being mothered -as I have since I came to Oak Knoll. My own mother was an invalid when -I first remember her." - -A little confused, but gallantly striving to live up to her maternal -role, Agatha patted his arm with her disengaged hand. He showed his -filial appreciation by kissing the other. - -"It wasn't my father's fault, anyway, that you didn't fulfil your -destiny. He took me into his confidence the last few months of his -life, not in any formal way, you understand, just a word dropped here -and there. He was the tenderest of husbands to my mother, but at the -last of his life, his thoughts were all with his first love." He turned -toward her with a gesture plainly interrogative. "He must have been -rather an attractive young fellow." - -"He was." Agatha spoke with conviction. - -"And still you turned him down. I suppose it would be presumptuous to -hazard a guess that there was another man." - -"Yes, I think it would be rather presumptuous," Agatha said -breathlessly. "Anyway, it's foolish, dragging up old love-affairs. 'Let -the dead past bury its dead,' you know, though you modern young folks -don't hold Longfellow in such esteem as my generation did." - -"I was only thinking that if there was a man who might have married you -and didn't, he's probably putting in his time in the next world cursing -his luck. But you're not going to be as hard on the son as you were on -the father, are you?" - -"I--I--do you mean--" - -"You're not going to blast all my hopes by saying no. How am I going to -get along without you; tell me that?" - -"You must give me a little time to think," Agatha protested faintly. -She had vowed that morning to avoid all references in the future -to her advanced age, but the habit of acting a part was too strong -to be overcome by a single resolution. She heard herself continuing -mechanically, "Old people don't like to be hurried into important -decisions. Leaving the home of so many years and going away with a -young man may seem a very little thing to you, but to me it's a real -adventure." - -"Take all the time you want for reflection," he conceded generously. -"Only understand, you must end by saying yes!" - -"You might change your mind and not want me," Agatha said. The -playfulness oozed out of her tone as she voiced her haunting dread. -"You might find out something about me, some trait you had never -suspected. I might be any number of awful things--deceitful, for -instance." Again the impulse to confession took her by the throat. -Again she fought it off almost with terror. It was too soon. She was -not ready. She did not know what to say, and moreover the moment was -too sweet to spoil. - -Forbes laughed tolerantly. "Oh, I'll take the risk. Shall we shake -hands on the bargain?" - -He was amused by the fervor of her refusal, but his instinct warned -him he was carrying his teasing too far. He had a strong conviction -that she would end by accepting his proposition, but nothing would be -gained by hurrying her to a decision. Though in most things she was -strangely younger than her years, her age manifested itself in her -reluctance to change the established order. He congratulated himself -on broaching the subject early enough to give her time for accustoming -herself to the idea. - -A comfortable silence fell between them. Forbes stretched himself on -the pine needles, and presently dropped off to sleep. He had held -to her hand throughout their talk with seeming playfulness, though -perhaps underneath was the instinct of the blind man to establish a -link between himself and his kind, to touch what he can not see. In -his sleep he moved nearer the imprisoned hand, and lay with his cheek -touching it. And though her arm grew very tired from staying in one -position so long, passing through the various stages from prickles to -excruciating pain, and finally to a numbness which made her wonder -if she could ever use it again, Agatha did not move. Indeed as she -sat listening to his quiet breathing, feeling through the torture of -her cramped muscles the touch of his cheek against her hand, her only -quarrel with the hour was that it could not last. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -MISS FINCH FOLLOWS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE - - -Zaida Finch was not ill-pleased at the prospect of a day to herself. -Agatha's personality was distracting. It was next to impossible to -concentrate your thoughts on your own affairs, however urgent the need, -when Agatha was darting about like a bright-plumaged bird, saying -things that interested you, even though you frequently found them -shocking. "She's a dear girl," Miss Finch reflected, "but upsetting; -and I need quiet." - -She seated herself upon the broad porch, with the inevitable mending, -and wearily began weighing the advantages of one suitor against those -of his rival. There was the matter of health to be considered, an -important factor in reaching a decision. Zaida remembered a spinster of -forty married to a man considerably her senior, who had been a bride -three weeks to a day when the bridegroom was smitten with paralysis. - -"And poor Linda was nothing but a sick-nurse from that on," mused Miss -Finch. "He must have lasted a good twenty years. I never was much of a -hand in the sick-room. Nursing would wear me out in no time." - -But though caution sharpened her natural acuteness, Miss Finch was -unable to award to either of the gentlemen who had honored her, any -advantage over the other in the matter of health. She could not -remember that Deacon Wiggins had ever been ill, though sickness and -death had been familiar guests in his household. James Doolittle -frequently walked with a limp due to rheumatic trouble, but James came -from long-lived stock, and gave a reassuring impression of toughness. -As far as human judgment could play the prophet, she would not be -called on to act as nurse to either aspirant, at least for a number of -years. - -Miss Finch's mending suffered. She found it difficult to employ her -brain and her fingers in synchronous activities, and as selecting a -husband naturally took precedence over stopping the holes in Howard's -socks, she sat much of the morning with her hands lying idle in her -lap, her countenance expressing a concentration almost tragic. By noon -she was fairly limp from the strain and she went to the kitchen to ask -Phemie for a cup of tea. - -The sound of wheels recalled her to the porch before her modest -luncheon was disposed of. Her first apprehension that either the -deacon or James Doolittle was coming to insist on an immediate answer, -vanished as she caught sight of two unmistakably feminine figures on -the rear seat of the rickety vehicle approaching. But her feeling of -reassurance was of brief duration. Almost immediately the conviction -seized her that the women were strangers. - -Miss Finch stood quaking. Her constitutional shyness had been so -cultivated by a lifetime of keeping herself in the background that -the prospect of an interview with the unknown women presented itself -as an ordeal. It was probable, Miss Finch reflected, that they were -city people looking for board. In that case it was only necessary to -tell them that they did not wish any additional boarders, and they -would have no alternative but to go away. Nevertheless she wished -with illogical heartiness that Agatha were at home to assume the -responsibility of the interview. - -The creaking carryall came to a halt in front of the house. Miss Finch -saw that of the two passengers, one was young and one elderly, while -both were smartly dressed and formidable. It was the older woman who -addressed her, eying her disapprovingly through her lorgnette, and -speaking in a tone of incredulity that somehow was offensive. - -"My good woman, kindly tell me whether this is Oak Knoll." - -"Yes, it is," said Miss Finch, reduced by the lorgnette to abject -helplessness. - -The driver growled something from the front seat. Miss Finch understood -him to say, "Next time maybe you'll believe me." - -"And is Mr. Forbes, Mr. Burton Forbes, spending the summer here?" The -incredulity was as marked as before and as disagreeable. - -"Yes'm," replied Miss Finch faintly. "He is." - -The driver growled again. The substance of his remark, as far as Miss -Finch could grasp it in her confusion, seemed to be, "What did I tell -you?" - -But it mattered little to Miss Finch what the driver had to say. A -deplorable certainty absorbed her. The women were preparing to alight. -There was a trifling delay, owing to the fact they seemed to expect -the driver to assist them, while he assured them that he did not dare -to leave his horses. As the dejected steeds stood with hanging heads, -apparently resigned to the prospect of dying in their traces, the -indignation of the two passengers was amply justified. - -They were out at last, and while the elderly lady haughtily paid the -driver, Miss Finch's distended eyes were taking a rapid inventory of -the younger. She was extremely handsome, Miss Finch saw, tall and -slender and tremendously striking in her black and white costume. -She stood looking about her with an evident disdain which the -little spinster might have resented, had she not been chilled by an -indefinable fear. - -When the beautiful stranger spoke, her remark was a complete surprise. -"Miss Kent, I suppose." - -Zaida Finch became aware of an inexplicable hostility in the other's -manner, of an arrogance that bordered on insolence. She found she was -being scrutinized contemptuously. The little drab nonentity felt in her -veins an unprecedented stirring of resentment. - -"No, I'm not," she said with a flatness that seemed deliberately -contradictive. "I'm Miss Finch." - -"Be so kind as to call Miss Kent." - -"She's out, I'm sorry to say," replied Miss Finch, and her regret was -heart-felt. If only Agatha were on hand to give back this presumptuous -girl stare for stare, to inquire her errand, in the chilling tone -of which Agatha knew the secret, and finally to send her about her -business. - -"Call Mr. Forbes, then." - -"Mr. Forbes is out, too," Miss Finch explained, and a little chill ran -down her spine. She had forgotten how imperative it was that Agatha -should not encounter any of Forbes' friends. If their unwelcome guests -lingered, it would be necessary for Agatha to become Hephzibah again -with all the inconveniences attendant on that incarnation. "I've got to -get rid of 'em somehow," thought Miss Kent distractedly. - -But apparently for the younger of the two strangers, Miss Finch had -ceased to exist. She turned to her companion impatiently. "It's -dreadfully boring, Aunt Estelle, but Burton is out at present. We'll -have to sit on the porch and wait. Fortunately it is shady." - -"Yes, it seems to be _shady_," admitted Aunt Estelle, with an emphasis -indicating that as far as the porch was concerned, she could make -no further concessions. She climbed the steps looking about her with -multiplying evidences of disquiet. "Ask her when Burton will be back," -she enjoined, exactly as if Miss Finch had spoken a foreign tongue, and -could be addressed only through an interpreter. - -Miss Finch did not wait to have the inquiry translated. "I don't know -_when_ he'll be back," she said quickly. "Probably he'll be gone all -day." - -"He'll return for luncheon, I suppose," said Aunt Estelle, grudgingly -acknowledging Miss Finch's ability to speak English, but apparently -liking her no better on that account. - -"No, he won't," declared Miss Finch, with unaccustomed positiveness. -"They took sandwiches." - -The two women exchanged glances. "Who is with Mr. Forbes?" asked the -younger. Her manner implied her right to know. - -"Ag--well, Miss Kent went with him." And to herself Miss Finch added -wildly, "I can't have a lie on my conscience, even for Agatha." - -"Who else was in the party, please?" The young woman in black and white -had become a judge, and Miss Finch, the prisoner at the bar. - -"There wasn't anybody else," gasped Miss Finch, with every indication -of uttering a deliberate and premeditated falsehood. - -"Where were they going?" - -"I don't know exactly. They were going for a picnic somewhere, but I -didn't hear 'em say where. I don't know as they knew themselves." - -The judicial sternness became more marked as the prisoner's -embarrassment increased. "You mean that Mr. Forbes and Miss Kent have -gone off for the day with--sandwiches?" Something in her inflection -made the mention of sandwiches the crowning insult to her intelligence. - -"Yes," faltered Miss Finch guiltily. "They often take long walks, and -carry a picnic lunch." - -The older lady spoke with asperity. "It's a preposterous situation. I'm -sorry to remind you, Julia, that I said at the start it would be better -to telegraph." - -Miss Finch started violently. She recalled Agatha's confidential -assurance that Forbes was in love with a despicable young woman named -Julia, but that the aforesaid Julia was to marry another man. Yet here -she was, undeniably handsome, terrifyingly elegant, and worst of all, -with no apparent doubt as to her right to be demanding the immediate -producing of Mr. Forbes. - -The two women had seated themselves, Aunt Estelle ostentatiously -dusting the rocker she trusted with her ample person. Miss Finch -proffered a belated and reluctant hospitality. - -"If you're thinking of sitting here long, I'll see about getting you -something to eat." - -Julia brushed the offer aside without thanks. "We shall wait for Mr. -Forbes." - -"It is really absurd, you know," Aunt Estelle contributed, "for us to -sit waiting indefinitely. Burton must be somewhere about. A blind man -and an old woman can not possibly walk very far. Why are they not sent -for?" - -As her inquiry was addressed to Julia, Julia passed it on to Miss -Finch, her extremely frigid tone indicating that Miss Finch should have -thought of that herself. - -"There's nobody to send except the hired girl," Miss Finch explained -despairingly. "And she never was known to find anything, even if it was -right under her nose. If only Howard--" - -Miss Finch checked herself abruptly. A thought had flashed across her -mind so dazzling in its brilliancy she could hardly believe herself -capable of originating it. Indeed, the probability is that she had not -done so, but that some extravagant fancy of Agatha's, falling like seed -into her subconsciousness, had lain there dormant till the emergency -brought it to swift germination. Zaida Finch had never heard of Victor -Hugo's saintly nun, crowning a lifetime of sanctity by a devout and -holy lie, but unconsciously she was inspired to emulate her example. - -With Miss Finch veracity was almost a mania. She was one of the -tiresome people who are continually suspecting themselves of -exaggeration or of misrepresentation of something absolutely without -importance, and then bore their associates by insisting on their -attention while they painstakingly correct their statements. Yet now -she forgot her habitual dread of falsehood. If a lie were necessary to -save Agatha, lie she must. - -She resumed her interrupted sentence, pale but resolute. "If only -Howard was well, he could look for 'em. He could find 'em if anybody -could. But it'll be a good while before he does much running around, I -guess." - -The two visitors regarded her stonily. In her simplicity she had -assumed their cooperation to the extent of a question or two. They -would surely ask her who Howard was, or why he was incapacitated. But -apparently these matters did not interest them in the slightest degree. -It was necessary for Miss Finch to continue her career of mendacity -unaided by so much as the lifting of an interrogative eye-brow. - -Miss Finch rose to the occasion. "He's sick, you know," she confided to -the two pairs of indifferent ears. "High fever, and considerable of a -rash--if you'd call it a rash." - -Aunt Estelle showed a slight uneasiness. "You've consulted a physician, -I suppose." - -"We're trying a kind of mental cure first," replied Miss Finch as -glibly as if she had practised perjury from her childhood. "And then if -that don't work, Ag--Miss Kent is going to call in the doctor. But she -don't like to do it till she has to, for it would be awful inconvenient -to be quarantined." - -"Quarantined," exclaimed Aunt Estelle with fresh evidences of -perturbation. "Have you any reason to think that it may be contagious?" - -"Most of these rashy diseases are," Miss Finch replied. And though -there was no malice in her composition, she was conscious of relishing -Aunt Estelle's air of agitation. "I'm hoping it's nothing worse than -scarlet fever, though there's been a good many cases of smallpox around -here lately. And I don't know that Howard's ever been vaccinated." - -Aunt Estelle rose from her chair with a little cry. In her palpitating -pallor she reminded Miss Finch irresistibly of blanc-mange. - -"Smallpox, Julia," she exclaimed. "Do you hear what the woman -says--smallpox! Even if we escape with our lives, one's complexion--oh, -my God! Why did I ever listen to this mad idea of yours!" - -Julia's composure was in refreshing