Mr. Crawford

“ After dinner Carl felt obliged to resume his journey. He had found his visit to Niagara very agreeable, but his was a business and not a pleasure trip, and loyalty to his employer required him to cut it short. Lord Bedford shook his hand heartily at parting.
“I hope we shall meet again, Mr. Crawford,” he said. “I expect, myself, to reach Chicago on Saturday, and shall be glad to have you call on me at the Palmer House.”
“Thank you, my lord; I will certainly inquire for you there.”
“He is a very good fellow, even if he is a lord,” thought Carl. ”

“ All the color had left her face. “Mr. Crawford,” she said, in a dull voice.
“He has gone out after trout,” continued the steward, briskly; “he is a rare rod, ma’am, is Mr. Crawford. He caught the eight-pound fish—perhaps you noticed it on the panel in the billiard-room.”
Miss Castle came into the hall again, and stepped over to the register. Under her signature, “Miss Castle and maid,” she saw “J. Crawford, New York.” The ink was still blue and faint.
She turned and walked out into the sunshine.
The future was no longer a gray, menacing future ”

“ Stuyvesant,” said the nobleman, “the person I was talking with this morning. Mr. Crawford tells me he is a—what do you call it?—a confidence man.”
“I have no acquaintance with him, my lord. I saw him just now leaving the hotel.”
“I am afraid he has gone away with my valise and money,” said Carl.
“If you should be inconvenienced, Mr. Crawford,” said the nobleman, “my purse is at your disposal.”
“Thank you very much, Lord Bedford,” said Carl, gratefully. “I am glad to say I am still fairly well provided with money.”
“I was about to make you the same offer, Mr. Crawford,” said Atwood. ”

“ MR. LI's WONDERFUL HOUSE.
But this state of things could not go on for ever. Mr. Crawford waited in an agony of impatience; for every moment he expected one of the party to turn round, and then he knew he would be discovered. Would the man never be able to undo the door? It seemed an eternity to him, whilst the bolts and bars were being withdrawn; and what a terrible noise they made! He felt sure they would be heard, and—yes, one of the men talking to Wang suddenly turned, started, and pointed in the direction in which he was standing. He gave himself up for lost ”

“ Moreover, I found a late extra of a New York paper in Mr. Crawford's office. This wasn't on sale until about half past eleven that night, so whoever left it there must have come out from the city on that midnight train, or later.”
A change came over Philip Crawford's face. Apparently he was brought to see the whole matter in a new light.
“What? What's that?” he cried excitedly, grasping his chair-arms and half rising. “A late newspaper! An extra!”
“Yes; the liner accident, you know.”
“But—but—Gregory Hall! Why man, you're crazy! Hall is a good fellow. ”

“ Miss Conover hastened to agree.
The tension was broken by the arrival of the maid with three kinds of pie—mince, pumpkin, and cranberry. Upon the later arrival of coffee, Miss Conover got up from the table.
"Time's up," she announced. "We'll carry Mr. Edward upstairs."
"A bargain's a bargain, and I'll go quietly," I said, "but damn it all just the same."
"Edward, will you oblige me by not swearing before Helen," Mr. Claybourne declaimed.
"I beg your pardon—and Helen's, if she wants it. Happiness has a bad effect on my manners." ”

“ The vicar had ordered his dog-cart for her and Nellie, but as the night had turned out better than had been expected Mr. Juxon's groom had not come down from the Hall. Both he and John would be glad of the walk; it had not rained for two days and the roads were dry.
"Look here," said the squire, as they rose to take their leave, "Mr. Short had better go as far as the cottage in the dog-cart, to see Mrs. Goddard home. I will go ahead on foot—I shall probably be there as soon as you. There is not room for us all, and somebody must go with her, you know. ”

“ A little flicker of a smile shot across Crawford's face.
"We're all looking for men—good men—all the time. I can use a half-dozen more cow-punchers right now. Do you want to try it?"
Conniston's one glance of the girl's eager face decided him. [69]
"I've always had a curiosity to know what they did when they punched the poor brutes," he grinned back. "And I can work out that dollar I owe you too, can't I?"
"You're engaged," returned Mr. Crawford, crisply. "Thirty dollars a month and found. I'll have one of the boys show you where the bunk-house is. You'll begin work in the morning." ”

