Galusha

“ A moment later he was on his knees before the nearest gravestone. It was an old stone and the inscription and carving were interesting. Time paused there and then for Galusha.
What brought him from the dead past to the living present was the fact that his hat blew off. The particular stone which he was examining at the moment was on the top of a little knoll and, as Galusha clambered up and stooped, the breeze, which had increased in force until it was a young gale, caught the brown derby beneath its brim and sent it flying. ”

“ Galusha was trembling with eagerness. “Yes, of course. Cousin Gussie is an extraordinarily able man. He approves of it highly. He told me so.”
She scarcely heard him. “Oh, don't you see,” she went on, “why it would be wicked for me to think of such a thing? You are a great man, a famous man; you have been everywhere and seen everything; I haven't had any real education, any that counts besides yours; I haven't been anywhere; I am just a country old maid. Oh, you would be ashamed of me in a month.... No, no, no, I mustn't. I won't.”
“But, Miss Martha—”
“No. Oh, no!” ”

“ Galusha nodded, cheerfully. “When she thinks they need it,” he replied.
“Humph! I understand now what you meant by saying she had taken charge of you. Does she boss you?”
Another cheerful nod. “I ALWAYS need it,” answered Galusha.
Martha, of course, presided at the supper table. Primmie did not sit down with the rest. She ate in the kitchen with the Cabot chauffeur. But she entered the dining room from time to time to bring in hot brown bread or beans or cookies, or to change the plates, and each time she did so she stared at Cousin Gussie with awe in her gaze. ”

“ Martha Phipps was perfectly certain that her lodger was keeping out of doors altogether too much.
“You aren't goin' out to-day, Mr. Bangs, are you?” she exclaimed. “It's as cold as the North Pole. You'll freeze.”
Galusha smiled beneath his cap visor and between the ear-laps.
“Oh, no, indeed,” he declared. “It's brisk and—ah—snappy, that's all. A smart walk will do me good. I am accustomed to walking. In Egypt I walk a GREAT deal.” ”

“ So, when at that point of their conversation in the lantern room of the Gould's Bluffs light, Galusha, recognizing his helpless position and the alternative of buying the Hallett holdings or being exposed to Cousin Gussie as a sentimental and idiotic spendthrift and to Martha Phipps as a liar and criminal—when Galusha, facing this alternative, stammered a willingness to go to Boston and see if he could not dispose of Jethro's stock as he had Martha's, the captain added an additional clause. ”

“ Bangs?... There! I didn't mean to say that,” she added. “I was thinkin' it and it sort of spoke itself, as you might say. I beg your pardon.”
“Oh, that's quite all right, quite, Miss Phipps,” Galusha assured her. “I have no doubt you are perfectly correct. No doubt I am surprising; at least most people seem to find a peculiar quality in most of my—ah—actions.” He smiled his gentle smile, and added, “I presume it must be a part of my profession. In books, you know—in novels—the few I have read—the archaeologist or the scientific man or the college professor is always peculiar.” ”

“ Martha, also weeping, essayed to help. Cabot, walking over to where his cousin was standing, laid a hand on his arm. Galusha, pale and wan, looking as if the world had slipped from under him and he was left hanging in cold space, turned a haggard face in his direction.
“Well, Loosh,” said Cousin Gussie, dryly, “I think you and I had better go home, hadn't we? This has been an interesting evening, an—ah—illuminating evening. You appear to be the only person who can add to the illumination, and—well, don't you think it is time you did?” ”

“ Galusha took off his spectacles and rubbed them.
“Ain't it awful, Mr. Bangs?” repeated Primmie.
Galusha's faint smile twitched the corners of his lips. “We-ll,” he observed, “I—really I can't say. I never met the lady.”
“What difference does that make? If a dead woman come and stood alongside of MY bed 'twouldn't make no difference to me whether I'd MET her or not. Meetin' of her then would be enough. My Lord of Isrul!”
“Oh—oh, I beg your pardon. Do I understand you to say that this—ah—gentleman's wife is dead?”
“Um-hm. Been dead seven year, so Miss Martha says. ”

“ Martha did not mind them; she said they were rather nice, on the whole, because they helped to remind her that all creation wasn't East Wellmouth. Galusha didn't object to them, except when they were TOO noisy at midnight or thereabouts and interfered with his slumbers. Primmie condescended to them and aired her knowledge of local celebrities and traditions. Captain Jethro ignored them utterly and Lulie was popular among them. ”

