The Conquest of Canaan

A RE

OLD

HE DI

AVER

HIGH ROAD AND I'LL

E A DOG

BAD PENN

TER DA

HE T

N HALF-

E FIELD OF BATTLE IS

WATCHER AN

ROSES IN

FEAR GIVES

HE TWO

. SHEEHA

THE HEAT

ESK

EE ARE

BERT WAI

. SHEEHA

KS ACROSS THE

PIKE KEEPS

E JURY

ANCIENT

QUEST O

R CH

ne of factories followed the big bend of the frozen river, their distant chimneys like exclamation points on a blank page, was there a first threat against the supreme whiteness. The wind passed quickly and on high; the shouting of the school-children had ceased at nine o'clock wi

even as they were wont in summer to hold against all comers the cane-seated chairs on the pavement outside. Thence, as trains came and went, they commanded the city gates, and, seeking motives and adding to the stock of history, narrowly observed and examined into all who entered or departed. Their habit was not singular. He who would foolishly tax the sages of Canaan with a buco

of traveller or passer by was here only the spume blown before a stately ship of thought;

mewhat definite to the aged men; for, out of deference to a pleasant, olden custom, and perhaps partly for an excuse to "get down to the hotel" (wh

rest was silence. Here was a matter of intricate diplomacy never to come within that youth his ken. The morning voyage to the post-office, long mocked as a fable and screen by the families of the sages, had grown so difficult to accomplish for one of them, Colonel Flitcroft (Colonel in the war with Mexico), that he had been put to it, indeed, to foot the firing-line against his wif

act that he remained a bachelor at seventy-nine, the last to settle down with the others, though often the first to reach the hotel, which he always entered by a side door, because he did not believe in the treating system. And it was Mr. Eskew Arp, only seventy-five, but already a thoroughly capable cynic, who, almost invariably "opened the argument," and it was he who discov

e town beyond the windows, and exclaimed, with a bitter laugh, "Look at it!" was no surprise to

of the Peace in '59) to be the first to take up Mr. Arp. Th

evil got to d

r. Arp retorted. "It's plain as da

it out," said Buckalew,

turned in his chair with sudden

ted the other, stung

voice, "and had follered Satan's trail as long as you have, and yet couldn

s querulous voice. (He was the patriarch of them all

oves tricks like this. Here's a town that's jest one squirmin'

hat's a slander upon our hearths and our g

and makes it look as good as you pretend you think it is: as good as the Sunday-school room of a country church-though THAT"-he went off on a tangent

d Jonas Tabor, "that's

hout pause: "Why ain't it? Can't you wait till I git thro

making himself heard over thr

innermost natures; a town of the ugliest and worst built houses in the world, and governed by a lot of saloon-keepers-though I hope it 'll never git down to where the ministers can run it. And the devil comes along, and in one night-why, all you got to do is LOOK at it! You'd think we needn't ever trouble to make it better. That's what the devil wants us to do-wants us to rest easy

er had lately announced her discovery that the Bradburys were desce

nt my side of the case? Ain't we restrained enough to allow of free speech here? How can

ement," said Uncle Jo

state mine first, haven't I? If I don't make my point clear, what's the use of the argument? Argumentation is only the comparison of two sides

l. "Go ahead. We won't inte

. "As I said, argumentation is-that is, I say-" He stopped again, utterly at sea, having talked himself so far out of his course that he was un

ficently sold the hardware business.) Roger was known in Canaan as "the artist"; there had never been another of his profession in the place, and the town knew not the word "painter," except in application to the useful artisan who is subject to lead-poisoning. There was no indication of his profession in the attire of Mr. Tabor, unless the too apparent age o

t Eskew means the devil is

rp, with a start of recollec

t turned upon him violently

many aspects. God keeps painting it all the time, and never shows me twice the same picture; not even two snowfalls are just alike, nor the days that follow them; no more than two misty sunsets are alike-for the color and even the form of the town you call ugly are a matter of the season of the year and of the time of day and of the light and