contrast to her aunt's excitement. -She rose, it is true, but only to advance to the older woman's side and -whisper in her ear. And having whispered, she calmly resumed her seat, -and looked away toward the hills, apparently intensely interested in -the scenery. - -Aunt Estelle stood irresolute. "Do you really think so?" - -"I'm absolutely sure of it," said Julia. - -"I think I noticed a little wildness in the eye myself," Aunt Estelle -conceded, with a return of her earlier conviction of Miss Finch's -inability to understand English. - -"Unmistakable," opined Julia. - -Miss Finch looked blankly from one to the other and hope was at low -ebb. They were going to stay. She had thrilled with childlike pride -at the discovery of her own inventiveness, culpable though it might -be. Complacency had whispered that Agatha herself could not have done -better. And now she realized that her effort had failed. She had -sacrificed her conscience to friendship, and the sacrifice had been in -vain. Though not so quick-witted as many another, she had no difficulty -in recognizing the conclusion these strangers had reached. To herself -she said, "They think I'm crazy." - -Miss Finch was not at the end of her resources. Her lapse from the path -of rectitude had proved strangely stimulating to the imagination. She -meant to get rid of these women before Agatha returned. Agatha would -be equal to the emergency provided she were not taken by surprise. If -Julia and her aunt were not afraid of smallpox, it was possible that -they might be afraid of a crazy woman who showed signs of becoming -violent. - -"G-r-r-r-r--" said Miss Finch menacingly. Aunt Estelle jumped and -took another chair. For the first time in her life, Miss Finch felt -herself at no disadvantage because of her insignificant proportions. -"G-r-r-r-r-r--" she said again. - -"Julia," exclaimed Aunt Estelle nervously, "do you really think it's -safe--" - -The intrepidity of the modern young woman passes comprehension. -"Harmless, I imagine," Julia said with nonchalance. "Otherwise Burton -would hardly have remained." - -"Why he should have remained in this place under any circumstances," -declared Aunt Estelle, "passes my comprehension." - -"There must be some reason we know nothing about. Burton will -explain." Something in Julia's tone implied that Forbes would not find -explanations altogether easy. She added with evident relief, "Here he -comes now." - -"Thank heaven!" cried Aunt Estelle piously. - -Miss Finch looked wildly in the direction of Julia's steadfast gaze. -All was over. Arm in arm across the grass, so absorbed in each other -that the girl was as blind as the man to the audience on the porch, -came Agatha and Forbes. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -THE DAY OF JUDGMENT - - -Forbes woke refreshed from his sylvan nap, and sat for a little -discoursing on the invigorating effect of contact with mother earth, -while Agatha, by drastic massage, restored the circulation to her -temporarily paralyzed arm. The sun had dipped but little toward the -western horizon when they turned their faces homeward, and they walked -slowly. Agatha exulted in heat. A temperature of ninety stimulated her -both physically and mentally. But Forbes found the warmth of the day -relaxing, and she set the pace with that fact in mind. - -Toward the last of their long leisurely walk, Forbes brought up the -subject he had introduced earlier in the day. Though he made no effort -to hurry her to a decision, he sketched entertainingly some of the -diversions she might anticipate, if she accepted his invitation for the -winter. The program was planned with due regard for the infirmities of -age, but Agatha listened raptly. - -They were but a few rods from their destination, Forbes talking -earnestly, and Agatha hanging on his words, when some mysterious sixth -sense warned her of danger. She looked ahead and instantly halted. -Forbes felt her figure stiffen against his arm, and instinct told him -she was frightened. "What is the matter?" he cried, sickening with a -new realization of his helplessness. - -Agatha did not answer, but as she stared ahead she understood that -doomsday had arrived unheralded. A young woman was tripping toward -them, a handsome young woman, who even without beauty would have -attracted all eyes by the distinction of her dress and bearing. It -could be no other than Julia. The ample lady in the background, -following with a haste that empurpled her complexion, that she might -not be left tete-a-tete with a maniac, failed to attract Agatha's -attention. Julia's graceful figure dominated the landscape. - -"What _is_ the matter?" Forbes again demanded. He laid his hand -reassuringly over the fingers trembling upon his arm. And at that -moment a voice subtly reproachful, suggestively tender, spoke his name. -"Burton!" - -"Julia!" Forbes shouted. His dear old friend, Miss Kent, and her -mysterious perturbation, were instantly forgotten. He started forward, -remembered that he was blind, stood irresolute, his hands outstretched. -"Julia!" he cried again, this time with entreaty as well as rapture. - -Agatha was ready to believe that then and there she had amply atoned -for her sins, past and present. Even the certainty that the hour of -her humiliation was at hand could not hurt worse than the joy ringing -through his voice as he spoke another woman's name. She wondered dully -at her own folly. She had been warned and had not heeded. She had known -all the time of his love for Julia, and yet had foolishly assumed that -since Julia's selfish decision had put her out of his reach, he would -turn to her for consolation. Her pride had not rebelled over taking -what Julia had thrown away. Indeed she had thought very little about -herself. Her one desire was to be light to his blind eyes, balm to his -wounded heart. But her castle of dreams was in ruins, as soon as he -spoke the name she had hated from the first day she had heard it on his -lips. - -Julia approached him as swiftly as was consistent with grace, a rather -insolent triumph in the glance she shot over his shoulder toward the -pale girl standing in the background. "Yes, Burton," she said gently, -"it is Julia," and extended both hands. - -He caught them ardently and held them fast, his eager face questioning -her dumbly, though he only said, "What a wonderful surprise! How good -of you, how very good of you!" - -"My aunt, Mrs. Knox, is with me, Burton," continued Julia, the -pensiveness of her tone flatly contradicted by her air of elation. "I -think you have met Mr. Forbes, Aunt Estelle." - -Aunt Estelle, still panting, brought herself into hand-shaking distance -and this formality helped to recall Forbes to the realization that -there were other people in the world besides Julia and himself. He -turned toward Agatha. - -"This is a pleasure I have been promising myself," he said. "Julia, I -want you to know my dear friend, Miss Kent. Miss Kent, let me present -Mrs. Knox and Miss Studley." - -The blankness of the silence that ensued was as definite as a blow. -Forbes stood awaiting the conventional formula, but his quick ear could -detect only the sound of hurried breathing. Again he turned toward -Agatha, but for the first time she failed him. - -"Miss Kent is still here, is she not?" queried Forbes. He remembered -his ideas had been chaotic after discovering Julia's presence. His late -companion might easily have withdrawn without attracting his attention. - -For so simple a question, the effect was startling. "Burton," Julia -cried, her voice sharp to the point of shrillness, "what are you -talking about?" - -Aunt Estelle caught her sleeve. "Can't you understand, Julia?" she -hissed. "This place is a private asylum. That crazy old creature on the -porch, and now him. It's perfectly plain. Let us go away at once." - -Forbes caught most of this sibilant outburst. He turned white with -anger. "Miss Kent?" he pleaded, and Agatha pulled herself together. Her -voice was steady if slightly unnatural, as she answered, "Yes, I am -here." - -Forbes tried to laugh. The consciousness of being enveloped in baffling -mystery made his blindness doubly intolerable. There was a bewilderment -in his voice that wrung Agatha's heart. - -"This is what I have been hoping for all summer. You know how often -I've wished you and Miss Studley might know each other." - -"Burton," Julia screamed, "who and what is this person?" - -The contempt in her tone, even more than her disdainful phrasing, -brought the blood racing to his forehead. "Julia!" He seemed to defy -her to go on. "If you have read my letters at all," he said in a -vibrant voice, "you know both who Miss Kent is and how much I am in her -debt." - -"Miss Kent! Your father's friend!" - -"And mine as well, Julia." There was no ecstatic tenderness now in his -use of her name, but indignant sternness. - -"Burton, either you are insane or the woman is an impostor. She is not -old. She is young, hardly more than a girl." - -Forbes attempted to reply, but for a moment no words came. He put his -hand to his forehead with a confused gesture. "I have been off in the -woods with Miss Kent all day," he stammered. "I supposed--I had not -noticed--" Again he turned in Agatha's direction. "Who are you, please?" - -There was no trace of emotion in her composed answer. "I am Agatha -Kent." - -"Do you dare to say," shrieked Julia, "that you were the friend of Mr. -Forbes' father?" - -"I never saw Mr. Forbes' father." - -Forbes took a step ahead, then halted, and stood with his feet a little -apart, like one who balances himself on the deck of a heaving ship in a -high sea. "But where," he stammered, "where is the other Miss Kent?" - -"There is no other. My Great-aunt Agatha, for whom I was named, died -twelve years ago." - -There was a momentary palpitating silence which Julia was the first to -break. - -"And you mean," she arraigned her, "that all this summer you have been -a deliberate impostor, palming yourself off on Mr. Forbes as an old -woman, allowing him to think--oh, it's too shameful. I can't believe -any girl would be so base." - -"It is quite true, nevertheless," Agatha assured her gently. Her steady -eyes met Julia's, and even that intrepid young woman drew back a step. -Her momentary shrinking was not unreasonable for could concentrated -hate smite like a lightning bolt, her life would have been measured by -seconds. - -Instinct taught Julia how to repay that level look by the deadliest -hurt. She turned on Forbes furiously. "Do you mean to tell me that you -have been the victim of a hoax all summer, that this girl has passed -herself off on you for an old woman? But, no, it isn't possible. You've -contrived this outrageous story between you to cover up something -disgraceful. You couldn't have been such a dupe as you pretend. It's -incredible!" - -Forbes' color came and went during this attack. "It seems incredible," -he owned when she gave him opportunity. "I don't blame you for -questioning the truth of such a story. I can only remind you that it is -easy to deceive a blind man." - -Something in Agatha's stony whiteness convinced Julia that she had made -no mistake in her choice of retribution. She gave the screws another -turn. - -"You mean for me to believe, Burton, that you've been only the gullible -victim of a swindle, that this impostor has tricked you successfully -all these months?" - -There was a rather long silence. "Yes," said Forbes tonelessly, "that -is what I mean." - -Julia's first sense of being at a disadvantage had passed. She was -thoroughly enjoying herself. - -"I begin to understand your strange letter," she said, addressing -Agatha. "Your letter of congratulation, you know. I suppose you are the -young woman to whom you referred, the one with whom Mr. Forbes had -spent so much time, you no doubt remember." - -There was such malicious satisfaction in her tone that Forbes turned as -if to interfere. Then his uplifted arm dropped rather heavily to his -side. - -"You'll laugh when I tell you, Burton," exclaimed Julia, setting him -the example by laughing herself, most unpleasantly. "But she insinuated -in this letter that you might marry her. That is at the bottom of this -outrageous plot. She actually thought she could compromise you in some -dreadful way and force you to marry her. Shocking as it is, one can't -help being amused." - -Forbes' only answer was again to lift his hand to his head. It was -Agatha who spoke. Unmasked adventuress as she was, her dignity was in -rather agreeable contrast to Julia's vindictive shrillness. - -"It is hardly necessary to trouble Mr. Forbes with any further -details," she said, "since, thanks to you, my plot against his peace -has been exposed. I suppose you will want to take him away as soon as -possible." - -"Oh, at once." Julia showed signs of becoming hysterical. "The very -first train. I feel as if I couldn't breathe in this atmosphere of -deceit." - -"I'm afraid there is no train before five o'clock, but I'll have the -carriage ready in plenty of time. And now, if you will excuse me, I -shall see about getting you some luncheon." - -"Luncheon! Good heavens, I couldn't eat a mouthful. It would choke me." - -Mrs. Knox seconded her niece admirably. "It would not be safe, Julia. A -person capable of all this would not hesitate to poison our food." - -Agatha accepted this tribute without comment. "Will you pack Mr. -Forbes' things yourself?" she said, addressing Julia. - -Again Mrs. Knox intervened. "Julia, I forbid you to go into that house, -with this girl, and that dreadful, crazy creature--" - -Forbes interrupted with signs of irritation. "You said that once -before. There is no insane woman here." - -"I am afraid you are not a very good judge of what _is_ or is _not_ -here, Mr. Forbes," replied Aunt Estelle, scoring again. "We had a -most unpleasant encounter with a woman clearly insane. She positively -gibbered." - -"Yes, Burton," Julia cried with shrewish enjoyment, "you have been made -a laughing-stock all summer, poor dear. You've kept writing about this -fine old place. I wish you could see it. It's simply in the last stages -of dilapidation." - -"It's ready to fall to pieces," corroborated Aunt Estelle. "I didn't -venture inside, but the glimpses of the interior I got from the window -showed that everything was fairly moth-eaten." - -"Yes," Agatha admitted quietly. "We are very poor, so poor that a -blind boarder seemed providential. Won't you sit on the porch till the -carriage is ready?" she added politely. "I'm sure Mr. Forbes is tired -after his long walk." - -"Oh, please," protested Julia, her self-control shaken by the other's -calm, "please drop this pretext of being so interested in Mr. Forbes' -welfare. After the fraud you have practised on him all summer you can -hardly expect him to believe anything you say." - -"Oh, no," said Agatha. "I don't expect that for a moment. And now if -you're sure you won't eat a little luncheon, I'll bid you all good -afternoon." She went across the grass to the house, carrying herself -with her chin high, moving deliberately. No one could have guessed -the fact of which she was so certain, that during the encounter she -had ceased to be a girl, that she had leaped without any intervening -stages of maturity and middle life, straight to old age, that dreadful -old age, beyond hope or joy, the age that is death in life. Agatha -remembered wonderingly that once the mere flicker of sunshine through -leaves, the mere fragrance of a flower, had a magic to quicken her -pulses. - -A little after three the carryall appeared. Howard was driving, and -Forbes' suit-case and other impedimenta lay on the seat beside him. As -he helped his passengers in, he explained that the trunk would be sent -by express next day. This announcement was received in frigid silence -whereupon Howard, too, became sulkily silent and used the whip on the -fat bays with such effect that they covered the five miles between Oak -Knoll and the village station at an unprecedented rate of speed. - -Forbes thawed a little when Howard helped him to alight, and stood for -a moment beside him. "Good-by, Mr. Forbes," the boy said huskily. "I'm -awfully sorry you're going." - -He put out his hand and after an instant's hesitation Forbes gripped -it. He had grown fond of the boy. "Oh, Howard," he said, his voice -betraying his hurt, "I wouldn't have believed it of you." - -He heard Howard gulp and then burst out sobbing. Fortunately for the -boy's pride, the hour was early and the station platform lacked its -customary contingent of loafers. - -"We didn't mean anything, Mr. Forbes," Howard choked. "Aggie wanted to -take boarders, so she could send me to school, but when they saw how -old and shabby the house was, they wouldn't come." - -"Is she your sister?" - -"Kind of one. Her father married my mother. She's better than a -thousand real sisters." - -"Burton," said Julia's voice beside them, "I wouldn't encourage the boy -by listening to him. Probably that young woman has coached him in a new -series of lies." - -"Aggie never tells lies," Howard challenged her hotly. "This was like -a charade or something. Mr. Forbes thought she was old and so she -pretended to be. We had lots of fun and it didn't do anybody any harm." -He appealed to Forbes. "She took good care of you anyway, didn't she, -Mr. Forbes?" - -"Really, Burton," expostulated Julia, "I can not allow this to go on. -These people evidently regard you as fair game. It's dreadful that your -blindness should put you so at the mercy of the unscrupulous, but I -shall see that you are not imposed on while I am with you. Send this -boy away." - -"He doesn't need to send me away," Howard exploded indignantly. "I'm -going." He seized Forbes' hand again. "Good-by, Mr. Forbes. Come and -see us some time." - -Julia gasped. "Did any one ever imagine such impertinence!" she asked -of high heaven. "Such people seem to be without natural shame. I -suppose they are so accustomed to being found out in falsehood and -fraud that they take it as a matter of course. In the interest of -justice there should be some way of punishing them. Couldn't they be -prosecuted, Burton, for obtaining money under false pretenses?" - -Forbes made no reply. Apparently he did not share Julia's lofty -enthusiasm for abstract justice. His air of bewildered dejection -suggested a lost child, rather than a man rescued from a false and -intolerable position by the lady of his heart. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -WARREN GETS A TIP - - -Ridgeley Warren had been to the station to bid a friend _bon voyage_. -He presented himself armed with a box of chocolates, the latest novel -and three brand-new witticisms culled from a roof-garden program the -previous evening. The pretty girl had accepted his offerings with -marked graciousness and had laughed convulsively at each of the jokes, -thereby intensifying Warren's habitual sense of being on good terms -with himself and all the world. His spirits unclouded by the pang of -parting, he strolled toward the exit, trying to decide where to dine, -when his own name reached his ears coupled with a fervent ejaculation, -"Mr. Warren! Thank heaven!" - -Warren spun on his heel to encounter Julia advancing with extended -hand. Julia was not one of Warren's favorites, but her pleasure at the -sight of him was contagious. "Gosh!" he exclaimed agreeably, "this _is_ -luck." - -It was while shaking hands with Julia that Warren became aware of Mrs. -Knox's imposing figure in the background. And scarcely had he lifted -his hat in recognition of her presence, when his eye fell on Forbes, a -pale and woebegone object, committed to the clumsy guardianship of a -station porter. - -Warren turned on Julia blithely. "Don't tell me you've sprung a -surprise on us. Don't say that I should have come with my pockets full -of rice." - -"Oh, Mr. Warren, be serious, please." There was gentle reproach in -Julia's uplifted eyes. "It seems really providential meeting you here. -Now you can take charge of Burton till he finds some suitable person to -look after him." - -"What's become of the nice little chap who has been on the job all -summer?" - -"Oh, Mr. Warren!" Julia's gesture indicated the futility of attempting -immediate explanations. "It's a long, a dreadful story, and it will -take time to make you understand." - -"Hm! I'm not usually considered so dense." - -"But this isn't like anything else. It's incredible. I can hardly -believe it myself. Let's go to some quiet place where we can have -dinner and talk things over." - -"Yes, for heaven's sake, let us have dinner," snapped Mrs. Knox. An -unusually early hour of rising, together with a mid-day fast, had -reduced her to an unwonted state of nervous irritability. Forbes, too, -seemed wrapped in impenetrable gloom. It was not a cheerful party. - -Warren's curiosity was aroused. He found a taxi, bundled the dejected -trio inside and gave the driver directions. He was rather shocked to -see how ill Forbes looked on nearer view, but he concealed that emotion -under his usual cloak of levity, and told humorous stories all the way -to their destination, covering the lack of responsiveness on the part -of his audience by roars of appreciative laughter. - -The staid hotel which Warren had selected, though yielding to modern -demands sufficiently to institute a roof dining-room, discouraged -such innovations as would be likely to attract the light-minded, and -Warren's party had no difficulty in securing a table. Warren assumed -the prerogative of host and ordered with a lavishness productive of -a marked unbending on the part of Mrs. Knox. Julia, too, was hungry -enough to look forward to a good dinner with unwonted anticipation, and -she smiled on him appreciatively. Only Forbes remained moodily aloof. - -It was over the soup that Warren said cheerily, "Well, now, what's it -all about?" He was beginning to realize that something unusual must -have occurred to bring Julia and her aunt to town in August, as well as -to account for Forbes' strange, dispirited silence. - -Mrs. Knox immediately protested. "Oh, Mr. Warren, don't spoil a good -meal by bringing up that abominable affair." - -"Oh, yes, let it wait, please, Mr. Warren," sighed Julia. "Actually -when one realizes what wickedness there is in the world--deceit and -imposture and things of that sort--it seems fairly heartless to enjoy -one's self." - -"Then we'll wait for explanations till dinner is over," Warren -conceded, with undiminished buoyancy. But although he made himself -entertaining in his usual fashion, his mind was busy with the problem -Julia had suggested. Who was the girl hitting, with her talk of deceit -and imposture? She could not refer to Miss Kent, naturally, and Howard -was equally out of the question. Could it be that Hephzibah's existence -had come to her attention? Was it possible that Forbes had been -playing a lone hand and had thereby become involved in an entanglement -from which his betrothed had magnanimously rescued him? The unrelieved -melancholy of Forbes' face and manner rendered this explanation -entirely plausible. - -When the coffee was brought on and the men lighted cigarettes, Warren -felt, not unnaturally, that his hungry curiosity had a right to -satisfaction. "Well, I'm as ready to be shocked as I ever shall be," he -said. "Let's hear what has happened. Don't tell me that the staid Miss -Kent was on the point of eloping with old Forbes." - -To Warren's surprise, this apparently innocent witticism caused -Forbes to flush darkly. He noticed, too, that Julia's expression lost -something of its pensive sweetness, but even then he was unprepared for -the acidity of the tone with which she answered him. - -"There is no Miss Kent." - -"Eh?" Warren looked rather stupid. - -"Strictly speaking," admitted Julia, "there is a person who calls -herself by that name. But the nice old lady who was Burton's father's -friend has been dead a dozen years." - -Warren knocked the ashes from his cigarette with painstaking -deliberation. "Must be a rather lively old ghost," he commented, -striving to live up to his principle of never showing surprise, -"according to all Forbes tells." - -"Oh, poor Burton," Julia cried, with a glance of angelic commiseration -in the direction of her grimly silent lover. "Wouldn't you have thought -that Burton's misfortune would have appealed to the better instincts of -the most depraved? But instead, they take advantage of his blindness to -trick him in the most infamous fashion. The person who calls herself -Agatha Kent--I suppose it really is her name, though any one so -absolutely deceitful is as likely to lie about one thing as another--" - -"Well?" trumpeted Warren, his strained patience showing itself in the -unnecessary loudness of his challenge. - -"Do hush, Mr. Warren, everybody's looking at us. This Kent woman isn't -a nice motherly person. She isn't old at all, not a bit older than I -am." - -Warren sucked at his cigarette for a moment and blew the smoke -through his nose. He needed a little time in order to preserve the -imperturbable demeanor on which he prided himself. He looked at Julia -to be sure she was in earnest, looked at Forbes to see if he were not -going to deny this incredible story, and then expressed his feelings by -a low whistle. - -"Not a nice motherly person," he repeated inanely. "About as old as you -are." - -"She may even be a little younger," Julia admitted generously. - -Warren's air of incredulity deepened. He threw the uncommunicative -Forbes a challenging glance. - -"Do you mean that Forbes has been spending all his time with her for -the past three months and never suspected that she wasn't an old woman?" - -"So he claims." Julia's inflection was decidedly tart. - -Forbes made one of his rare contributions to the conversation. "I -wouldn't have believed such a thing possible myself, but blindness -makes one an easy victim." - -"Poor Burton!" murmured Julia, melting at once. "To think that any girl -should have the heart to take such advantage of another's misfortune." - -"But I can't see what she was getting at," Warren demurred. "I've -heard that occasionally ladies represent themselves as younger than -they really are, and the reason for that seems plain enough. But why -the devil should a young girl want to make herself out an old maid of -seventy?" - -"Purely mercenary at the start," Julia opined. "As I understand it, -Burton saw her advertisement for a boarder, and wrote her, supposing -she was his father's old friend. And she decided to pass herself off as -her great-aunt so as to get as much out of Burton as she could." - -"That young woman must have plenty of nerve. It's plain she needed the -money, as far as that goes. Place is terribly run-down." - -"Oh, shockingly," Mrs. Knox corroborated him, in her deepest tones. -"All the furniture I could see through the windows seemed mere wrecks." - -"On its last legs," Warren agreed. He waited for a moment and then -asked casually, "Well, what's the fuss about? What harm did it do?" - -The two women uttered a simultaneous ejaculation of horror. "A piece of -barefaced fraud," cried Mrs. Knox. - -"She has been getting money under false pretenses," flared Julia. "I -believe she can be arrested like any other swindler, and punished." - -Warren shrugged his shoulders. "I can't see where the harm comes in," -he persisted stubbornly. "She made Forbes comfortable all summer, so -comfortable that now he looks like a baby that's being weaned. She -took his money, but judging from the meals I ate there, she gave him -his money's worth. If she'd been an old party, passing herself off -as a youthful beauty, Forbes would have a right to kick. But under -the circumstances is seems to me you're making a mountain out of a -mole-hill." - -Warren's amiable defense of the guilty was not well received. Aunt -Estelle regarded him with open hostility, and Julia seemed pained by -his moral obtuseness. A flicker of interest lighted Forbes' impassive -face and suggested to Warren that his line of argument appealed more -strongly to his masculine listener than to the women. Although he held -no brief for Agatha Kent, he pressed his advantage. - -"We don't know, any of us, what we might do if we were up against it. -I've often thought I would commit highway robbery if I were hungry -enough. I'll say this for the girl, anyway: She must be a peach of an -actress. If she could knock around with a man all summer, walk with him -and talk with him and pet him a little, when he was down in the mouth, -and yet never let him suspect that she wasn't old enough to be his -grandmother--" - -"Really, Mr. Warren," Julia said with asperity, "I can't see any point -in continuing this conversation. I had hoped you might be able to make -some helpful suggestions regarding Burton, for of course I understand -that you can't be burdened with him for more than a few days. But if -you are going to spend the evening defending that brazen, red-haired--" - -"What!" roared Warren. This time he _had_ done it. The head waiter -looked in his direction apprehensively. - -Aunt Estelle took the protest from Julia's lips. "Pardon me, Mr. -Warren, but I must remind you that my niece and I dislike to be made -conspicuous by such demonstrations." - -Warren ignored the reproof. "What did you call her?" he demanded of -Julia, whose only answer was an offended stare. - -"Did you say she was red-haired?" - -"I--I did. Though why you should attach any importance to anything so -trivial, I confess I don't understand." - -Warren did not attempt to enlighten her. He indicated to the waiter -that he was ready for his check and his manner was offensively -jubilant. "I'm afraid," he said genially, "that you'll have to make -some plan for disposing of old Forbes besides committing him to my -tender mercies. I've just remembered that I'm going out of town in the -morning, early train." - -Julia looked startled. "But what is Burton to do, then?" - -"Just what he would have done if you hadn't run across me. Though if -you'd like my candid advice--" - -"Yes, please," said Julia, and tried to look winning. It did not suit -her that Warren should slip away in this cavalier fashion, leaving -her with a blind man on her hands. She had important plans for the -remainder of the week. Twenty-four hours was all she could possibly -spare for Forbes. - -"Then I advise you to marry him offhand. You have taken him away from -one young woman who was devoting herself to making him comfortable. I -should say that the least you could do was to follow her example." - -Julia's gasp of rage made Warren think of a cat whose tail has been -trodden on. From across the table Forbes promptly requested him to mind -his own business. - -"Just a bit of good advice, old man," Warren soothed him. "Take it or -leave it, as you please. Anything more I can do for you people before I -go?" - -A frigid silence indicated that any service he could offer would be -unwelcome, whereupon Warren, having tipped the waiter with a liberality -indicative of a jocund spirit, took his smiling departure, leaving -dejection behind him. - -After a talk with the night clerk, it was arranged that Forbes should -remain at the hotel, an adaptable bell-boy agreeing to act as his valet -in the morning. Before Mrs. Knox and Julia took refuge in another -hostelry, the lovers had a moment to themselves. - -Julia was in an unpleasant mood. The emphasis Warren had laid on Miss -Kent's histrionic powers had awakened her ready suspicion. As she found -herself alone for a moment with her lover, his look of weary dejection -aroused her resentment. - -"It's most extraordinary, Burton," she complained, "that you should -never have suspected her of being younger than she pretended. I could -see that Mr. Warren didn't believe it for a minute." - -Forbes replied with perfect conviction that Warren was an ass. - -"I should have thought that if you didn't find it out when you were -holding her hands, you would have realized it the moment you took her -in your arms." - -"Damnation!" Forbes was goaded beyond endurance. "I never took her in -my arms." - -"She said you did," insisted Julia, eying him suspiciously. "In that -preposterous letter she wrote me, you know. She said you often held her -hands and patted them and that sort of thing." - -"I did, I admit it. I supposed her a contemporary of my father's, you -remember." - -"And she said that once, under rather unusual circumstances, you took -her in your arms." - -"An absolute lie!" blazed Forbes. "But of course if you are going to -doubt my word, Julia--" - -Julia said no, that she did not doubt him. She added that when a person -had lived a lie for months, one more little falsehood would not mean -much. Then she gave him her hand to kiss, and was annoyed when he only -pressed it and said good night. She had to remind herself that though -there was no one near to witness the act of devotion, Burton could -not know that he was unobserved, and his undemonstrative demeanor was -undoubtedly due to his unwillingness to compromise her. - -It was while the adaptable bell-boy was conducting his charge to -his room, that enlightenment came. Forbes gave a convulsive start. -"Damnation!" he exclaimed, for the second time in fifteen minutes. - -"Yes, sir, our floor, sir!" The bell-boy eyed him expectantly. He had -an adventurous spirit, though condemned to carry suit-cases and bring -ice-water on request. It looked as if there might be something doing -with a gentleman who jumped so high and swore so roundly in a public -elevator. - -Forbes had only realized that the letter Julia had quoted had contained -no falsehood. He understood Warren's excitement over the discovery that -Agatha Kent was red-haired. Agatha and Hephzibah were one and the same. - -The circumstances which led to his taking her in his arms were unusual, -indeed. In the close corridors of the city hotel he seemed to smell -again the scent of sun-kissed fields. As the bell-boy gripped his -arm, he felt against his heart the pressure of that lithe young body, -shaken by sobs. His cheek had brushed another, smooth and fragrant. His -pulses had answered the indefinable challenge of youth and beauty. They -thrilled again at the mere memory. - -Forbes did not fall asleep till nearly morning. He lay awake, trying to -decide how far the situation was altered by the fact that Agatha Kent -had saved his life. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -THE WORM TURNS - - -In the hour or two of troubled sleep closing his wakeful night, Forbes -dreamed vividly and woke with Agatha's voice echoing in his ears. He -started up, his lips parted to speak her name, then dropped back upon -his pillows with a sense of desolate loss that tried his powers of -self-control. - -So faithfully had his memory reproduced every intonation of the -familiar voice that it had seemed to bring the living woman to his -side. He recognized the maternal note which had appealed to him the -more because of his unmothered boyhood, the undertone of indulgent -humor which was characteristic of the friend on whom he had learned -to lean. Only there was no such friend. Her place had been taken by -a stranger, capable of bewildering changes of identity, Miss Kent, -Hephzibah, and now this newcomer, Agatha, self-confessed impostress -who could, even when unmasked and flouted, preserve the dignity which -is the heritage of race. He found himself thrilled by an inexplicable -pride as he remembered the even voice with which she had answered -Julia's shrillness. - -The adaptable bell-boy presented himself in due time and awkwardly -assisted him with his dressing. After visiting the barber, he was -conducted to the hotel dining-room, and here the realization was -brought home to him that for many a month Agatha's tact had stood -between him and embarrassment. She had prepared his food so that he ate -without any especial sense of being at a disadvantage. His fork was -always at hand when he wanted it. His glass of water and his cup of -coffee were magically present to his need. In the hotel dining-room he -heard whispers at his back, and once a sound like smothered laughter, -and he tingled with the shamed consciousness of being a show for -curious eyes. His face burned throughout the meal, and his eating was -largely pretense. - -Forbes' engagement with Julia was for ten o'clock. At quarter before -the hour, the bell-boy who had taken him in charge conducted him to a -stiff little parlor on the second floor, and left him after a whispered -explanation to the maid. Time is proverbially slow-footed from the -standpoint of lovers, but as Forbes sat waiting he felt sure that his -impatience did not explain the seemingly endless duration of those -fifteen minutes. The maid came to him at last to ask if there was -anything she could do. - -"I'd like to know the time, please." - -"Half past eleven, sir." - -"Half past eleven," Forbes repeated. Oddly his first emotion was a -feeling of relief that Agatha did not know. - -The parlor maid was offering encouragement. "Prob'ly something's -happened to detain the young lady, sir. But I don't believe she'll be -much longer." - -"Let us hope not," Forbes replied dryly. The proudest of men, he winced -at the unmistakable sympathy of the woman's tone. It was not fair that -he should be subjected to such humiliation. - -Julia arrived upon the stroke of noon, voluble over some undeniable -bargains in blouses. She had stopped at one of the exclusive little -shops, preferred by the knowing to the big emporiums, only intending, -she explained vivaciously, to make one small purchase. But the woman -had kept showing her the loveliest things, and all so reasonable. -There was practically no one in the place, so that it had seemed like -shopping in some strange city. And it was worth coming to town in the -hot weather just to pick up such bargains. - -"I'm glad your effort was not thrown quite away," Forbes remarked with -an irony that glanced harmless from Julia's armor. - -"Oh, no, Burton, I don't grudge any sacrifice I have made. Getting you -out of the clutches of that harpy was worth it all." - -She waited for a suitable expression of gratitude from the gentleman -she had rescued. After a pause which Forbes failed to fill -appropriately, she spoke again, and this time with grave seriousness. - -"Now, Burton, it's only two hours before my train leaves and I must -have luncheon, so we'd better lose no time deciding on the wisest -course to take in this affair." - -Again Forbes failed to respond. Julia eyed him suspiciously. - -"I hope you haven't an idea of passing this outrage over without taking -any action, Burton. It's that sort of laxity that makes criminals." - -"Perhaps you have decided on the punishment appropriate to this -particular crime," said Forbes, his voice rich in ironic inflections, -which again passed harmlessly over Julia's head. - -"To tell the truth, I have. There's only one point on which these -mercenary people are really susceptible, and that's money. My advice is -to write her that unless she returns every penny you paid her, you will -prosecute her for swindling." - -"She might not be able to do that, Julia. I judge from what you all say -that she must be poor." - -"Oh, she's evidently that. Everything about the place is -poverty-stricken, and the gown she wore that day was so faded that you -could hardly tell the original color. But I believe she has all that -money put aside, for don't you remember, the boy said she wanted to -send him to school." - -"I remember. And you advise me to demand the money she has saved for -his schooling, and ask her to charge up my board for those months to -charity?" - -Julia held to her point. "It's the sort of thing she'd feel, because -it's evident there's nothing she wouldn't do for money. I confess I -can't comprehend that temperament. Money means so little to me that I -simply don't understand how it's possible for people to worship it as -they do." - -He listened with growing irritation. That this girl who had never -earned a dollar, and had never denied herself anything she wanted, -should assume so superior an attitude, offended his sense of justice. -"Perhaps if you knew more of the value of money," he cut in crisply, -"you might respect it more." - -"Oh, I know I'm impractical, Burton. Dad was always making fun of me -for that." The pensiveness of her tone was still evident as she added, -"Perhaps you'd like to have me write the letter before I go." - -"What letter?" - -"To that woman, of course, threatening to prosecute her unless she -returns the money." - -His pause was long enough to give the idea that he was considering her -suggestion. His tone when at length he spoke, implied nothing of the -sort. - -"Thank you, Julia. I shall not need your services. And when I write -Miss Kent, I shall enclose a check to cover my board till the first of -November." - -He heard her catch her breath. "You mean you are going to pay a premium -for being tricked and deceived?" - -"She deceived me and that's not easy for me to forgive. But I'm hardly -ready to sponge my living from a girl who is making a hand-to-hand -fight with poverty." - -"Dear, it's dreadful the way you men let your chivalry run away with -you. I suppose if you were on a jury, you couldn't bring yourself to -convict a woman of murder." - -"I hardly think Miss Kent's offense can be classed in that category," -Forbes said stiffly. "I suffered chiefly through the jolt to my sense -of dignity. That's always been a sensitive point with me." - -Julia sighed. "I can't bear to have you talk that way, Burton. It's bad -enough for Mr. Warren to make light of falsehood and treachery. But it -seems to me a person capable of that, is capable of anything." She laid -her hand lightly on his. "Trust a woman's intuition, Burton. Let me -write that letter." - -Her touch not only left him cold, but roused his antagonism. He felt -an irritated certainty that he was being played upon. "Thank you, but -I have nothing to say to Miss Kent that I can not entrust to a public -stenographer." - -She did not take away her hand. "Let's not talk of that dreadful woman -any more," she said, in a lowered voice. "Fate has given us this -little hour out of the years, and we mustn't waste it." - -Her words brought back something Agatha had said, her scathing scorn -of those who took the easy way, and then held fate accountable. The -remembrance steeled him against the insidious tenderness of her voice. - -"You made your choice, Julia, as you had a right to do. And I wish you -every happiness." - -The fragrance of a delicate perfume he had always associated with her -enveloped him. He felt the pressure of her body against his arm. - -"What a queer, quiet hotel this is, Burton. Right in the heart of the -city and yet we're as much alone as if we were off somewhere in the -woods." - -Had she been sensitive, she might have perceived a curious rigidity -in the arm against which she leaned, an ominous tightening of the -obstinately silent lips. Her vanity felt the challenge of his failure -to respond. She flung prudence to the winds. "Burton! Burton!" she -murmured, and whether her emotion was real or assumed, he did not know, -"why don't you kiss me?" - -His fastidious recoil was strengthened by the suspicion that she was -attempting by playing on his passion to mold him to her will in the -matter of Agatha's punishment. He moved away a little. "Excuse me," he -said, "I shouldn't dream of taking such a liberty with the fiancee of -Murray Prendergast." - -"Oh, don't!" He felt her shudder, and again wondered if it were real, -or a pretense. "All the years ahead belong to him, and just this little -moment is yours and mine." - -"I lay no claim even to a moment of your time, Julia. I asked from you -all or nothing." - -"Tell me just once that you love me, Burton." - -At his continued silence, she drew herself away. "You're different. You -don't care for me as you did." - -She waited vainly for him to deny the accusation. Then again she caught -his hand. She might have been a loyal wife, fearing that her husband's -heart was slipping from her grasp and longing to be reassured. -"Burton," she implored, "tell me whether you love me." - -"I thank God--no." - -She fell back, and he could hear her stormy breathing. Well as he knew -every inflection of her voice, he hardly recognized it when she spoke -again. - -"That wretched woman! That creature! She's to blame. She's stolen your -heart from me." - -"Don't be a fool." The brutality, foreign as it was to Forbes' training -and temperament, seemed demanded by the occasion. "My heart and all the -rest of me was yours while you chose to keep me. You threw me away like -a worn glove when my trouble came, and looked about for a more fitting -match." - -"Burton, you said yourself--" - -"I own I made your way easy for you, Julia. I was fool enough to be -satisfied to have you yourself and made no inconvenient demands in the -way of loyalty and truth. And the fate you are so fond of invoking was -kinder to me than I deserved." - -"You love her. You love that abandoned--" - -"Stop!" he commanded. "Don't dare finish." But he himself went on -talking rapidly. "As far as Miss Kent is concerned, of course I have -made it impossible for her ever to think well of me again, since after -her months of uninterrupted kindness, I could listen to your venomous -attack upon her, and not speak a word in her defense." - -"How dare you! How dare you speak like that to me!" - -"Whether I love her or not, I don't know. It's too bewildering for me -to be sure. But I know she's the most loyal friend, and the dearest -comrade and the bravest, most unselfish--" - -Julia sprang from her place beside him with a cry. His face was toward -her, and at the sound of her voice, an extraordinary thing happened. He -saw her for an instant quite distinctly, though the face he had loved -had undergone as hideous a change as if death and decay had done their -devastating work upon it. Secure in the knowledge of his blindness, she -faced him with the mask thrown aside. He saw her features distorted -by hate, her eyes narrowed malignantly, her lips drawn back from the -teeth. Something Hephzibah Diggs had said in their memorable interview -flashed across his mind. "When she showed herself up for what she was, -you'd ought to have got down on your marrow bones and thanked the Lord." - -Darkness shut down over the unwelcome vision. There was a rushing in -his ears so that he heard only faintly Julia's farewell, "I hate you! -Oh, how I hate you!" He leaned back against the cushions, realizing -that he was a sick man, but enveloped in a strange serenity. When next -the parlor maid proffered her services, he sent her to telephone for -his physician. An hour later he was comfortably ensconced in a private -hospital on the outskirts of the city, and sick as he felt, his mood -was increasingly cheerful, for the doctor considered the momentary -return of vision, elusive and disappointing as it had been, most -encouraging. - -It was a week before Forbes was equal to dictating a letter to Agatha. -He passed over the peculiar circumstances of their parting, expressed -rather formally his sense of gratitude and enclosed a generous check. -His acknowledgment came with gratifying promptness. But the nurse on -opening the envelope was puzzled. - -"It doesn't seem a letter at all, just bits of paper. Why, it looks -like a check, torn into little pieces." - -"You can't find the number of the check among the scraps, can you?" -asked Forbes. - -The nurse could and did and Forbes' suspicion became certainty. He -turned on his pillow, unreasonably wounded. The Agatha Kent he had -loved and trusted had never been, and this stranger who called herself -by the familiar name had rejected his overture of friendship. - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -THE DAY AFTER - - -The day of judgment has its drawbacks, but it is the day after that -really hurts. The first shock numbs. It is when the nipping pain -begins, the remorseless pain too cruel to kill, that the sinner takes -the full measure of his punishment. - -On the day of Forbes' departure, Agatha ate her evening meal as usual -and went to bed at eight o'clock. She slept heavily till midnight, -roused and speedily dozed off again, but now to be the victim of -torturing dreams. - -Years before a pet dog of Howard's had become old and sickly and -Agatha's father had decided it must be killed. He had attempted to -shoot the animal in its sleep, but his nervousness had caused him to -miss his aim. It had taken three shots to finish the business. Agatha -had come upon the scene just in time to see the look the dying brute -turned on its idolized master, and the incident had stamped itself on -her memory as the supreme tragedy in her experience. She invariably -dreamed of it when feverish and ill. This night she underwent the -familiar agony with a difference. In the grotesque necromancy of the -dream-world, the wounded dog had become Forbes, turning his stricken -gaze upon the friend who had done him to death. She woke in a cold -sweat and did not sleep again. - -At four o'clock she was up and cleaning house as the one adequate -antidote for the remorseful thoughts that threatened to wreck her -reason. She worked furiously all the morning, barely stopping to eat. -Miss Finch watched her from a distance, heart-wrung and afraid, but -knowing from experience that at certain crises Agatha was best left -to herself. Howard, with the characteristic masculine reluctance to -witness suffering out of his power to relieve, took his fishing rod and -departed for a day of his favorite sport. - -About two o'clock in the afternoon, Ridgeley Warren came strolling -up the driveway between the rows of stately trees which made the -battered old house at the end of the avenue appear an anti-climax, -and so reached her unheralded. Agatha had thrown a braided rug across -the clothes-line and was beating it as if she had a personal spite -against each individual rag. The sun was full on her hair and despite -her menial occupation, she seemed to him a splendid figure, furiously -vital, crowned with light. Excitement whipped up his pulses as he left -the driveway and walked across the grass in her direction, but when -near enough to make his voice heard above the volley of blows, he only -said nonchalantly, "Good afternoon, Hephzibah." - -Agatha turned and stood panting. She had been working at high pressure -since daybreak, and close inspection revealed not a masquerading -goddess but a tired, bedraggled girl. Her hair had slipped from the -restraining pins and a wayward coil partly extinguished one eye. Her -fair skin was clouded by successive layers of dirt. A disfiguring -smudge successfully effaced the dimple in her chin. With quickening -admiration Warren realized that this soiled and disheveled apparition -still had a distinct claim to beauty. - -"Hard at work, I see, Hephzibah." He stood with his hands in his -pockets, immaculate in his light summer clothing, and as always he -roused her to defiance. - -"My name is Kent. Please use it." - -"I'm ready to call you anything you please, my dear spitfire. Only -remember that it's not my fault that I've always thought of you as -Hephzibah." - -Agatha glared at him. His presence restored her poise. She realized -that as an antidote Warren was better than a thousand years of -house-cleaning. - -"I don't know why you should