“ It was not at all funny to Galusha. Nor strange. The light keeper tugged at his beard and his shaggy brows drew together. “I don't know's I did right to let go of that stock of mine, after all,” he said, slowly. “Don't know as I did, no.”
Galusha asked him why.
“Because I don't know as I did, that's all. If I'd hung on I might have got more for it. Looks to me as if Raish's crowd, whoever they are, are mighty anxious to buy. And the Denboro Trust Company folks might bid against 'em if 'twas necessary. They've got too much of that stock to let themselves be froze out. Humph!... Humph! ”

“ I should want my camel on wheels, with a railin' around his hump. But YOU must feel lost enough down in this tame place, Mr. Bangs. The wildest thing around here is a woodchuck.”
She laughed. Galusha smiled, but he answered promptly.
“I like it here, Miss Phipps,” he said, earnestly. “I do, really. I like it very much indeed. In fact—in fact—Miss Phipps, would you mind answering a question or two?... Oh, they're not personal questions, personal to you, I mean. Really they are not. May I ask them?” ”

“ Galusha did not tell Miss Phipps of his business deal with the light keeper. In the first place, his telling her would involve more deception and, also, might lead to more possibilities of discovery. The average, well-meaning person, having been driven by relentless fate to the committing of murder, could scarcely have felt more conscience-stricken and depraved than did little Galusha Bangs at having lied to Martha Phipps. ”

“ Galusha Cabot Bangs was not a presuming person and he was troubled.
After the supper dishes were washed and Primmie sent to bed—“sent” is the exact word, for Miss Cash, having had a taste of Egypt and the Orient, was eagerly hoping for more—Miss Phipps and Galusha were together in the sitting room. Doctor Powers had paid a brief visit. He found his patient so much improved that he announced him well enough to travel if he wished.
“If it is really necessary for you to go to-morrow, Mr. Bangs,” he said, “I think you're strong enough to risk it.” ”

“ Miss Phipps looked about the room. “What struck you? Where? Are you hurt?”
Mr. Bangs' beaming smile broadened.
“I mean the idea struck me,” he declared. “Dear me, how odd that it didn't do so before. Yes, he is exactly the right person. Exactly. Oh, dear me, this is VERY good!”
Martha said afterward that she never in her life felt more like shaking a person.
“What do you mean?” she demanded. “What was it that struck you?”
“Why, Cousin Gussie,” announced Galusha, happily. “Don't you see? He will be EXACTLY the one.” ”

“ That Sunday dinner was a bountiful repast and Galusha ate more than he had eaten in three meals at his mountain hotel. He was a trifle tired from his morning's stroll and so decided to remain indoors until the following day. After the table was cleared Miss Phipps, leaving Primmie to wash the dishes, went over to the light keeper's house.
“I'll be back soon, Mr. Bangs,” she said. “If you get lonesome go out into the kitchen and Primmie'll talk to you. Goodness gracious!” she added, laughing, “that's a dreadful choice I'm leavin' you—lonesomeness or Primmie. ”

“ And Galusha, of course, has traveled so much that he is a good sailor, too. So, no matter whether it was calm or blowy, he and I walked decks or sat in the lee somewhere and talked of all that had happened and of what was going to happen. And, Lulie, I realized over and over, as I have been realizing ever since I agreed to marry him, what a wonderful man he is and what a happy and grateful woman I ought to be—and am, you may be sure of that. Every day I make a little vow to myself that I will do my best not to make him ashamed of me. ”

“ Galusha Bangs returned to his beloved work at the National Institute and his income was reinvested for him by the senior partner of Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot. Occasionally Galusha requested that a portion of it be sent him, usually for donation to this department or that or to assist in fitting out an expedition of his own, but, generally speaking, he was quite content with his modest salary. He unwrapped his mummies and deciphered his moldering papyri, living far more in ancient Egypt than in modern Washington. ”

“ His gaze was fixed upon a winged death's head on a battered slate gravestone near at hand. The death's head was grinning cheerfully, but Galusha was not.
“I say she is remarkable, that Phipps woman,” repeated Cousin Gussie. The little man stirred uneasily upon the fence rail.
“Her—ah—name is Martha—Martha Phipps—ah—MISS Martha Phipps,” he suggested, with a slight accent upon the “Miss.” The banker's smile broadened.
“Apologies, Galusha,” he said, “to her—and to you.” He turned and gazed steadily down at his relative's bowed head.
“Loosh,” he said.
“Eh?” Galusha looked up. “Eh? ”