ike to-" Second thoughts came to him almost immediately, and, as much out of gallantry as through

n himself. At the top of his voice, necessarily, he agreed with Roger that faces changed, not only from day to day, and not only be

thoroughly, especially those who quarrelled. Naturally, the frail bark of the topic which had been launched was whirled about by too many side-currents to remain long in sight,

other end of life, too? If we're immortal, we always have been; then why don't they ever speculate on what we were before we wer

verpowering aspect threw open the outer door near by and crossed the lobby to the clerk's desk. An awe fell upon the sages with this advent. They were hush

Henry the Eighth. His eyes, very bright under puffed upper lids, were intolerant and insultingly penetrating despite their small size. Their irritability held a kind of hotness,

to the clerk-the kind of voice which would have made an express

ose which he used for strange transients as a collector's voice in

ow?" asked the pers

ssayed a placating smile.

el, seen that snow?" pursued the personage,

I think so.

erstands that I am the pro

ly, Judg

. Tell him from me that unless he keeps the sidewalks in front of this hotel clear of snow I will can

clerk, hoarse with respect. "I'll

a grim progress towards the door by which he had entered, his e

essayed a smile,

Judge Pike," he

ngly plain, and the old boys understood that he knew them for a worthless lot of senile loafers, as great a nuisance in his building

g them, Jonas Tabor, and shut the door behind him

confound the aged men and hold them in deferential and humiliated silence. Each of them was mysteriously lowered in his own estimation, and knew that he had been made to seem futile and foolish in the eyes of his fellows. They were all conscious, too, that the

st to speak. "Judge Pike's lookin'

Squire Buckalew, with d

ed Peter Bradbur

cle Joe Davey; "a great man, J

said the Colonel, who had grown very red.

amused laugh. "I noticed it, too. Of course a man with all

the colonel. "A man with

, finding comfort and reassurance as their voic

Mr. Bradbury-"kind of a ball Mamie Pike's givi

have nowadays. Spend all the money out of town-band from Indianapolis, chicken salad and darkey waite

asked Mr. Davey

mocked, fiercely. "You be

intained Mr. Dav

anaan to-day!" Mr. Arp hammered the floor with his stick. "Eve

e street. There's the ten-forty-five comin' in now. I'll bet you a straight five-cent Pee

otly. "Bettin' ain't proof, is it? Besides, that's the thr

kalew, triumphantly. "Stick to yo

outraged Eskew. "W

sincerity. The others supported him in the heartiest spi

ravellers at the door. A solitary figure came from the station on foot, and when it appeared within fair range of the window, Uncle Joe Davey, who had but hovered on the flanks of the co

he gasped. "What's

sat in paralytic silence as the figure made its

e stilled and remained in frozen attitudes as it passed; a grocer's clerk, crossing the pavement, carrying a heavily laden basket to his delivery wagon,

was of a rough Scotch cloth, patterned in faint, gray-and-white squares the size of baggage-checks, and it was so long that the skirts trailed in the snow. His legs were lost in the accurately creased, voluminous garments that were the tailors' canny reaction from the tight trousers with which the 'Eighties had begun: they were, in color, a palish russet, broadly striped with gray, and, in size, surpassed the milder spirit of fashion so far as they permitted a liberal knee action to take place almost without superficial effect. Upon his feet glistened long shoes, shaped, save for the heels, like sharp racing-shells; these

but which, being revisited after years of cosmopolitan glory, appeals to his whimsy and his pity. The youth's glance at the court-house unmistakably said: "Ah, I recall that odd little box. I thought it quite large in the days before I became what

