Joseph Crosby Lincoln

“ What's wrong with this Miss Canby? Out with it.”
“Nothing's wrong with her, so far as I know. And yet there isn't anything right. She's good enough, I guess, and she can play the piano like a streak, but she's a fool. She and the gang she is with are bleached-haired, frowzy-headed idiots, who hope they are Bohemians—whatever that is. They like to do what they call unusual things; they like to shock people—think it's smart. Don't let your wife or Gertrude—Gertie, especially—get in with that crowd. They don't belong there. ”

“ Serena made inquiries, but neither servants nor mistresses had ever heard of the “Band.” Gertrude, when she heard of it, at first seemed to be much amused, and laughed heartily. Then she became very grave and declared it a splendid thing and that she was delighted because Azuba had found her opportunity. She was entitled to that opportunity, as was every free woman, and certainly neither Gertrude or her mother, being “free women” themselves, must offer objection or permit mere household drudgery to interfere. ”

“ Mr. Cohen's daughter was not invited to picnics by the summer people; Mrs. Cohen was not head of the sewing circle and the Chapter of the Ladies of Honor, and prominent socially, as was Mrs. Dott; but Mr. Cohen bought cheap and sold cheap, and the Emporium flourished like a green bay tree, while the Metropolitan Store was rapidly going to seed. Daniel, looking out through the front window at the blue sea in the distance, thought of the past, of the days when, as commander and part owner of the three masted schooner Bluebird, he had been free and prosperous and happy. ”

“ Daniel sprang out of his chair.
“You did!” he cried again. “Serena, how could you? You knew how Father felt about that money. You knew how I felt. And yet, you did that!”
“I did. Somebody in this family must be practical and worldly-minded, and I seem to be the one. YOU wouldn't ask her for a cent. You wouldn't ask anybody for money, even if they owed it a thousand years. You sell everybody anything they want from the store; and trust them for it. You know you do. ”

“ You are engaged to be married, you know, and John—”
Gertrude interrupted. She ignored the mention of Mr. Doane's name.
“Oh, Cousin Percy is all right,” she said lightly. “He's good company. Of course he may be something of a sport, but that is to be expected. The trouble with you and me, Mother, is that we are too old-fashioned; we are not sporty enough.”
“GERTIE!” Serena's horror was beyond words.
Gertrude laughed. “But that can be mended,” she went on. “Mother, you should learn to drink cocktails and tango. I think I shall. Everybody's doing it, doing it, doing it!” ”

“ He spoke as if three thousand dollars was an unheard-of sum, a fortune. Mrs. Dott had no such illusion. She sat down upon the edge of the bed.
“Three thousand dollars!” she exclaimed. “Is that all? Three thousand dollars!”
“All! My soul, Serena! Why, ONE thousand dollars just now is like—”
“Hush! Do be still! Three thousand dollars! And she worth a hundred thousand, if she was worth a cent. A lone woman, without a chick or a child or a relation except you, and that precious young swell of a cousin of hers she thought so much of. I suppose he gets the rest of it. ”

“ Fenholtz and I had tried every variety of servant, but she is something fresh.”
Daniel grinned. “She's fresh enough, if that's all you want,” he admitted. “That's the main trouble with her, accordin' to my wife. I like her myself. She reminds me of home.”
The Honorable shook his hand. “Home is a good thing to remember,” he said earnestly, “and a bedder thing not to be ashamed of. You are not ashamed of your home and you do not forget it. That is why I like you. Good night!”
Somehow this remark pleased the captain greatly, but when he repeated it to Serena, she did not seem pleased. ”

“ I hate Scarford and I hate society.”
“Mother! how can you! And opportunity and advancement—”
“I hate them, too.”
Gertrude gasped. “Why, Mother!” she exclaimed. “And it was you who first showed me the way. Who showed me how common and dull and unambitious I had been all my life? Think what leaving here would mean to me. What would Miss Dusante think? I had almost arranged to take dancing lessons of her. Think of Mr. Holway. Is there a young man like him in Trumet? Think of Cousin Percy!”
That was quite enough. Serena rose, her eyes flashing. ”