think of me as Hephzibah or anything else. -I don't know why you shouldn't dismiss me from your mind altogether as -I should like to dismiss you." - -"Out of the question, Hephzibah, or Miss Agatha Kent, if you like that -better. You see, you interest me." - -"I'm sorry I can't return the compliment, but you bore -me--excruciatingly." - -"To begin with," Warren explained analytically, "you are the prettiest -girl I know, bar none. And in the second place, I'm inclined to believe -you're the brainiest. If what they told me last night is true, you -ought to make your fortune on the stage." - -Agatha regarded him silently and the antagonism died out of her face. -He was almost sorry, for it left her white and wan and rather pitiful. - -"You know what a fraud I am, then?" she said wistfully. - -"I know you're the cleverest girl of my acquaintance, if you could get -by with a thing like that." - -"I suppose he simply despises me." Into Agatha's mind had flashed the -preposterous hope that possibly Warren's tolerant attitude toward her -escapade was shared by the only man who counted. - -"Who? Forbes? Why the devil should you care what he thinks? Old Forbes -was always a bit of a prig." - -Positive hatred looked out of Agatha's eyes. "Oh, I don't know. I -shouldn't call a man a prig simply because he objected to being tricked -and deceived and lied to. I suppose he has a high enough ideal of women -so that he expects a girl to tell the truth, just as much as if she -were a man. I consider that attitude a compliment, myself." - -Warren was somewhat staggered. "Then I suppose I'm insulting you by -thinking you are a darned clever kid, and the rest of them a pack of -fools for making a fuss over nothing." - -Agatha left him in doubt on this delicate point. The little hope that -had stirred in her heart had died almost as soon as it was born, -and the resulting anguish seemed out of all proportion to its brief -existence. Forbes did not share Warren's leniency toward her summer's -masquerade. He was one of the fools who condemned her. She looked away -toward the hills and suddenly her face twisted in passionate weeping. - -"Don't do that, Hephzibah. For God's sake, don't cry. Can't you let me -help you, little girl? You need a friend I'm sure, and there's nothing -I'd like better than to help you. You've bewitched me, Hephzibah. -I lost my head over you when I thought you were an ignorant little -country girl, murdering the king's English every time you opened your -mouth. And the more I know of you, the more wonderful you seem. I'm -crazy about you." - -Agatha's sobs quieted as she listened. When a woman has been humiliated -beyond a certain point, nothing can restore her self-esteem like being -made love to by a personable man. Warren's irreproachable costume, his -good looks, his convincing air of prosperity all helped in her struggle -against intolerable mortification. Yet though she dried her eyes at -his agitated request, and favored him with a faint, watery smile, -she thought of him, if the truth be told, less as a lover than as a -life-preserver. - -Warren sat upon the porch and smoked while Agatha made herself -presentable. It took her some time and he was not sorry, for he wanted -a chance to get himself in hand. He had said very much more than he -had intended to say when he bought his ticket that morning, and though -he did not exactly regret his indiscretion, he told himself that he -had better go slow. Twenty-four hours earlier the name Agatha Kent had -suggested to him a benevolent old lady with a double chin, the chin an -entirely gratuitous contribution of his active imagination. Hephzibah -Diggs was a beautiful but deplorably ignorant country girl who had got -herself into trouble, like many another ignorant beauty. It was too -soon to propose to either. Yet as he glanced impatiently at his watch, -Warren realized that the charm of Agatha was her unexpectedness. You -never knew what she was going to do. You never could tell what she -might make you do, in spite of your better judgment. - -Agatha's delay gave him the time he needed. She presented herself in -a faded gingham which nevertheless had the advantage of being freshly -laundered, her heavy hair wound about her head with a negligence -a woman would have interpreted to mean that to Agatha, her caller -mattered very little. Now that her face was clean he saw how pale she -was, and how dark the circles under her eyes, and this discovery was -responsible for an unwonted gentleness in his manner. He talked as a -big brother might have talked, and the instinctive, virginal defiance -which his unconcealed admiration had always roused in her, changed by -imperceptible degrees to confidence. - -He asked her bluntly about her finances and she told him without -hesitation or evasion. He hinted at monetary assistance and she stopped -him midway, with an imperious tilt of her chin and a haughty stare. -"You are not talking to Hephzibah Diggs," she reminded him. - -Warren sighed and changed his tactics. "Did you ever think of selling -your place?" - -"I'm afraid nobody would want it, it's so dreadfully old and -tumbledown. And besides we've got to have a roof over our heads." - -"You couldn't sell it here, of course. But there are possibilities in -this place. A small summer hotel ought to do well. Magnificent old -trees, fine view, convenient to the city." He studied his surroundings -with an appraising eye. "It should bring at least fifteen thousand if -you found the right purchaser." - -She caught her breath and the sound brought his eyes back to her face. -What he saw touched him profoundly. Indeed he felt the smart of tears -under his drooping lids. "My God," he said to himself, "to have her -look like that over a paltry fifteen thousand." - -"Then I could send Howard to college," Agatha was saying, breathlessly. - -"Sure you could." - -"And there would be enough to take care of Fritz--Miss Finch, as long -as she lives." - -"I hope you'd do something for Hephzibah Diggs," said Warren gruffly, -to hide his emotion. "That girl has something coming to her, believe -me!" - -Warren spent most of his leisure entertaining people, but he seldom -felt better repaid than when Agatha greeted this jest with a quiver of -laughter. - -"I promise you she shall have a new gingham, perhaps a party dress if -the money holds out." - -"Yes, that's what Hephzibah would want, a party dress," said Warren. -"And I speak for the first dance the first time she wears it." He went -on to discuss sales and investments, and Agatha hung upon his words. -He perceived that the practical line appealed to her. His tentative -love-making bored and angered her. When he talked of gilt-edged -first mortgages, bringing six per cent., she leaned toward him, her -reddish-gold eyes melting into his, and seemed ready to leap into his -arms. - -The carriage he had ordered came for him at what he considered a -ridiculously early hour and he kept it waiting while he explained that -he would immediately take up the matter of the sale of her property -with several people who might possibly be interested. She let him hold -her hand while he protracted his good-by to an unconscionable length, -and he argued well from this, till she disconcerted him by saying -faintly, "Shall you see Mr. Forbes soon?" - -"I can't say. The fair Julia may have hustled him away before I'm back." - -"If--if you should see him," said Agatha, her lips white, "try to -make him think kindly of me. Try to make him understand that I didn't -realize that I was doing anything wrong." - -"To be sure I will," replied Warren with misleading heartiness. "But if -a man is such a blasted fool as to need that assurance, it's not worth -troubling your little head about him, don't you see?" And then he said -good-by again and went off in an unprecedentedly bad humor, damning -Forbes whole-heartedly all the way to town. - -Warren's call left Miss Finch pleasurably excited. For a man to come -out from the city for a few hours' talk with a girl, argued his -intentions serious. And Agatha's abstraction, the dreamy look in her -eyes, the irrelevant nature of her replies to the simplest questions, -seemed to imply a gratifying responsiveness in her mood. Little did the -innocent spinster dream that Agatha's absorption was due to calculating -the wisest expenditure of an income derived from an investment of -fifteen thousand dollars in first mortgages at six per cent. - -But Miss Finch's elation was short-lived, for Howard came home with a -startling piece of news. "Heard the funniest thing to-day. Who do you -suppose has been getting married?" - -To please him Agatha hazarded a guess. Howard shook his head. - -"It's the last one you'd ever think of. Old Billy-goat Wiggins. He -married a widow out on the Jericho pike and I guess he's had six or -seven wives already." - -Without attempting to correct her brother's exaggeration, Agatha cast -an apprehensive glance in Miss Finch's direction. Miss Finch met her -look with an air of resolute calm. At last the matter was settled. Now -that one of her lovers was out of the running, the only thing left was -to take the other. Her days of anxious deliberation, due to weighing -one man against his rival, were over, and it was a great relief. "Mrs. -James Doolittle," said Miss Finch to herself and blushed high. Well, -Doolittle was as good a name as Wiggins. "I b'lieve if anything, it's a -little more aristocratic," Miss Finch decided. - -But as the evening wore on, she found herself disquieted. In her -thoughts of James Doolittle there was little of roseate illusion. She -saw him mentally as she had seen him uncounted times in reality, his -trousers patched and bagging at the knees, his shirt soiled and faded, -his hat suggesting that some predatory animal had taken frequent bites -out of the rim. "I do like a man to look neat," sighed Miss Finch. -She recalled too, the tumbledown cottage where James Doolittle had -kept bachelor's hall since his mother's death six years earlier, and -compared it disadvantageously with her present quarters. Romance had -spread her wings, and taken flight. Marriage had become a very drab, -prosaic affair. But there was no help for it. - -Miss Finch retired to her room rather early and wrote Mr. Doolittle -accepting the offer of marriage made nearly two months before. It was -a prim little note and if her delay had been unflattering, there was -nothing in her formula of acceptance to restore the masculine _amour -propre_. She said that marriage was a very serious matter, and she -hoped they were making no mistake. She signed her name Zaida Finch, and -realizing that the compact signature would soon be replaced by that of -an unknown female, Zaida Doolittle, she shed some agitated tears. - -The letter was sealed and stamped on the table beside her and Miss -Finch was lying awake wondering whether the tongue of slander would -be set wagging if she should decide on giving the Doolittle cottage -a thorough cleaning before taking the step that would make her its -permanent mistress, when Phemie came blundering up the stairs. - -Miss Finch sprang out of bed and, candle in hand, appeared in the -doorway. She shook a chiding finger at the girl. "Don't make such a -racket," she hissed. "Everybody's been in bed for hours. You oughtn't -to stay out so late, Phemie. It don't look right in a young girl." - -Phemie did not seem aware that she was being scolded. She was full of -silly giggles and pleased to find a confidante to share her amusement. -She pushed her way uninvited into Miss Finch's room. - -"I never had so much fun in my life," wheezed Phemie in what she -mistakenly supposed to be a whisper. "Oh, my goodness, I've laughed fit -to bust myself." - -"Where've you been?" demanded Miss Finch, eying her disapprovingly. - -"I've been to a shivaree. Whole crowd of us went. We had horns and tin -pans and Ernie Cox took a cow-bell along. Oh, my goodness!" Phemie -placed her hands on her hips, and rocked back and forth in an ecstasy -of mirth. - -Miss Finch's severity became more pronounced. "I think you might have -been in better business. Deacon Wiggins has been married quite a few -times, I know, but he's a good citizen and a pillar of the church." - -"'Twarn't Deacon Wiggins. 'Twas Jim Doolittle. He just got married to -that cross-eyed old maid who used to work at Phelps' store." - -When Miss Finch could get rid of Phemie she tore the letter she had -so painstakingly composed into the minutest fragments, promising -herself to burn them in the morning before any one was up. Innocent -as her intentions had been, the fact remained that she had written a -compromising letter to a married man, and she could not feel safe till -the sole evidence of her indiscretion had been reduced to ashes. As she -climbed back into bed she might perhaps have been excused for indulging -in pessimistic reflections on masculine perfidy, and the hollowness of -lovers' vows, but in point of fact her mood was eminently Christian. -To her own secret amazement she was chiefly conscious of overwhelming -relief. - -The critical relatives of Deacon Wiggins' three deceased partners were -nothing to her. Mr. Doolittle's tendency to wear his trousers with only -one frail suspender as a support was no concern of hers, except as any -respectable spinster might venture to hope that his rashness would not -carry him too far. That good old name Finch, which had been identified -with her personality for half a century, would not be exchanged for any -unfamiliar polysyllable. Without knowing it, she had been shrinkingly -apprehensive of coming changes, and now everything was going on -exactly as it had before. - -"If Agatha marries Mr. Warren and has a family of children," thought -Miss Finch, "she'll need somebody reliable in the house. And if she -doesn't get a husband, I ought to be around to look after her. And -anyway, nobody can ever say that the reason I never married is that I -never had a chance." - -And so comforting was that concluding thought that even after sleep -claimed her as its own, a complacent, almost a triumphant smile, -hovered about Miss Finch's parted lips. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -ENLIGHTENMENT - - -Warren stamped the snow from his feet, shook himself like a wet dog, -and entering the apartment hotel, passed at a step from the frigid zone -to the tropics. At the desk he gave his name to a businesslike young -woman who ascertained over the telephone that Mr. Forbes was in, and -forthwith Warren was shot to the fifth floor. A smiling Japanese boy -opened the door of Forbes' rooms, and Forbes himself came forward and -gripped his friend's hand. - -For a moment neither man found speech possible. "Congratulations, old -fellow," Warren got out at last. "Best news I've heard for many a moon." - -He gave his snowy coat to the waiting servant, seated himself and -lighted a cigarette as a preliminary to conversation. "Well, how does -it seem to have two eyes again? A bit intoxicating, I fancy. Rather -like too much champagne." - -"You know when a man has suffered enough, his idea of perfect -happiness is to have the pain stop," Forbes answered. "I suppose the -only way to size up a blessing at its real value is to have to do -without it for a time." His words seemed to meet the requirements -in the case, but Warren's quick ear detected in his voice a note -of melancholy, and he thought he knew the explanation. Not being -remarkable for tact, he promptly broached the delicate subject. - -"Well, the fair Julia has done it. I got her cards week before last. -Gosh, when you see the fellows the dear girls marry, it almost seems a -compliment when they turn you down. You'd think it would take more than -the Prendergast money and family connections and all that, to sugarcoat -a pill like Murray." - -"I wish her more happiness than she's likely to have, I'm afraid." -Forbes spoke formally, his manner implying that it might be as well for -Warren to change the subject, but his visitor took his time. - -"Oh, well, Julia isn't capable of real unhappiness. She could be -uncomfortable, or disappointed, or humiliated, or anything that doesn't -go too deep, but unhappiness is beyond her. That other little girl now, -she's different." - -Forbes did not ask what girl was referred to. He kept his eyes on the -floor. - -"Julia looks as soft as a ripe plum," Warren continued. "Most of the -dear creatures do, as if a rough word would crush them. But believe -me, she's made of the same hard, calculating stuff as her old man. You -never heard of old Studley's losing any sleep over the men he'd ruined -on the street, did you? Julia won't have a wrinkle when she's sixty. If -anybody is going to marry Murray Prendergast it ought to be that kind -of woman." - -If Forbes agreed with this frank expression of opinion, he gave no -sign. He had the appearance of waiting patiently for the other to -finish. - -"Our little friend Hephzibah," continued Warren, "is the sort whose -hair turns white in a single night, you know. Not that hers has--God -forbid. You never saw that hair, my boy. You've got something to live -for." - -Forbes made a gesture of