“ Rushworth was very ready to request the favour of Mr. Crawford's assistance; and Mr. Crawford, after properly depreciating his own abilities, was quite at his service in any way that could be useful. ”

“ Mr. Claybourne corrected. Helen winked at me; Miss Hershey would have called it "unmaidenly."
"I believe all Southerners who are anybody are each other's cousins, dad. Anyway, she said they didn't pay much attention to Thanksgiving in the South, and she preferred not to be here."
"The bloody shirt again, eh?" said Mr. Claybourne.
"I can't imagine Miss Hershey in a bloody shirt," I murmured.
"Really Mr. Edward!" Miss Conover exclaimed, half rising from the table. Helen laughed. "I don't think such remarks is nice," Miss Conover continued. ”

“ No one but the old woman who came to sweep had visited them since Mr. Van Torp had gone into the country in March, after Lady Maud had been to see him on the evening of his arrival.
As then, the fire was laid in the grate, but the man in black who sat in the shabby arm-chair had not put a match to the shavings, and the bright copper kettle on the movable hob shone coldly in the raw glare from the incandescent gaslight. The room was chilly, and the man had not taken off his black overcoat or his hat, which had a broad band on it. His black gloves lay on the table beside him. ”

“ But what could one man do against so many? They prepared to spring. Meanwhile the half-fainting girls had been dragged into the place of safety, and young Crawford stood on guard alone.
"Come, brother, come," shouted Mr. St. John. It was too late. Infuriated at the escape of their prey, the foremost men sprang across the open space to where young Crawford stood. He was just in front of the open door, yet he could not enter—if he turned they would be upon him and force an entrance also, if he fell back it would be the same thing. "Close the door," he shouted out to Mr. Li. ”

“ True versatility, moreover, does not consist in the mere change of subject, but in the change of style, of treatment of thought, in fact, the mutation of the entire mind of an author, such as brings it into entire harmony with its fresh field and its new atmosphere. There is no such change in these novels. Mr Crawford is Mr Crawford always. As he never loses himself in his creations, so he is always present in them to the reader; and his style never varies, whether he treats of horrible psychological mysteries in Prague or of pleasant carnival seasons in Rome. ”

“ It's only the effect of the fever. They are nearly always like that afterwards. Why, I've seen 'em pass away growling at everybody right up to the finish," Miss Conover threw in for good measure.
"I'm very grateful to you, Mr. Claybourne," I stammered, ignoring the nurse.
"Oh, tell all that to Helen," he laughed. "She's responsible, anyway. Come, little girl, it's two o'clock, and there's a big turkey and fixin's waiting downstairs. You'll have to leave Ted awhile to eat Thanksgiving dinner with your dad." ”

“ Booley paused and discontentedly thrust his hands into his pockets.
"Well?" he said.
"Simply this," answered the squire. "You may accompany us to the door of the room; you may wait with me, while Doctor Longstreet goes in to look at the patient. If the man is unconscious you may go in and see him. If he chances to be in a lucid interval, you must wait until he is unconscious again. It will not be long. That is perfectly reasonable."
"Perfectly," echoed Mr. Ambrose, biting his long upper lip and glaring as fiercely at Mr. Booley as though he had said it all himself. ”

“ Surely West Sedgwick was a delightful location for the homes of wealthy New York business men.
“Well, sir,” said the coachman, with unconcealed pride, “Mr. Crawford was the head of everything in the place. His is the handsomest house and the grandest grounds. Everybody respected him and looked up to him. He hadn't an enemy in the world.”
This was an opening for further conjecture as to the murderer, and I said: “But the man who killed him must have been his enemy.” ”

“ Crawford, after Daireen had gratified her by taking that look.
“I really don't think that I think anything,” she answered with a little laugh.
“That is the beauty of his face,” cried Mrs. Crawford. “It sets one thinking.”
“But that is not what I said, Mrs. Crawford.”
“You said you did not think you were thinking anything, Daireen; and that meant, I know, that there was more in his face than you could read at a first glance. Never mind; every one is set thinking when one sees Mr. Glaston.” ”