“ Still the captain sat in the library, a huddled, pathetic heap in the armchair, gazing at vacancy. Occasionally he sighed.
The doorbell rang. Aroused from his doleful reverie by the sound, Daniel jumped from his chair and, going to the hall, shouted for Azuba. Then he remembered that Azuba was not on the premises and answered the ring himself. He had forgotten to push the button of the porch light and, peering out into the dark, he could see only that the person standing upon the top step was a woman. A carriage had drawn up at the curb and the driver was unloading a trunk from the rack. ”

“ YOU shall be president of Scarford Chapter.”
Serena gasped.
“Me?” she cried, forgetful, for once, of her carefully nurtured correctness of speech. “Me? President?”
“Yes, you. You are liked and respected by every member. You are known to be rich—I mean cultured and progressive and broad-minded. We can elect you and we will. Isn't it splendid? I'm SO proud to be the one to bring you the news!”
There was one strong qualification possessed by Mrs. Dott which the bearer of good news omitted to mention. Serena was supposed to be Annette Black's most devoted friend. ”

“ The captain had told that bit of news when they sat down to dinner.
“What is that cousin's name?” asked Gertrude. “The one who inherits all of your aunt's fortune?”
“Let's see. His name? I ought to know it well's I know my own. It's—it's Starvation, or somethin' like that. Somethin' about bein' hungry, anyhow. Hungerford, Percy Hungerford, that's it!”
Gertrude looked surprised.
“Not Percy Hungerford—of Scarford!” she cried. “What sort of a man is he? What does he look like?” ”

“ Their splendid loyalty is the one thing that makes it worth while. I must keep up and fight on for their sakes. I must be as true to them as they are to me. Would they desert me for anything? No! And I shan't desert them. I am going to be elected. I know it. After that, after the election is over, I may—I might, perhaps—”
“You might go somewhere with me and have a good, comfortable time. All right, we will. And Gertie can go, too.”
The mention of her daughter's name seemed to be more disturbing than all the rest. Serena burst into tears.
“She wouldn't go, Daniel!” she cried. ”

“ Captain Dan, repressing his grin with difficulty, explained that he was thinking of what they would say. Serena, giving him up in disgust, turned to her daughter.
“Gertie,” she begged, “why don't you say something? Azuba can't join that Chapter and you know it.”
Gertrude shook her head.
“I suppose, she can't,” she replied. “And yet, I'm afraid, Mother, that you will find that fact rather hard to explain to her. Azuba doesn't consider herself a servant, in the ordinary sense, at all. She feels, I think, that she is a friend of the family. ”

“ Serena was surprised, of course, and worried likewise.
“You're right, Daniel,” she said, “I am afraid you're right. She and John must have had some disagreement. I suppose it is only a lover's quarrel—young engaged people are always having foolish quarrels—and they always get over them and make up again. But, oh, dear! why did they quarrel just now? Haven't I got enough on my mind without fretting about them? Well, I'll talk to Gertie this very forenoon.” ”

“ Captain Dan's pleas for quiet evenings together at home went for nought.
“You needn't go, Daddy,” said Gertrude. “Mother and I know you don't care for such things. She and I can go without you.”
“Go without me? The idea! Look pretty, wouldn't it, to have you two chasin' around nights all by yourself, without a man to look after you!”
“Oh, Cousin Percy will go with us. He is always obliging that way. Cousin Percy will go, I am sure.”
The captain was equally sure. Cousin Percy was altogether too willing to go anywhere, at any time, provided Miss Dott went also. ”