impatience. "Do you happen to know Miss Kent's -address at the present time?" - -"Do you happen to _want_ Miss Kent's address at the present time?" -mocked Warren truculently. - -Forbes hesitated. "Yes," he said with a seeming effort at frankness, -"I do. Some of the things that were said, Warren, about her poverty, -you remember, caused me considerable uneasiness. I felt that my leaving -as I did when she had counted on having me until the cold weather, -might have embarrassed her, and whatever ground I may have had for -resentment, I had no wish to add to her financial worries. And so I -sent her a check for the full amount I would have paid for board, up to -the first of November." - -Warren laughed sardonically. "Oh, you did, did you?" - -"Yes, I did." Forbes' manner was a trifle aggrieved. "She returned it." - -"Of course!" - -"Perhaps you are in her confidence," Forbes said in a tone of annoyance. - -"She never mentioned that particular matter to me. But I am glad to -believe that she repays my friendship by a degree of trust." - -Forbes waited a moment before continuing his explanation. "I did not -write her again for some time. I was rather put out by the return of -the check, foolishly, I suppose. But the last of November I sent her a -rather long letter. You know, Ridgeley, when all is said and done, the -girl saved my life." - -"Well?" - -"The letter came back to me from the Dead Letter Office. I thought it -was a trick of some sort. It seemed incredible, you know, that when her -family has been living at Oak Knoll for generations, she should drop -out of sight and leave no more trace than an extinguished candle flame. -I sent Evans down to look her up, and he reported that the three of -them, Miss Kent, her foster brother, Howard, and Miss Finch, had all -left town, and none of the old neighbors could give him any information -as to their whereabouts. The old place has been sold to some one who is -planning to build a summer hotel on the site." - -Warren nodded. "I engineered that deal. It's a good location for such -an enterprise. She sold for twelve thousand. I think I could have got -her two or three thousand more, if she had been willing to wait, but -she wasn't." - -Forbes tried to appear relieved. "Twelve thousand! Well, I am glad to -know she is not in immediate need. At the same time, Ridgeley, I should -like her address." - -Warren eyed him with malevolence. "It looks to me as if she wasn't -particularly anxious for you to have it." - -Forbes reddened. "Nonsense! Don't be an ass, Warren. It's quite -important that I should have a talk with Miss Kent." - -"I suppose you want to be sure that she's sufficiently penitent for the -deception she practised on you." - -"Really, my dear fellow, I can hardly see that it is any of your -business what I have to say to her." - -"Simply that I'm a friend of the lady's. And the only reason that I'm -not her husband is that she's refused me, by letter and word of mouth, -just eleven times by actual count. A singularly consistent character, -our Hephzibah." - -Forbes sat biting his lips. "I'm very sorry, Warren. I needn't say I -had no idea--" - -"Of course you had no idea. You took her devotion as a matter of -course. You let your Julia insult her without speaking a word in her -defense. And it never occurred to you that another man might think her -unselfishness and her courage and her beauty and her wit made her a -woman in a million." - -"I must correct you on one point," Forbes said stiffly. "It is true -the discovery that Miss Kent was not what I supposed her took me by -surprise and I was both hurt and angry. But the engagement between -Miss Studley and myself was broken finally and irrevocably because -I defended--partly at least--the course Miss Kent had taken." He -hesitated before adding, "If you really wish to marry her--" - -"Oh, to hell with your '_ifs!_' I've been on my knees to her from the -first minute I saw her. I'd marry her if she were Hephzibah Diggs." - -"I was only going to say, Ridgeley, that if you are in earnest, you are -pretty sure to win out. I can hardly imagine any woman's continuing to -turn you down." - -Warren did not appear touched by the obvious sincerity of this tribute. -He glowered at the other man ill-naturedly. - -"I dare say she would have married me but for one thing. I came on the -scene too late." - -"Too late?" - -"Another man got ahead of me. She couldn't love me because she loved -him." - -"Do you mean that she's engaged?" - -"Damn you!" Warren shouted furiously. "Don't put on those unconscious -airs with me. You know well enough what man I mean, and you know -whether you're engaged to her or not." - -"You're out of your mind, Warren. You're talking like an insane man." - -"Let it go at that, then. Call it that I'm crazy." - -"If you will remember that I thought Miss Kent an elderly woman, you -will realize that I--" - -"Oh, your immaculate skirts are clean," exclaimed Warren, with -preposterous bitterness. "You didn't make love to the nice old lady who -was your father's boyhood flame. But you were so helpless and so darned -pathetic and so dependent on her that you didn't have to. She's not -like Julia, looking for an easy berth and a through ticket. Her idea of -love is giving, giving without keeping count." - -"You don't know what you're talking about," said Forbes, but with less -conviction. - -"Don't I, though! Do you remember the scheme we hatched to send -Hephzibah to school?" - -Forbes nodded. - -"I came up and had a talk with her. Of course she was playing a part, -but it wasn't all play-acting. She practically told me there was -somebody she cared for. She--hang it all, Forbes, she's not always the -audacious little devil who can palm herself off on an intelligent man -as her own great-aunt, and never miss a cog. There was a look on her -face when she spoke of that man--she was all angel, then." - -"But what possible reason have you for thinking--why, you make me -feel an ass for listening." Forbes' humility was so obvious as to be -disarming. - -"I know you're the man. She was always at me to have a talk with you -and plead her cause, you know." - -"But surely that wouldn't mean--" - -"Yes, if you'd seen her eyes. You know how a dog looks when his master -kicks him. Like that." - -"Good God, Warren--" - -"Oh, I don't suppose you like it," said Warren grimly. "But let me -remind you that if it's unpleasant for you to listen, it's hell for -me to tell you. I suppose you know what brought Julia to Oak Knoll to -rescue you by force of arms." - -"I believe Miss Kent wrote a letter." - -"Yes, under pretense of congratulating Julia on her prospective -engagement, she wrote her that you had been spending the most of your -summer in the company of an attractive young girl. She'd sized up -Julia's disposition pretty cleverly and she reckoned that if anything -would hold her back, it would be a suspicion that there was a flaw in -her title to your life-long devotion." - -"But surely if she had felt as you imagine--" - -"We're talking of Hephzibah, you know," growled Warren. "She was -thinking of _your_ happiness, not of hers. Of course she knew she was -taking a long shot. She was too smart to miss that little point. She -risked exposure to give you what you wanted. That's the sort she is." -He added gloomily, "I don't know why I'm such a fool as to tell you all -this. I suppose it's because I know I haven't the ghost of a chance." - -There was a long, depressing silence. "Well," said Forbes at length, -his voice curiously shaken, "where shall I find her?" - -"Good God, man, I don't know." - -"You don't know?" - -"The last word I had from her was a Christmas card and the blasted -post-mark was so blurred that I couldn't make out where it was mailed. -And in November I had this letter. You might as well read it, I -suppose." - -He took the worn missive from his pocket, handed it to Forbes, and -began to smoke furiously. Forbes, his face very pale, read without -comment. - - "My Dear Mr. Warren: - - "Well, the thing is accomplished. I am a capitalist, a woman of - wealth, and also a wanderer on the face of the earth. But I'm not - worrying about that side of it, it's so delicious to feel that all - this money is mine and that I can have a trunk full of new clothes if - I feel like it. - - "Howard left for school yesterday. He will be a little behind his - class, but the principal thinks he will have no difficulty in catching - up if he is willing to work. Howard is so ambitious and eager that I - know he is going to make me proud of him. - - "You see I am sending you a check. It was awfully good of you to want - to put this deal through because of your interest in me, but I can't - help thinking it's better to be businesslike in business and friendly - in friendship. So this check is for the celebrated lawyer, Mr. - Warren, who has managed this affair so wonderfully, and my heart-felt - gratitude is for my dear friend, Ridgeley Warren, whose kindness and - generosity have been so much more than I deserved. I shall never - forget it. When I am a wrinkled old woman, and can smile at some of - the things that hurt now, it will warm my heart to remember your - goodness. - - "Dear Mr. Warren, I am not going to write you again at present. I - have a feeling that if you keep on seeing me, you are more likely to - keep on wishing for something it is better for you to forget. I am - sure your generosity has more to do with your feeling than you have - any idea of, and that when I am no longer at hand to make a continual - appeal to your sympathy, you will soon be your usual self. I hope you - will love the most beautiful and noblest girl in the world and marry - her, and if you ever have reason to think that she doesn't appreciate - the fact that she has drawn a prize, just send for me and I'll open - her eyes. - - "Words seem such inadequate things, don't they, when one's heart is - full? I wish you could know all I mean when I say, Thank you. - - "Gratefully yours, - - "Agatha Kent. - - "P.S. You will, I am sure, be seeing Mr. Forbes soon. The greatest - favor you can do me is to make him understand how thoughtlessly I - entered on the deception he so naturally resents. You see we were - such good friends in a way--he really liked me and trusted me while - he thought I was somebody else--it hurts to realize how completely I - have forfeited his good opinion. You seem to understand so well that - perhaps you may influence him to think of me a little more kindly." - -Forbes folded the letter and gave it to its owner. "You deserve her if -any man does, Ridgeley," he said with proper humility. - -"I deserve her more than you do, if that's what you're trying to say," -barked Warren. "And now you see what we're up against. Between us -we've lost all trace of her." - -"We must find her again," Forbes said firmly. - -Warren's hostile gaze challenged him. "What for? Do you want to rub it -in how she's outraged the sacred name of truth and all that rot?" - -"No." - -"Perhaps you're going to be magnanimous enough to forgive her?" - -"Possibly," Forbes offered quietly, "I want to ask her to forgive me." - -Warren's unhappy eyes met his full. "I suppose I'm in a rotten humor, -old man. I do think you're a damned sight luckier than you deserve to -be. But let it go. The question is, how are we to find her?" - -As one result of the deliberations protracted over several hours, the -following advertisement appeared in the leading newspapers of a dozen -large cities: - - "Information wanted. Any person acquainted with the present - whereabouts of Hephzibah Diggs will confer a favor by communicating at - once with the undersigned." - -The anxious weeks went by. The two men consulted almost daily, with -growing perplexity and diminishing hope. And Agatha made no sign. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -FELLOW TRAVELERS - - -The hat Agatha was adjusting before the mirror was a black toque with -a quill at the side. On most heads it would have possessed no more -individuality than a clover blossom. It was one of the hats which -apparently are planned with a view to being inconspicuous. But as -Agatha pinned it in place it seemed to assume a certain provocative -quality. It became a challenge to the masculine eye. - -The same was true of the blue serge suit she wore. Nothing can be -imagined more innocuous than a suit of blue serge, embellished with -narrow black braid. Miss Finch could have worn one of the identical cut -and material and it would have looked as if it had been designed for -her. Yet on Agatha the blue serge was alluring. It captured the eye as -though striped with scarlet. - -Mrs. Van Horne, a stout, middle-aged woman who occupied a swivel -chair at a businesslike desk, watched the operation of adjusting the -black toque and rubbed her nose with a flourish indicating mental -perturbation. It had occurred to her that Agatha was a somewhat -colorful person for the task to which she had been assigned, that she -looked undeniably youthful for so responsible an errand, that some one -grayer in tone and of an aspect radiating propriety and decorum, would -have been better fitted for the duty in hand. Mrs. Van Horne looked at -the clock, saw it lacked but thirty-seven minutes to train time, and -brushed aside her scruples. It was now too late to change. - -"You are sure you feel equal to taking charge of the four, Miss Kent?" -she said, more for the reassuring effect of Agatha's self-confident -answer than because she had the slightest doubt what that answer would -be. - -Agatha turned a vivacious face. "I'm really looking forward to the -trip. It'll be such fun." - -"I should hardly use that term to describe traveling in charge of four -children," observed Mrs. Van Horne, with a grim smile. "And one of them -a teething baby. You will naturally attract a good deal of attention." - -"Not a bit," said Agatha briskly. - -"You think not?" - -"Every one will take it for granted that I am a young mother, coming -home with my little family to visit grandpa and grandma." - -Mrs. Van Horne's brow cleared. As the representative of a -serious-minded organization, with an established reputation for -prudence and sagacity, she had been accusing herself of indiscretion -in entrusting this important commission to a young woman of such -butterfly aspect, even though in self-defense she insisted that of her -assistants, Miss Kent was easily the most resourceful and capable. -Agatha's suggestion brought relief. Without doubt she was right. The -traveling public would assume her to be a matron of extraordinarily -youthful appearance. No one would question the discretion of the head -of the Hamilton Orphanage for committing four children to the care of -one who, whatever her capacity, looked a fly-away girl. - -"I imagine you are right, Miss Kent," she said. "And if I were you, -I should take no pains to correct the impression. It will save you a -great many annoying questions." - -A maid appeared with news that the taxi had arrived. A nurse brought -in the baby, hooded and cloaked for its journey. Outside on the steps -waited the three older children, about to be placed in homes which had -been duly inspected and approved by authorized representatives of the -orphanage. As Agatha assembled her charges and led the way to the cab, -little faces appeared at the windows, small hands waved farewells and a -chorus of shrill voices called good-by. An irrepressible little orphan -of a plainness which so far had defied the efforts of the society to -place her in a desirable home, came running to the curb as Agatha was -arranging her charges about her. "I don't want anybody to 'dopt you, -Miss Kent," she quavered. - -"Bless your heart!" Agatha leaned out and kissed her squarely. "No -one's going to adopt me. I'll be back by Saturday." - -As the cab rattled down the street, Agatha turned for a look at the -square, uncompromising building where she had found a haven six months -before. Despite the opulent tone of her letter to Warren, Agatha -had fully realized that twelve thousand dollars does not constitute -wealth. Howard's education was provided for, and that was an enormous -relief, but her responsibility for Miss Finch still lay heavy on her -heart and she was determined not to draw on her principal any more -than was absolutely necessary. The opening at the Hamilton Orphanage -had come to her through a series of fortunate accidents, and Agatha -had flung herself into the work with an enthusiasm which had insured -her immediate success. Agatha loved the orphanage and the orphans. -The maternal instinct, always strong in her, exulted in the swarm of -children on whom she could lavish herself. There was no urchin so -refractory that Agatha could not find excuses for him, no little face -so plain that she could not discern in it something of winsomeness. She -saw the humor in the naughtiness of some unruly youngster where most of -her associates perceived only irrefutable confirmation of the doctrine -of original sin. Mrs. Van Horne, accustomed to aids who did their duty -with automatic faithfulness, found Agatha too good to be true. - -Miss Finch boarded in the vicinity