“ Aunt Clarissa's reply was noncommittal. That evening she wrote a letter to Augustus Cabot in Boston. “He is a good boy,” she wrote, referring to Galusha, “but queer—oh, dreadfully queer. It's his father's queerness cropping out, of course, but it shouldn't be permitted to develop. I have set my heart on his becoming a financier like the other Galushas in our line. Of course he will always be a Bangs—more's the pity—but his middle name is Cabot and his first IS Galusha. I think he had best continue his schooling in or near Boston where you can influence him, Augustus. ”

“ Cabot, we'll go into the sittin' room and let Primmie clear off the table. Zach Bloomer—he's the assistant light keeper—is comin' to tell us when it's time to go to the seance.”
In the sitting room they talked of various things. Galusha, listening to his cousin's stories and jokes, had almost forgotten his powder barrel. And then, all at once, a spark fell, flashed, and the danger became imminent.
Said the banker, addressing Martha and referring to her lodger: “What does this cousin of mine find to do down here, Miss Phipps? How does he manage to spend so much money?” ”

“ Do you suppose there is a woman on earth who wouldn't forgive a man who gave up thirteen thousand dollars just to help her out of a difficulty? Gave it up, as you did, without a whimper or even a whisper? And whose one worry has been that she might find out the truth about his weird generosity? Oh, Loosh, Loosh, you ARE crazy.”
Galusha made no attempt to deny the charge of insanity. ”

“ Lulie ran up the path and the door of the light keeper's cottage closed behind her. Howard disappeared around the bend of the hill. Martha and Galusha turned hastily and began walking toward home. Neither spoke until they were almost there. Then Miss Phipps, apparently feeling that something should be said, observed: “The moon was—was real pretty, wasn't it, Mr. Bangs?”
Galusha started. “Eh?” he queried. “Oh, yes! yes, indeed! Ah—quite so.”
He made the next remark also; it was quite irrelevant.
“Youth,” he said, musingly. “Youth is a wonderful thing, really it is.” ”

“ Marietta was not wicked, she was just silly and vain and foolish, that was all; but at least half of humanity's troubles are caused by the fools.
“Julia,” said Captain Jethro, his big voice trembling as he said it, “I—I'm here, Julia. What is it?”
“Julia she say she gladee you heree,” gurgled Little Cherry Blossom. Martha Phipps drew a breath between her teeth as if in pain. Her hand squeezed Lulie's tight. She was suffering with the girl. As for Galusha, sensitive soul that he was, he blushed all over in sympathetic embarrassment. ”

“ Small boys began barefoot experiments. Miss Tamson Black departed for Nantucket to visit a cousin. Mr. Raish Pulcifer had his wife resurrect his black-and-white striped flannel trousers from the moth chest and hang them in the yard. “No use talkin',” so Zach Bloomer declared, “summer is headin' down our way. She'll be here afore we know it.”
She was. One pleasant morning Galusha, emerging from the Phipps' “side door,” saw workmen about the premises of the Restabit Inn. For a week thereafter the neighborhood echoed with hammer blows and reeked with the smell of new paint. ”

“ Yes, little American automobiles. Galusha says we shall use camels very little, for which I say “Hurrah, hurrah!” I cannot see myself navigating a camel—not for long, and it IS such a high perch to fall from. Our love to you and Nelson and to your father. And oh, so very much to yourself. And we DO wish we might come to your wedding. We shall be there in spirit—and that doesn't mean Marietta's kind of spirits, either.
Your affectionate friend,
MARTHA BANGS.
(A letter from Miss Primrose Cash to Mrs. Galusha Bangs.)
East Wellmouth, Massachusetts, United States of America. ”

“ Almost every one said something. Zach Bloomer whistled shrilly in Mr. Bangs' ear and said, “Godfreys!” Galusha said, “Oh, dear me!” with distressful emphasis. Martha Phipps and Lulie clutched each other and the latter uttered a faint scream. Primmie Cash, who had stooped to pick up the dropped harmonica, fell on her knees beside it. Captain Jethro stamped and roared for silence.
“Be still!” he shouted. “Stop! STOP! By the everlastin', I'll—I'll—Julia! Julia!”
But Julia did not answer this time. Neither did Little Cherry Blossom. ”