Cleveland Moffett

“ How extraordinary that this vigorous young American, whom she had not seen for years, should have suddenly—without intending to do it, without dreaming that he had done it—should have—well, what had he done? What was the truth about her feeling for this playmate of her childhood, Bob Baxter?
Does a woman ever admit, even to herself, that a man has won her heart until she has good reason to believe that she has won his? Does a pretty woman, a young and charming woman, ever admit such a thing? Probably not, and Betty was no exception to this rule of feminine reserve. ”

“ Look out!" cried Lionel, catching Harriet's arm. "You nearly went over!"
They were standing close to the edge of a dark declivity, in reality not very steep, yet of sufficient depth to be dangerous to any one coming upon it unawares. This last remnant of the ancient moat, for such it was, lay only a few yards from the oldest wing of the house, yet so artfully was it screened on two sides by dense shrubbery and on the third by a crumbling, ivy-covered wall, once part of the old tower, that its presence was known to only two people at Ipping House—the curate and little An Petronia. ”

“ As Miss Thompson studied the wretched girl she felt like an avenging angel who, without quite understanding how, had been changing into a benevolent fairy. Here, cowering before her, was a fugitive from justice who should, no doubt, be given up, but somehow, Betty could not do it.
"Hester," she said. "I'm doing wrong, but I can't help believing there is good in you and—I can't send you to prison. You can stay in my little room—there!" She pointed to the mezzanine door. ”

“ In less than forty-eight hours after her arrival in Brighton, Mrs. Baxter had completely recovered from the shock of her midnight encounter with the Gray Lady. On the afternoon of the second day she sat in the window of her fifth floor suite at the Metropole watching the fluttering, swaying, glittering procession on the promenade below, a frolic of glad colors that might have sworn at each other in a ballroom the night before now mingling happily together in the golden urbanity of the sunshine. Some such thought must have formed itself in Eleanor's mind as she suddenly exclaimed. ”

“ Strange to say, this thought that in the night had brought such gloom came now to Betty as a matter of amused contemplation. Mr. Robert Baxter! Ahem! And more than once, while she carefully dressed, the American girl flashed mischievous and approving smiles into the glass out of her deep, blue eyes and, when, shortly after ten, she descended to the library by her little winding stairs, she was as fresh and lovely a vision of a fair young woman as one would wish to see, quite in spirit with the pleasant sunshine flooding the park and the blackbirds rejoicing in the beeches. ”

“ She was a great friend of Horatio's, this strange little maid with gold-red hair and questioning deep-set eyes and that odd smile. Many were the walks and talks they had together, Petronia holding on by the curate's forefinger, asking questions. Such questions! How many buttercups full of rain can a mouse drink? Telling him tremendous secrets and confiding to him all her troubles, what mountains of troubles! And yet Merle had never heard Petronia cry, not even the time when she was bitten by the frightened squirrel, whose foot she freed from the weasel trap, did An Petronia cry. ”

“ She gazed out over the lake where the swans were drifting idly, and a smile, half plaintive, half mischievous, formed about her warm, red lips, as she reflected that here was Hester Storm, known on Manhattan Island as a cold-blooded proposition, little Hester, who had gone up against hard games in various cities and gotten away with them—not so bad, her bluffing Grimes with the haughty stare in Charing Cross station—here she was with a big bunch of money right in her hands, you might say, and letting it go, letting the whole thing go and starting all over again because—because she wanted to. ”

“ Beneath this effective covering her hair was discreetly shadowed, her eyes, if they were calculating, seemed only pensive, and the pouting of her mouth was transformed to an expression of winsome pleading—so much for the wizardry of a woman's hat.
As she stood before the mirror Mrs. Baxter's half-turned face wore that sidelong, disquieted look with which a woman always regards her newest hat, half pleasure of possession and half regret for that other hat, the one in the shop that she did not buy and whose fetching colors and enticing lines have ever since haunted her. ”

“ The humbler the service he found to do, the more gladly would he do it. Was not that what Hiram Baxter himself had tried to tell them in his homely way? "It will make men and women of you," that's what he had said. Hiram Baxter was right.
And then a great resolve formed itself in the heart of Horatio Merle. He would take Hiram Baxter at his word, he would tell him he wanted to work. He was willing to do anything so long as it was work, so long as it was helpful. He had been blind, and in his blindness he had tried to lead others as blind as himself. ”

“ Yer the real thing, ain't ye?"
Betty's eyes danced with pleasure. "Do you like this frock, Guardy?"
With wise nods of wondering approval Hiram studied Paquin's exquisitely suave creation of amethyst gray velvet, with its narrow trimming of black fox. Thrown carelessly over the girl's shoulders was a chiffon scarf of cobweb thinness, marvelously shaded from jonquil yellow to rosy pomegranate. And Betty's burnished brown hair melted glowingly into the purple lining of her white brimmed leghorn hat, with its knot of pale mauve pansies and its tossing topaz plume. ”

“ But this American girl—strange a girl like that should be a secretary!—had discovered to him unsuspected possibilities in himself. He had actually talked, he had even gone so far as to say one or two rather good things—that about aeroplanes, for instance—no, come to think of it, it was she who said that—what was it he had said? Anyhow, it had made the American girl laugh, so it must have been rather good. Extraordinary people, these Americans; how they sharpen one's wits! On the whole, he was rather pleased with himself. He wondered if Kate had noticed it. ”