of the orphanage and Agatha -spent with her all the time she was not on duty. It had been hard -to reconcile Miss Finch to being in the same city with Warren and -not acquainting him with the fact. The sudden termination of her own -double romance had intensified her passionate interest in Agatha's -love-affairs. She thought of the subject continually. She dreamed of -Agatha as a bride lovely in creamy silk and floating veil. She harped -on the subject till Agatha's nerves suffered and sometimes she betrayed -her irritation in speech. - -Agatha was not thinking either of Warren or Forbes as she was bounced -to the station, the baby in her arms and the three other children -mixed in indistinguishably with the luggage. Children are an admirable -antidote to unprofitable thinking, because of their capacity for -demanding one's entire attention. There were two little girls between -three and four years, who looked rather like twins, but were not -even sisters, and there was a boy soon to be five. The baby was just -getting old enough to be afraid of strangers and was fretful because -of teething. It did not look as if Agatha would have many minutes for -meditating on the hardships of her own lot. - -At the station, with the aid of two sympathetic porters, Agatha got her -charges aboard the Pullman and settled herself comfortably some minutes -in advance of the other passengers. As they entered by ones and twos, -she was aware of interested glances in her direction, in some cases -the interest blended with apprehension. "Horrors!" she heard one woman -say to her husband as she passed. Agatha looked after her darkly. She -was instantly convinced that the speaker was the owner of a toy poodle. - -A moment before the train pulled out, a man came into the Pullman and -took his seat in the section opposite hers, glancing amiably at the -promising little family across the aisle. Agatha shrank away from the -look, feeling faint and sick. There was an ominous ringing in her ears. -So strong was her sense of panic that if she had had another moment in -which to act, she might have marshalled her brood off the train and -trusted to finding some excuse that would satisfy Mrs. Van Horne. But -before her impulse toward flight had time to crystallize, the last "All -aboard" had been shouted. The train shuddered, groaned and moved out. - -As the clear daylight replaced the semi-darkness of the terminal -station, Agatha blushed furiously. She sat huddled in her corner, -awaiting the outcome like a criminal who anticipates arrest. Gradually -her unreasoning alarm was replaced by coherent thinking. If Forbes were -still blind, she might travel as his fellow passenger to the Pacific -coast without his being the wiser. But he had come on board unattended, -moving freely and fearlessly. If his sight had been restored, she was -still safe, for he had never seen her face. - -After a time she brought her courage to the point of stealing a glance -at him. A newspaper lay upon his knee, and though he was not reading at -the moment, its presence confirmed the impression she had formed as he -entered. He could see again. She found herself trembling for gladness -and swallowing hard at an obstinate lump in her throat. The dark -spectacles he had worn throughout his sojourn at Oak Knoll had been -replaced by a pair of eye-glasses, which, to her prejudiced judgment, -added to his air of distinction. Now that her first unreasonable terror -had subsided, she found his proximity delightfully exhilarating. - -The next thought brought a pang. If he could see again there was no -longer a barrier between himself and Julia. Agatha's duties at the -Hamilton Orphanage left her little time for perusing the society -columns, so prominent a feature of the city journals, and she had -missed the detailed accounts of Julia's wedding, with their emphasis on -the beauty of the bride and the family connections of the groom. If he -were about to marry Julia, Agatha reasoned, he should look very happy. -She peered interrogatively in his direction to settle this important -point, encountered his eyes unexpectedly, and looked away in crimson -confusion. - -Forbes found the domestic group in such close proximity more -entertaining than his newspaper. He thought he had never seen a -prettier picture of radiant motherhood than this lovely young creature -with her little ones around her. It was a pity, he reflected, that none -of the children had inherited her rare beauty. They were all wholesome -little youngsters, bidding fair to grow to commonplace maturity as -far as externals were concerned. He found himself forming a somewhat -uncomplimentary picture of the father of the quartet, a rather heavy, -gross individual with a muddy skin. - -Other people than Forbes found an irresistible attraction in the -family group. The woman Agatha had branded as the owner of a poodle, -an overfed blonde, came down the aisle and paused to settle some -points on which she was uncertain. Agatha, mindful of Mrs. Van Horne's -injunction, gave the desired information as to the sex of the baby and -the brand of artificial food she favored, without any hint that her -sense of responsibility was less than maternal. - -"Are the little girls twins?" quizzed the stout woman, with an arrogant -assumption of having every right to know. - -"No, the curly-haired one is the older." - -"They must have come very close," said the stout woman disapprovingly. - -"There is about six months' difference," replied Agatha unthinkingly. -The stout woman's start told her too late what she had done, but as -no satisfactory explanation occurred to her, she sat stolidly making -a pretense of being absorbed in soothing the fretful baby. Her late -interrogator, assuming the reply to be an impertinent substitute for -telling her to mind her own business, stalked away, her manner implying -that she washed her hands of Agatha and her family. - -Agatha had no time for unavailing grief. Four children under five are -capable of providing abundant occupation for the most strenuous nature. -She was rising for the third time in twenty minutes to minister to the -wants of the oldest boy who had announced emphatically that he was -"fursty," when Forbes stepped across the aisle. - -"Just let me wait on him," he said. "At this rate you will be worn out -before you reach the end of your journey." - -The sound of his clear voice was almost her undoing. She wanted to -laugh; she wanted to cry. She wanted most of all to put her head down -on his broad shoulder and cling to him till he had forgiven her. As -none of these things appeared feasible, she contented herself with -saying, "Thank you," in a voice so faint as hardly to be audible. - -Forbes gave the restless lad a drink of water and took him into his -section. Agatha heard her charge announcing in a penetrating voice -that his name was Charlie Briggs, whether in answer to a question or -not, she was not sure. Then the small boy nestled close to the big -man, and listened raptly. She judged that Forbes must be telling him -a story, and after the manner of her kind, she found this additional -ground for worship. As a matter of fact Forbes was giving in detail -the life-history of a pony he had owned when a boy. This chronicle -concluded, he went on to describe a bear hunt in which he had once -participated, and found his reward in the admiring gaze his listener -fastened upon him. - -Presently Charlie Briggs felt constrained to be entertaining in turn. -"I'm going to get a new papa, pretty soon," he announced. - -Forbes felt an uncomfortable sense of shock. If the woman in the -opposite section were a widow, the age of the child in her arms -indicated that her bereavement was extremely recent. It seemed more -probable that it was one of the cases which prove the frailty of the -marriage bond in America. He did not know why this conjecture should be -responsible for so marked a feeling of discomfort. - -He changed the subject abruptly and proceeded to entertain Charlie with -an imaginary incident in the life of a gray squirrel, taking Thompson -Seton as his model. In the course of the narrative the baby had an -attack of crying and its shrieks distracted Forbes' attention. He -hesitated, lost the thread of his story, became hopelessly entangled. - -Charlie understood his friend's confusion. He looked across the aisle, -scowling darkly. "She's going to get rid of the baby pretty soon," he -informed his companion. "To-morrow it won't be 'round to bother." - -Again Forbes was conscious of a feeling of revulsion. The child's -remark was capable of several interpretations, but to his thinking the -meaning was obvious. This pretty little woman was about to marry for -the second time, and the husband-to-be objected to the size of the -ready-made family. Evidently she planned to give the baby away. Rather -absurdly Forbes found himself thinking that he would not have believed -it of her. - -The baby was behaving outrageously, almost justifying its mother's -unnatural intention. Agatha had become sadly disheveled. Her hair--she -really had wonderful hair, Forbes owned, for all his disapproval--was -gradually slipping down. Her face was crimson from her exertions. The -shirt-waist, immaculate when she boarded the Pullman, was mussed, and -one shoulder damp, due to the baby's repeated experiments to ascertain -whether it possessed nutritive qualities. As Forbes involuntarily -looked at the opposite section, the ear-splitting sounds compelling his -reluctant attention, Agatha transferred the baby's head to the other -shoulder, cuddling the little form close to her heart. There was such -divinely patient tenderness in the gesture that Forbes underwent an -instant revulsion of feeling. - -He did not understand it in the least, but he suddenly felt sure of -the woman. Whatever the shortcomings of Mr. Briggs or his probable -successor, the girlish wife did not lack womanly qualities. He was -unjust enough to feel decidedly vexed with the little boy. Probably -he had listened to discussions of matters he did not understand, and -mixed things up. Forbes told himself that he had never liked precocious -children. - -The baby suddenly decided to go to sleep. Its squalls ceased magically. -Its little body, stiffened in unavailing protest against all the -injustice of the world, relaxed in complete forgetfulness. The feverish -flush receded from Agatha's brow. She sat with drooping eyelids, a -pensive madonna. Forbes' wilful gaze would not observe the bounds of -propriety. Again and again it sought her, and when at length his eyes -encountered hers, he smiled his congratulations. She gave him back a -timid smile with a curious underlying wistfulness. It needed only that -smile to clinch his faith in her. - -When the call for luncheon was given, he crossed the aisle. "Won't you -let me stay with the children while you eat? With the baby asleep, I -think I can safely make the offer." - -In a voice hardly above a whisper, Agatha explained that they had -brought sandwiches. - -"But you'll let me bring you in a cup of tea or coffee, won't you? -You've had a very strenuous morning and you certainly need something in -the way of a stimulant." - -Perversely Agatha declined the offer, though she was longing to say -yes. It was not that she felt the need of tea or coffee or of anything -so gross as food or drink, but there was something ineffably refreshing -in his solicitude for her comfort. His good offices declined, Forbes -touched his hat and was turning away, when Charlie Briggs plunged into -the aisle and seized his coat. "I don't want you to go," he howled. - -Forbes came back, boyishly eager. "Let me take him with me, won't you? -You will have your hands full enough with the three and I promise not -to give him anything a child of his age ought not to eat." - -Agatha had already regretted her obduracy. She gave the desired -permission with a radiant smile, impelling Forbes to think excusingly -how very young she must have been when she married Mr. Briggs. As he -went toward the dining-car, Charlie clinging to his hand, the owner -of the poodle expressed to her husband the conviction that something -or somebody was shameless. She would have characterized herself as -possessing a forgiving disposition but would have added that there are -some things nobody can be expected to overlook. The case of the two -children, six months apart, was one of them. - -Forbes returned from the dining-car looking at his watch. The porter -appeared without warning and brushed him off obsequiously. Agatha's -heart contracted. It needed no prophet to foretell what was about to -happen. - -He came to her side, addressing her pleasantly. "I leave you at the -next station. I expect to meet a friend there. I wish I might have gone -farther and relieved you a little of your responsibilities." - -He checked himself suddenly, thinking that this rather silent young -woman was about to speak. She was looking up at him with a strange, -disconcerting earnestness. Nor had his intuition been at fault. For -a moment Agatha did battle with an almost irresistible temptation to -shout at him, "I am Agatha Kent." - -Almost at once she realized the folly of her momentary purpose. He -was about to leave the train. There was no time for explanations, to -say nothing of coming to an understanding. Moreover it was possible -that the friend he was to meet was Julia herself. This last thought -completed the paralysis of her passing impulse. In a stifled voice she -told him that he had been very kind. - -"You are a very courageous young woman," Forbes replied. "I hope -you won't be too tired when you reach your destination." He patted -Charlie's shoulder and turned away. The obsequious porter was removing -his grips. With a last smile to Agatha he went down the aisle. - -Agatha leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The tears ran down -her cheeks unchecked. Probably this was the last time she would ever -see him and that was no cause for regret since the pleasure of such -encounters was so over-balanced by the pain. And moreover he must be on -the point of marrying Julia, if he had not already made her his wife. -It was better that he should go his way, unaware that again their paths -had crossed. - -Forbes, stepping to the station platform, gave his grips to a station -porter and looked about for Warren. A minute or two passed before he -could distinguish him in the crowd and he was beginning to think -his friend was late, when his eye fell upon him standing at the edge -of the platform and gazing idly at the train which had been a little -behind-hand, and was already beginning to pull out. - -Forbes approached him briskly, the porter at his heels. His lips were -parted to speak the other's name, when Warren started violently and -took a step forward. "Hephzibah!" he shouted. - -Forbes spun on his heel. The coach he had just quitted was passing. -From the window a girl looked out, a girl with disheveled red-gold -hair and tear-stained cheeks. In an instant he understood. The girl in -charge of the four children was Agatha. It could be nobody but Agatha. -He knew now what she had wanted to say when she had looked up at him. -He understood the wistfulness of her smile, the entreaty in her eyes. -He had searched for her vainly all winter, and a moment before he had -talked to her face to face and had not known. - -Forbes' reason was in abeyance. The last car of the long -vestibuled-train was just abreast him, moving with considerable -velocity. With a spring he gained the lower step, seizing the railings -on either side. He was vaguely aware of a shout from the receding -platform and he almost thought he could distinguish Warren's voice -lifted in a bellow of astonishment. But for the time being all other -emotions were submerged by an overwhelming satisfaction in the -realization that Agatha and he were still fellow travelers. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -AN INTRODUCTION - - -Forbes waited for the door to be opened with sensations approximating -those of a naughty boy, caught in mischief. Man of the world as he was, -he recoiled from the prospect before him. He had never been of the -temperament to ignore precedent and defy regulations, and the necessary -explanations to outraged authority were no more attractive because they -were something new in his experience. Hardly more agreeable than his -anticipations of an interview with the conductor was the realization of -the probable comments of his fellow passengers, the smiles that would -be exchanged, the curious conjectures passed from one to another, as to -the occasion for his act. - -As Forbes reflected ruefully on the coming ordeal, his hat was lifted -lightly from his head and sent whirling on an independent journey. His -impulse to snatch after it was checked by the discovery that he needed -both hands for another purpose, needed them imperatively, for the lurch -of the train had nearly thrown him off his balance. He tightened his -grip and gave himself up to irritated reflection. Like most men, Forbes -was pathetically dependent on his hat. He never so much as crossed the -street without it. Now it would be necessary to make the rest of his -journey hatless and leave the train in some unfamiliar city, stared -at by the crowd who would mistake him for a faddist, demonstrating a -protest against conventional garb. Forbes' annoyance gave vent in a -profane ejaculation. - -The next to go were his eye-glasses. Again Forbes' inclination to -clutch for his vanishing possessions was conquered just in time to save -him from following in their wake. The narrow margin by which he had -missed death did not prevent him from grieving over his glasses. He had -no others with him. He would not be able to read till he reached home, -and the strain on his eyes would probably bring on a severe headache. -His hat could be replaced at the first shop, but not his glasses. He -found it hard to be reconciled to such ill luck. - -It was several minutes before the realization was brought home to -Forbes that the loss of these belongings was a very trifling matter. -By that time his feeling of reluctance to have the door opened had -entirely vanished. In his boyhood he had frequently played "crack the -whip." His sensations when the line of runners suddenly halted, and -he, a little fellow bringing up the rear, was sent sprawling over the -grass, were being duplicated in this memorable ride. The express was -playing "crack the whip" with himself as snapper. Once as the train -rounded a curve, both feet flew from under him, and the unexpected jerk -upon his arms almost broke his hold. He could hardly believe in his -good fortune when he found himself still standing on the step, holding -on literally for dear life. For now he knew that in his desperate -determination to see Agatha again, he had taken his life in his hands. - -Oddly enough it was not the likelihood of a sudden and violent -death which presented itself most forcibly to his imagination. -The opportunities he had missed with Agatha were infinitely more -disturbing. If only he had spoken in her defense the day Julia had -exhausted her ingenuity in wounding and insulting the rival she -instinctively feared. But he had stood silent while Julia's malice -spent itself. And later when time had revealed the affair in a truer -perspective, if he had but gone to her and said to her all that was in -his heart, she might have been his wife by now. One inevitably gets -down to realities when life flickers like a candle in the wind, and -Forbes no longer debated the question of Agatha's love for him. In -addition to Warren's testimony, he had the memory of a kiss, a dream -kiss, pressed on his cheeks as he struggled back to consciousness after -the stormy interview with Hephzibah, a kiss salt with tears and sweet -with ineffable promise. Forbes heard his bitter laughter above the roar -of the train. "God!" his voice said, "what a mess I've made of things." - -Forbes had never had a high opinion of the intelligence of that portion -of the traveling public which puts its head out of the window of a -moving train. Indeed he had always classified it with the people who -maim or kill their best friends by playful maneuvers with guns that -are not loaded. From this time on, his ideas on the subject were to be -revolutionized. He was destined to think of the above-named individuals -as philanthropists of a high order. - -A man in the smoking-car, thrusting his head out of the window at a -time when the curving of the track brought the rear coach into full -view, made a discovery which he promptly imparted to the conductor. -That official, properly incredulous, extended his own head from the -window and verified the passenger's astonishing statement. And at the -moment when Forbes' imagination was busy with the gruesome details -relating to the discovery of his lifeless body lying beside the tracks, -the vestibule door suddenly opened and the face of indignant authority -looked down at him. - -They dragged Forbes inside after unclenching his hands for him, his -stiffened muscles refusing that simple service. The conductor failing -to recognize in this disheveled individual with the unsteady knees, -the respectable passenger whose ticket he had punched earlier in the -trip, not unnaturally assumed that Forbes was drunk and acting on that -supposition, proceeded to make himself very disagreeable. As Forbes -regained his shaken dignity, and paid his fare, the man in uniform -became less truculent and in the end, positively congratulatory. - -Forbes' grips were in the possession of an unknown porter at a station -some thirty miles back, and he made as satisfactory a toilet as was -possible without the aid of their contents, before returning to the -coach where lately he had devoted himself to entertaining Charlie -Briggs, unaware that the door of Paradise stood ajar just across the -aisle. Here disappointment awaited him. Agatha, having learned from -bitter experience that activity is the best of balms for a sore heart, -had resolved on washing the hands and faces of her charges and giving -their hair proper attention. To make the toilet of four children in -the limited accommodations of a Pullman, with the certainty that at -any moment the lurch of the train may precipitate you into the wash -basin, or through the hanging curtains out into the aisle, is a process -requiring time and patience. Forbes sat in his former place, biting his -lips for three-quarters of an hour before he saw the little procession -slowly making its way down the aisle. - -Forbes' uncomfortable uncertainty as to whether he had made a fool of -himself or not, vanished at the sight of Agatha. Worn and weary as she -looked, her eyes still reddened from weeping, she had never seemed to -him so infinitely dear and desirable. Such trivial things as corrugated -palms and lost eye-glasses and a narrow escape from death, no longer -mattered. - -Charlie Briggs was the first to discover him. "My man's come back," he -shouted jubilantly and ran into Forbes' arms. Agatha's eyes followed -him, and she stopped short, her flushed cheeks paling. For a moment -Forbes thought her about to faint and started to his feet to assist -her, but immediately she had regained her self-control and walked -steadily to her seat, though as a matter of fact she did not feel the -floor beneath her feet and was scarcely conscious of the child in her -arms. He had come back and intuition told her why. - -Forbes rose and crossed the aisle. "Charlie," he said in a voice of -authority, "take your little sisters to my seat and play with them for -a while." - -Charlie Briggs demurred. - -"Run along," Forbes insisted. "And when I get a chance to buy you some -candy you shall have enough to make you sick for a month." - -"Us too?" asked the curly-haired girl, ready to oppose any unfair -sex-discrimination. - -"Yes, you, too," Forbes promised recklessly. "Enough so all three of -you will need a doctor." - -It was not in human nature to resist such a bribe. The three crossed -immediately to the opposite section. Forbes took the seat at Agatha's -side. - -A silence at once inevitable and ridiculous fell between them. There -was so much to be said that there seemed no rational starting point. He -wanted to ask what she was doing with all those children, but the query -seemed to put her on the defensive. She was longing to know how after -leaving the train, he could possibly be aboard again, but she left -the first move to him. Presently a mutual attraction drew their eyes -together and Forbes lost no more time. - -"Have you had long enough," he said a trifle unsteadily, "to decide on -that proposition I made you nine months ago to a day?" - -"I--I--What proposition do you mean?" - -"That we should set up housekeeping together?" - -Agatha seemed trying to remember. "Wasn't that for last winter only?" - -"No. It's for this summer and next winter and for all the summers and -winters that ever will be." - -She regarded him amazedly. "You're not--you can't be--" - -"But I am, exactly that. Will you marry me, Agatha?" - -"Listen!" A little flutter of laughter escaped her and he loved the -sound of it. "Do you realize those are the first words you've ever -spoken to me--the real _me_, that we've just been introduced? Of -course we had any number of good talks when I was Great-aunt Agatha -Kent." - -"Bless her dear heart!" Forbes interjected gratefully. - -"And we had one rather exciting interview when I was Hephzibah." - -"Yes, I have reason to remember that interview." He looked at her -meaningly and gloated over her blush. - -"And now I'm just Agatha," she went on bravely, ignoring her scarlet -cheeks. "And the very first words you say to me are to ask me to marry -you." - -"And they're the words I shall keep saying till you promise." - -She shot him a side-long glance. "But what--what about Julia?" - -"She was married early in January. They have been spending the winter -in Palm Beach, I understand." - -"Oh!" There was such compassion in her voice, such pitying tenderness -in her eyes that she had a narrow escape from being kissed on the spot. - -He compromised by taking her hand. "Listen, dear girl. Let's clear this -thing up once for all. I've had a narrow escape. The Julia I loved was -no more real than your Hephzibah. I knew my mistake that day when she -attacked you at Oak Knoll. The cruelty of it was a revelation. I can't -understand now why I listened without protest, but you must remember -that I had received a staggering surprise." - -"Staggering and cruel!" Her fingers tightened about his. "I tried so -hard to tell you everything that day in the woods and I was such a -coward that the words wouldn't come. How can you ever forgive me?" - -"Hush, dear love! I shall shock this train-load of people if you are -not careful. I was too dazed and bewildered that first day to be quite -responsible for what I did or left undone. But within twenty-four hours -I spoke my mind so plainly as to terminate the friendship between Miss -Studley and myself. I have never seen nor heard from her since." - -The look she turned on him made him hang his head. The certainty that -elates most men, humbles those of finer mold. - -"Agatha, my dearest, you talk of my forgiving you. Can you ever forgive -me?" - -The train was slowing for a stop before they had settled that delicate -question. Agatha argued that it was preposterous to talk of forgiving -one who in every relation of life was absolute perfection. Forbes -insisted that her attitude proved her an angel. The baby, with a -discretion beyond its years, refrained from offering any interruption -to this absorbing conversation, though occasionally its toothless gums -were revealed in what might have impressed the unprejudiced on-looker -as a derisive smile. - -After the brief stop, a train boy appeared shouting Forbes' name. He -proved to be the bearer of a telegram from Warren. Forbes and Agatha -read it together: - - "If enough is left of you to make the marriage ceremony valid advise - clenching matter at the first stop run no risk of letting her get away - from us again." - -"Warren seems to be laboring under the impression," frowned Forbes, -"that he comes in on this. Except for that slight error--" - -Agatha interpolated irrelevantly that Warren was a dear. - -"He's not half bad," Forbes admitted generously. "And apart from his -erroneous impression that this is a partnership affair, the message -impresses me favorably. What do you think?" - -"How do you know," questioned Agatha interestedly, "that I'm not -already married to a widower with four small children?" - -"I'll own the thought crossed my mind. But I wouldn't consider it. You -looked too sad for a bride." - -Agatha put her hand into his quite shamelessly. "Of course I would look -sad if I had been so silly as to marry somebody else." - -"Who are these children anyway?" Forbes asked, as if he had just -thought of it. - -"Orphans. Orphans who are going to be adopted. The homes have been -investigated and they're all right. Now I'm going to leave the children -for a six months' trial, and if at the end of that time everybody is -satisfied, they will be legally adopted." Agatha added casually that -they would reach the baby's future home at five o'clock and that she -would be rather glad to get him off her hands before nightfall. Forbes -recalled a statement of Charlie Briggs much to the same effect, and was -man enough to apologize mentally to the youngster. - -Agatha's next remark had to Forbes a delicious suggestion of wifely -authority. "Why aren't you wearing your glasses?" - -He explained the fate of those cherished belongings and did his best to -make light of the whole affair. But Agatha was not to be deceived. Her -eyes widened to surprising proportions. Her face grew white. - -"You might have been killed. It's a miracle you weren't killed." - -His distress over the discovery that she was crying was spiced -with ecstasy. She interrupted his clumsy efforts at comfort with -self-accusation. "And if you had been killed, I would have been to -blame." - -"Why, in heaven's name, dearest? My own folly would have been solely -responsible. But when I realized that I had actually spoken face to -face with you, and that you were escaping me again, I lost my head -completely." - -"If I'd told you who I was, you wouldn't have had any reason to risk -your life. And so if anything had happened it would have been all my -fault." - -He took a rather base advantage of her self-reproach. "I'll forgive you -on one condition. As I understand it, after you have made arrangements -about the baby you will spend the night at a hotel and take the train -to-morrow." - -"Yes, that's my plan." - -"And my plan is that you marry me to-morrow morning." - -"I had intended," Agatha answered reflectively, "to take an eight -o'clock train." - -"I suppose a later one will do." - -"Very likely. But a wedding without a trousseau! I am equal to a -trousseau now, you know. I have--or did have a little while ago--a -fortune of twelve thousand dollars." - -"I can't think," Forbes murmured, "of anything I should enjoy better -than helping to select a trousseau--a little later." - -"You know I'm responsible for Miss Finch," Agatha said breathlessly. -"She's not going to be married after all." - -"Miss Finch is a member of my family from now on." - -"And Howard! It was all make-believe that he was a young friend of -mine. He's really my darling brother." - -"And mine as soon as you say the word. Dear little Miss Proteus," -cried Forbes with a laugh that did not disguise the tenderness of his -voice, "I'm afraid to let you out of my sight for fear you'll change -into something else, a mermaid or a fairy, and be lost to me forever." - -"I'm sure it will disappoint Mrs. Van Horne if I come back with a -husband," mused Agatha. "It will seem such a childish performance. And -yet--when you've made up your mind that all that's left in life for -you is to go on doing your duty and trying to be kind to everybody, -and then happiness comes back and knocks at your door, you--you--oh, -Burton--it's not in human nature to keep her waiting." - -After a party, consisting of a smiling gentleman, a radiant girl and -four tired children, had left the train, one of the people who always -know the details of everybody's business, sketched their history for -the benefit of the owner of the poodle. - -"They had a dreadful quarrel, you know, the way young people will, and -she was going home to her father's. Somehow or other he learned what -train she was to take and got aboard just at the last minute." - -The listener knitted blonde brows. "I didn't really feel sure the -woman was in her right mind. She made some absurd statement about those -two little girls. Said there was six months' difference in their ages." - -"She was so excited she didn't know what she was saying," explained the -omniscient traveler. "He sent her messages by the little boy and when -she wouldn't pay any attention, he brought her to time by standing on -the steps of the rear coach for more than an hour. It was a wonder he -wasn't killed." - -The stout blonde expressed the opinion that it was woman's place to -forgive. - -"Well, that melted her, and you can't wonder. The porter in the rear -coach told our porter that when they dragged him aboard he hardly had -strength to stand on his feet. It didn't take them long to get things -fixed up after that. I went for a drink of water after they'd been -talking for half an hour or so, and he'd picked up the baby, and I'm -pretty sure from the way he held that child, he was using it just as a -screen and kissing the mother behind it." - -"Awful fretful baby," commented the stout blonde. "I'm glad it won't be -on the train to-night." - -"Looks as if they'd started out to have a real old-fashioned family," -said the omniscient narrator. "None of the children looks like her but -the curly-haired girl and the boy are the image of their papa." - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AGATHA'S AUNT*** - - -******* This file should be named 62516.txt or 62516.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/5/1/62516 - - -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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