Davey. "It seems t

p, his voice recover

exclaimed

ny Louden's boy, 'Gene, come h

ht," cried Flitcroft;

sked Mr. Bradbury, eagerly. "Has he

Eskew. "He went East

em clothes?" persisted Bradbur

s Tabor. "If I was Henry Louden I wo

cents of sarcasm. "I'd like to see Henry Louden try to interfere

sion lurched

ee the last of it-"I reckon Henry Louden's about t

wice not havin' sense enough not to m

marryin' a widow with a son of

immediately answered himself. "You bet it was! Didn't she always rule the roost? Yes, she did. She

Arp, with satisfaction, "a

e's too young," said Buckalew. "Be

areet!" cried Eskew, tri

hing for his own son," said Mr. Bradbury

ange to keep 'Gene there in style. I don't blame her. 'Gene certainly acts the f

f not just right that Joe's father's money-Bantry didn't leave anything to speak of-has to go to keepin' 'Gene on

it only last week Judge Pike caught him shootin' craps with Pike's nigger

eert dot, too," he gave forth, in his fat voice. "He blays dominoes pooty often in der room back off Lo

p, much pleased. "One boy a plum fool and dress

ever had? Long as I can remember Fanny's made him fetch and carry for 'Gene. 'Gen

's so full of schemes fer running this town, and state, too, it's a wonder it don't bust. Henry Louden told m

ly Tocsin on a second-hand Star bicycle and gamblin' with niggers and rif

so shabby he's quit goin'

e ain't ary one of the girls 'll have a thing to do with him, except that rip-rarin' tom-boy next doo

iously by the arm. "SH, Eskew!" he whi

s salt! I set Roger's son up in business, and all the return he ever made me was to go into bankruptcy and take to drink, till he died a sot, like his wife did of shame. I done all I could when I handed him over my store, and I never expect to lif

r. Davey, who, being the eldest of the pa

teachin' her to ride, and she was sittin' on it like a man does. I stopped

did sh

g louder as the recital of his wrongs re

did yo

her grandfather had any spunk she'd git an old-fashioned hidin' for behavin' that way. And I shook the wheel again." Here Mr. Tabor, forgetting in the wrath incited by

o then?" asked

eplied Jonas, viole

. Davey, in a choking voice, as, r

ed a straw hat I hadn't had three months

hen?" pursu

erly-"ran! And Joe Louden-Joe

ter leaned forward i

lped again, and opened and shu

or a broken spoke on his w

ether with the illustrative violence offered to Mr. Davey, had been too much for him. He sank

Gene Bantry walked up from the deepo. Don't seem much

ge Pike's, to see if there wasn't a show of Mamie's bein' at the window, and give

to show signs

re that's been able to answer the question I PUT, yesterday, just before we went home. You a

alew, sharply, sitting up

, deliberately, "that we folks, modernly, ai

RE

o "Trab's boy" gathered courage to enact in the thoroughfare a scene of mockery and of joy. Leaving business at a temporary stand-still behind him, Mr. Bantry swept his long coat steadily over the snow and soon emerged upon that part of the street where the mart gave way to the home.

ange. It became finely grave, as of a high conventionality, lofty, assured, and mannered, as he approached the Pike mans

e passer-by-yet gazed without emotion. Two large, calm dogs guarded the top of the steps leading to the front-door; they also were twins and of the same interesting metal, though honored beyond the deer by coats of black paint and shellac. It was to be remarked that these dogs were of no distinguishable species or breed, yet they were unmistakably dogs; the dullest must have recognized them as such at a glance, which was, perhaps, enough. I

s the rosy and delicate face of a pretty girl, smiling upon Eugene Bantry as he passed. It was an obviously pretty face, all the youth and prettiness there for your very first glance; elaborately pretty, like

e her. Then he turned his head, as if haphazardly, and met her eyes. At once she threw out her hand towards him, waving him a greeting-a gesture which, as her fingers had been near her lips, was a little like throwing a kiss. He crooked an elbow and

he canvas and watched him until he wagged his shoulders round the next corner and disa

was no one in sight except a woman sweeping some snow from the front steps of a cottage, and she, not perceiving him, retired in-doors without knowing her loss. He had come to a thinly buil

