Edwin Balmer

“ When there’s a long, secret strain on a person and he doesn’t show it, he often walks. Ruth Grenwick’s aunt did it; and nobody knew it for a long time. They found it out from sand in her bed in the mornings, too. She used to walk on the lake shore. But we must keep still—we must keep still. What time is it?”
Tommie showed her his watch. She read the time, mechanically, in the moonlight. “Half past seven,” she repeated, without recognition.
Peyton shook his head at Tommie to prevent him from speaking. He took hold again of Esther’s arm. ”

“ Esther felt for her purse, motioning to Tommie also to prepare himself. “How much?” she asked of Gideon Nash.
“A dollar forty, of course,” the sleeping man replied. “And you must pay—you must pay every cent. You can’t settle for a cent less.” His voice went hard and cold. “A dollar forty!”
“Of course,” Esther replied. She found the change in her purse and handed it to Gideon Nash. He took it and turned to Tommie.”
“I say, I’ve only English silver.” He appealed to the girl.
“What’s the Liverpool price?” she immediately asked the wheat-trader, before the difficulty could register on him. ”

“ Peyton observed.
“He’s got a guard down there, too!” Torrington pointed to a figure standing under a tree twenty yards from Gideon Nash’s window.
Peyton shifted his glasses.
“Get dressed, Tommie,” he bade, abruptly. “That’s not a guard; that’s a girl.” He started from the room.
“Who? What? Do you mean—”
Peyton returned. “Perhaps we'd better watch for a minute more.” He came back and stood at the window. Torrington pulled his clothes on swiftly.
“I’m going down, now. You can come if you want to, Tommie; you may be needed. She’s at the window—trying to open it.” ”

“ Peyton heard Esther explaining to Torrington, as the three went as far as the boathouse together. “—That is, if she wasn’t already thinking she was somebody else or doing something else, when you suggested it to her. She could see people and things but wouldn’t always know them.”
Peyton unlocked his boat-house, threw the padlock from his motor-boat and started the engine. He brought the boat out beside the pier. A couple of hundred yards up the beach, Tommie and Esther had caught up with Gideon Nash, and were walking alongside him. ”

“ So when he comes to and tells them he’s Gideon Nash and accounts for his presence here in pajamas by explaining that he just wandered over here from Illinois in his sleep, I figure that the tomato-raisers will take care of him till ten, anyway. We’ve only got to get away with ourselves and the boat—Miss Giles and I. He knows us. So you’ve got to carry him ashore, Tommie, and stick around till he wakes up to see he’s all right. He’s never seen you.”
As he spoke he steered the boat softly against the pier. “Tommie!” ”

“ Peyton explained. “I’ve made it in three hours and a half. I can make it in a little over four to-night, all right—without splashing too much!”
“Peyton!”
He felt her hand over his—her little, slender fingers closing over his strong ones, in their relief. “Thanks, Esther,” he murmured. “I’ll fix everything without hurting him. But,” he added, ordering her away, quickly, “you'd better go back to Torrington. Nash is getting over being an admiral. He’s starting something on his own account. Coach Tommie.”
“Who are you?” Gideon Nash was demanding of Tommie. “‘Who are you?” ”

“ I came to find out. I remembered about Ruth Grenwick’s aunt—how there had been sand in her bed. I couldn’t think of anything before I found out. Then I was going to call you!”
“I see,” he said, simply.
“He will not be on the floor when trading starts to-day?” she asked mechanically. ”

“ Anything to keep him off the floor—the Board of Trade—till eleven o'clock to-morrow morning—till half past ten would do. If we made him only a quarter of an hour late, and he was out of communication with his brokers, that would be enough. ”