“ Harriet watched him now as he moved quietly to and fro, carrying the large silver platter, bending gravely as he held it in turn for each of the chatterers at the table. "Heathens" she reflected bitterly. "They are raging about menials, heedless that they are being served by an angel!"
A rare partisan was Harriet Merle. With her on his side, Horatio might well liken himself to a hero of old armed with an invincible spear. Harriet gloried in opposition, and it was only when opposing forces were equal that there was any doubt in her husband's mind which side she would take. ”

“ Now the bottom of a golf bag is about the last spot on earth where anyone would expect to find a missing purse; yet, as devotees of this sport will agree, a more admirable place of concealment could scarcely be imagined. Far down in a jumble of heavy clubs the purse lies unseen by the keenest eye and beyond reach of the longest arm. To search the bottom of a golf bag would involve taking out all the clubs and turning the bag upside down, but who would do that? ”

“ Lionel had tried several times to get in a word, but Kate, never once taking her eyes off the lake, had kept on in a low voice, as if no one were there. It sounded to Lionel like some one talking in sleep. Now, as she paused and turned toward him, he broke in.
"Kate!" he cried. "For God's sake don't talk like that. How can you say those things? You know better. You know I don't mean that you—that you——" he stopped for want of words and went on disjointedly. "There's not another woman on earth to compare with you—physically or morally or any other way. ”

“ In this resolve the intruder moved back into the library and, without giving herself time for further hesitation, she cautiously ascended the winding stair that led to Betty Thompson's room. If the worst came, she did not believe this kind-eyed girl, her fellow country-woman, would betray her. Besides, why should there be any trouble? It was only a matter of silently turning the knob. The noiseless creeping light would do the rest. If she saw the golf bag, there by the dressing-table, she could get it without a sound. And, anyway, Betty must be in her deepest sleep. ”

“ Sleepily conscious of the proximity of a sympathetic hand, Martin Luther stretched his paws and extended his neck to be scratched, then curled up to sleep again without having once opened his eyes.
Seating himself in the cushionless chair, Horatio leaned his head against its tall straight back. "No one to serve, no one to do anything." He was echoing Harriet's words; his eyes were resting on hers, yet his thoughts were far away, fixed on something invisible to Harriet, a faded picture in a tarnished gilt frame. ”

“ Surely the very last place where one would expect to find the desk of a hustling American man of business. Yet there it was, waiting for Betty to begin, not a roll-top desk, thank heaven, but an antique piece of curious design and richly inlaid standing near one of the great windows and now heaped with a pile of mail for Hiram Baxter that had accumulated since his sailing from New York. ”

“ Kate, with her upturned palm resting on the hand of Robert Baxter—confound him!
The billiard balls were in tempting position and Lionel, sighting for a follow shot, found his gaze irresistibly prolonged to the stretch of sunlit lawn, backed by dark firs, to which the window opposite formed a frame. At the same moment two figures crossed his line of vision, walking slowly and apparently quite oblivious to their surroundings. With cue drawn back for the stroke, Lionel watched them pass slowly out of the picture. It was Kate Clendennin and Robert Baxter! ”

“ Meantime the girl herself, the object of Merle's loving solicitude, sat motionless on the broad, low bench between the friendly fir trees. Dazed, frightened, yet full of a strange joy, Hester was thinking of this extraordinary, this unbelievable thing that had happened. A meek little man, with amusing side whiskers, had spoken to her, had looked into her eyes and, suddenly, her whole life was changed, absolutely and irrevocably changed. She was not and never again would be the girl she had been. ”

“ Distressed and perplexed, Miss Thompson walked back and forth trying to decide what she should do. And Hester in wide-eyed supplication watched her, knowing well that her fate was trembling in the balance. If she could only think of something—something that would influence this fine, high-toned girl, whose soul could not be reached by any base appeal, she realized that.
At this moment there sounded beyond the conservatory the sharp call of a whistle, low and sinister.
"What's that?" started Betty.
Hester listened in tense alarm. "It's Grimes. He's got a man outside. ”

“ There were no more secrets to be learned and to-morrow she would offer to call at the club for the golf bag. No, that would look suspicious—well, she would think out a plan, she would manage it some way.
In a great chair at Horatio's side sat little An Petronia, who, at the curate's request, had been allowed to join the happy gathering. Clasped in her hand was a priceless nectarine (too marvelous for human food) and her watchful eyes were fixed on the door fearful each moment of the apparition of a beckoning grandmother and the End of Things. ”

“ It is God calling," the curate whispered.
Then the storm broke in convulsive, hysterical weeping. And Horatio waited, without speaking, without trying to stem the flood.
"I—I've told you what isn't true," she confessed in broken tones. "I have no right to be here. I—I'm no good," and the storm broke again.
"Listen to me, my dear," said Merle soothingly. "We are all of us weak and sinful. I'm sure I don't know why, but it seems to be our fate to——"
"Wait!" sobbed the girl. "You don't know—what I am. ”

“ Lionel extinguished the hall light and, with flaring candle-shadows dancing behind them, these two climbed the stairs. Then came the closing of distant bedroom doors and Ipping House, dark and silent, settled down to slumber, while the adventuress waited.
Eleven! Twelve! One o'clock! to the slow, soothing voice of the bells. Those who prowl by night under strange roofs must learn patience and, while these hours passed, Hester scarcely stirred, except from chair to bench, then back again from bench to chair, noiselessly, for she wore sneakers with rubber soles. ”

“ It seemed to Merle as if the painter's self were speaking to him across the centuries.
"Do they look as if they were acting a play, these holy men that I have painted? Has the spirit of Christianity so changed that the sacred commands of the Master must be explained away with strange words? Has the flock strayed so far that the shepherd's crook has come to be only a symbol and the shears of the shearer a metaphor and the sheepfold a figure of speech? ”