d, with the g

nd them, hair flying, the pair sped on like two tattered branches before a high wind; for, as they came nearer Eugene (of whom, in the tensity of their flight, they took no note), it was to be seen that both were so shabbily dressed as to be almost ragged. There was a brown patch upon the girl's faded skirt at the knee; the shortness of the garment indicating its age to be something over three year

ouse, nor fell lightly. She gave a wrench of frenzy; the antique fabric refused the strain; parted at the shoulder seam so thoroughly that the whole sleeve came away-but not to its o

l was thrown heavily upon her back, in such a turmoil of snow that she seemed to be the mere nucleus of a white comet. She struggled to get up, plying knee and elbow with a very angu

tear up my pictures! A dirty t

g and kicking with such spirit that the pair of them appeared to

kicks from his assailant. Prompted by an entirely natural curiosity, he essayed to turn his head to see who this might be, but a twist of his forearm and the pressure of strong fingers under his ear constrained

punishment without apparent emotion. "She seemed to th

, almost childlike, but they were very slightly distorted, through nervous habit, to an expression at once wistful and humorous; one eyebrow was a shade higher than the other, one side of the mouth slightly drawn down; the eyelids twitched a little, habitually; the fine, blue eyes t

ear! I don't think I ever

d damsel to arise; instead, he tightened his grip upon the prisoner's

conqueror, "what the devil do you mean

lpless one. "They didn't expect you

buck," replied Bantry, grimly. "In GOOD

e work, when suddenly-without any manner of warning-he received an astounding blow upon the left ear, which half stunned him for the moment, and sent his hat flying and himself reeling, so great was the su

" she cried, passionately. "D

he staggered roun

ld-cat, what do you mea

ht and there was a break in her voice as she faced him. She cou

assion of protection which had dealt the blo

h-wisps; one of the ill-darned stockings had come down and hung about her shoe in folds full of snow; the arm which had lost its sleeve was bare and wet; thin as the arm of

el, restored his hat to his head with precision, pic

se," he said, indifferen

the girl, hotly, betwe

ilver box from a pocket, took therefrom a cigarette, replaced the box, extracted a smaller silver box from another pocket, shook out of i

Tabor,

air out of her eyes and stared at him as if she did not understand, but Joe Lou

cried, gayly. "That's t

Eugene, not turning to him. "Do yo

u mean by 'stow it,'"

stare at the girl-"I mean that Ariel Tabor is to go home. Really

on of the figure she cut, of this bare arm, of the strewn hair, of the fallen stocking, of the ragged shoulder of her blouse, of her patched short skirt

wearer of strange and brilliant garments, became slightly intensified as h

t with you?" he sai

emble. She bent over the sleeve and picked it up, before Joe Louden, who had started towards her, could do it f

ently. "Go! Just to show what a fool

him by the arm. "Don't stop her," said Eugene. "Ca

her, in a low voice. "I didn't wa

are a wise young judge. She couldn't stay-in TH

ve loaned her a jacket," returned Joe, swallowing. "You ha

a soul in sight-and there, sh

o a shabby, meandering old house of one story, with a very long, low porch, once painted white, r

winking as had hers. "You oughtn't to hav

I came up? You bully her all you want to yourself, b

," explained Joe. "We

ssented Eugen

id the oth

and come on," commanded Mr. Ban

at him. "Wh

was the fro

uriously. "I've seen it in stories. She's up-stairs. You'

anaan," returned the other, wea

hen caught himself. "Oh, I see wh

was removing the long coat, while his

in a softened voice, "hav

if you ever go about much outside of Canaan, that ladies'

o say that there's a dance at their hou

nly. Ar

stion was needless; bu

led with one foot as if to fasten a loose shoe-

what ab

hat Arie Tab

e stairs, which he had begun

. I don't believe many will ask her-I'm afraid they won't-and if you would, even only once, it would kin