“ Someone was at the front door, fumbling with a latchkey. Gertrude hurriedly sprang from her chair, wiped her eyes with her handkerchief and was on her way to the hall when the door opened. The hall was dark; she had turned off the light when she came downstairs; and for a moment she could not see who it was that had entered. She, however, was in the full glow from the electrolier in the library and Mr. Hungerford saw her.
“Ah, Gertrude,” he said cheerfully. “Is that you? Don't go. Don't go.” ”

“ Serena did not say the word, not then. She continued to moan and wring her hands.
“She's all wrong, Daniel!” she cried. “She does wrong things. She is with—with Cousin Percy too much. He and she are getting to be altogether too friendly. She has dropped John for good, I'm afraid. Oh, suppose she should—”
The captain's anger burst forth at this expression of his own secret dread.
“Suppose she should marry that Hungerford, you mean!” he cried. “She won't! She won't! She's too sensible, anyway; but, if she should, I—I'd rather see her dead. Yes, sir, dead!” ”

“ He bolted from the room and down the stairs, the legacy forgotten for the moment, and in his mind pictures of rifled showcases and youthful Trumet regaling itself with chocolates at his expense. Azuba shrieked another question as her employer once more rushed through the kitchen, but again her question was unanswered. She hurried to the window and watched him running across the yard.
“Well!” she exclaimed, in alarmed soliloquy. “WELL, the next time I fetch that man a letter I'll fetch the doctor along with it. Has the world turned upside down, or what is the matter?” ”

“ A few minutes later they were seated in a cab, drawn by a venerable horse and driven by a man with a hooked nose, and were moving toward the Palatine House, the hostelry recommended by Mrs. Black as the finest in Scarford.
“There!” said Serena, leaning back against the shabby cushions, “this is better than an electric, isn't it? And when we get to the hotel you'll see the difference it will make in the way they treat us. Mrs. Black says there is everything in a first impression. If people judge by your looks that you're no account they'll treat you that way. ”

“ What do you mean by assaultin' him that way?”
“What do I mean? When a man comes home from sea and finds another man kissin' his wife, what would he be likely to mean?”
Daniel could not answer. He looked about him in absolute bewilderment. Gertrude choked and turned away.
“Kissin'!” repeated Captain Dan. “Kissin' your wife? Kissin' ZUBA! I—I—am I crazy, or are you, or—or is he?”
Apparently he judged the last surmise to be the most likely. Cousin Percy, frantic with rage and humiliation, tried to protest.
“It's a lie!” he cried. “It's a lie!”
The captain turned to his housekeeper. ”

“ Serena did not need to be asked twice. She told a great deal, warming to her subject as she proceeded. She told of their arrival in Scarford, of the kindness shown by the Blacks and Mrs. Lake and the rest. “Wonderful women, Gertie! brilliant, intellectual, advanced thinkers, every one of them. Not much like Abigail Mayo and the rest at Trumet.”
She told of their adventures in society, of the Blacks' dinner, of the reception, of her bridge lessons. Gertrude listened, saying nothing, but watching both her parents intently as the narrative proceeded. ”

“ They had affiliated with the national order of the Ladies of Honor, chiefly because of the opportunity which such a body offered for office holding and notoriety. The members were not drawn from the oldest families of Scarford nor from those whose social position was established. They were chiefly the wives and daughters of men who had made money rather suddenly; would-be geniuses whose genius had not been recognized as yet; women to whom public speaking and publicity were as the breath of their nostrils ”

“ Daniel caught his wife's eye. “Well, Serena,” he observed, with a meaning wink, “I guess likely you're tired, ain't you? Time to go aloft and turn in, I should say.”
Serena nodded. “Yes,” she answered. “Gertrude, you and John will excuse us, won't you? John, Captain Dott and I will see you in the morning. Good-night! Good-night, Cousin Percy.”
“Good-night!” said Mr. Hungerford.
“You'll excuse us, John, I'm sure,” went on Serena. “Of course you and Gertie will want to talk, and,” with a slight pause and a glance at Percy, “we will only be in the way. Come, Daniel.” ”