“ Dr. Sinclair coughed into the palm of his hand. I could hear every syllable. "Extreme excitability and irritation; the least little thing will arouse it. Hence caution, my dear young lady, caution. Keep on with the jellied boullion—not too much—just a few, spoonfuls—"
"Damn it, I'm not an invalid!" I tried to shout, but my voice broke, and only husky, throaty sounds came forth. "I beg your pardon, Mr. Claybourne—I didn't mean to swear before Helen—but I don't like that smug, oily, self-satisfied man—" and I pointed my finger at Dr. ”

“ At each toast "mother" raised a feeble objection, less and less prolonged as time went on. We had another bottle, for Mr. Claybourne said "A quart among four is only a teaser—an aggravation." Once Helen risked taking my hand: "Be careful, Ted, won't you?" she whispered. I nodded. Mr. Claybourne saw us. "Ted is old enough to take care of himself, Helen," he admonished, winking at me. When the second bottle was emptied, Mr. Claybourne brought forth a humidor filled with large, black Havanas. ”

“ We gathered Helen up between us and carried her out.
"You'll look after Leonidas too, won't you, Ted?" she said. "My knee will be enough for mother for one day."
The carriage drove away with Mr. Claybourne still shouting his thanks at the Tylers, with an "If I can do anything for you, Henry, look in at my office Monday." As "Henery" and I made our way to the barn to get Leonidas and the horses I said: "Mr. Tyler, if you will also stop at my office on Monday, you'll find a package of excellent medicine for rheumatism." ”

“ Griggs? Why, this hair-brained young Kildare has been proposing to my niece——" his horse stumbled, but recovered himself in a moment.
"You don't mean it," said I, rather startled.
"Oh no, no, no. I don't mean that at all. Ha! ha! ha! very good, very good. No, no. Lord Steepleton wants us all to go on a tiger-hunt to amuse John, and he proposes—ha! ha!—really too funny of me—that Miss Westonhaugh should go with us."
"I suppose you have no objection, Mr. Ghyrkins? Ladies constantly go on such expeditions, and they do not appear to be the least in the way." ”

“ After a hasty shower and omitting breakfast I dashed out Myrtle Boulevard as rapidly as decorum permitted. I arrived a little after nine. Mr. Claybourne had already gone to his office. Mrs. Claybourne was anything but pleased to see me at that hour. Her forehead was still adorned with one or two iron clamps in which her hair was tightly wound. I tried to get past her to call for Helen. Mrs. Claybourne was firm. Helen was assisting Jane with the house work, and I was on no account to disturb her. Besides, I ought to be out at the factory at work, like other sensible men. ”

“ And the mouth—I don’t know—it reminds me of her, too—the lips just parted a little—as though they wanted something—the way one looks at big strawberries on the table before they’re served—” Katharine laughed.
“Yes—but that’s just the way you looked,” protested Crowdie. “Doesn’t Miss Lauderdale raise her eyes just in that way, Mr. Lauderdale?” he asked, turning to the old gentleman.
“Oh, no!” laughed Katharine. “I never look like that. I keep my mouth shut and glare straight at people.” ”

“ Slowly he rose to his feet, and laying his hand in the Buddhist's, spoke at last.
"Brother, I come," he said. "Show me the way."
"Right gladly will I be thy guide, Abdul," Ram Lal gave answer. "Right willingly will I go with thee whither thou wouldest. Never was teacher sought by more worthy pupil; never did man embrace the pure life of the brethren with more single heart or truer purpose. The way shall be short that leads thee upward, the stones that are therein shall be as wings to lift thy feet instead of stumbling-blocks for thy destruction. ”

“ Mr. Claybourne waited patiently for the first paroxysm to pass. I held Helen's hand.
"It will have to be some time in July," Mr. Claybourne resumed, "as Ted's father has ordered him to sail for England on August first."
"I—I—didn't expect you to turn against me too," sobbed and choked Mrs. Claybourne, "and stand by while our only da—daughter was ca—carried off to—to England."
Mr. Claybourne returned gently and patiently to the attack. "Now, mother, we went all through this before when they were engaged. It is natural for two engaged people to get married." ”