above, as a small, intensely nervous-looking woman in blue silk ran hal

mater!" sa

of the front-

I

HO

er Tabor as a studio for almost fifty years. He was sitting there now, in a hopeless and disconsolate attitude, with his back towards the double doors, which were open, and had been open since th

he had turned them all to face outward. Twilight, sunset, moonlight (the Court-house in moonlight), dawn, morning, noon (Main Street at noon), high summer,

e golden coins for which she had exchanged her posies; the brunette seated at her feet, weeping upon an unsold bouquet. There were red-sashed "Fisher Lads" wading with butterfly-nets on their shoulders; there was a "Tying the

had not pleased her descendants and the beneficiaries under the will, and it was upon the images of these features that Roger labored. He leaned far forward, with his face close to the canvas, holding his brushes after the Spencerian fashion, working steadily through the

ather," she called, gently,

seemed to me that I was just getting my hand in." His eyes brightened for a moment. "I declare, I believe I've caught it

e to him quietly, took the palette and brushes from his hands and began t

anvas. "I wonder if it is!" he repeated. Then his hands dropped sadly in his lap, and he sank back again with a patient kind of revulsion. "No, no

beautiful," sh

h!" he

, with cheerful sharpne

just after finishing them. During those few minutes I seem to see in them all that I wanted to put in them; I see it because

he said. "You d

en I came in this morning, some that I hadn't looked at for years, and it's t

he proteste

've grown in what I SEE-grown so that the world is full of beauty to me that I never dreamed of seeing when I began. But I can't paint it-I can't get it on the canvas. Ah, I think I might have known how to, if I hadn't had to teach myself, if I could on

l what MAY happen." It was alwa

d cry it was with him, he shook his head, impatiently sniffing out a laugh at himself, rose and went p

as to have put all he'd made into buying Jonas out. Ah me! There you go, 'Flower-Girls'! Turn your silly faces to the wall and smile and cry there till I'm gone and somebody throws you on a bonfire. I'LL never look at you again." He paused, with the canvas half turned. "And yet,"

attentively. "It's healthier with only breakfast and su

ed. "You're young-you're young. What we

make over mamma's weddi

-ni

ted me to a danc

be gay," he said, not seeing the fain

I'll be very ga

I go-nobody ever

ed, with an old m

e're poor; it's more I don't know how to wear what I've got, the way some girls do. I never cared much and-well, I'M not worrying, Roger! And I think I've done a good deal w

ver with you and come for

o dance, for once! Of course I could come home alone. But Joe Louden is going to

exclaimed

all right?

red, gently. "The truth is, I-I think you'd

hy

boy to me, but I'm afraid he's ge

ut of shabbiness and mischief, but it did grow; and if people keep on giving him a bad name the time will come when he'll live up to it. He's

t look very well for a young man of his age t

he answered, quickly. "If he clerke

hat he was in a lawyer's office for a few weeks last year

ccident," sh

were burned, and after that none o

ut he studies a great deal. He goes to the courts all the tim

s, and that last week Judge Pike threatened to have him arreste

n town that will have anything to do with him

l! Ar

oons, and that he's an intimate friend of half the riffraff in town; and I know the reason for it, too, because he's told

ssly. "But I can't let him

ghter were nearly of the same height, and she looked squarely into his eyes. "Then you

for Joe himself, if the Judge should happen to see him? I understand he warned the boy to keep away from the neighborhood entirely or he would

girl replied, her eyes softening, "I t

n that ground," he ret

ord and get supper,"

The dining-room windows of all the houses threw bright patches on the snow of the side-yards; the windows of other rooms, except those of the kitchens, were dark

, which showed bright lights in the front rooms while the family were at supper. It was proof of the agitation caused by the arrival

ad been in strange lands, and the good one had found much honor in his wanderings, as he carelessly let it appear. Mrs. Louden brightened inexpressibly whenever Eugene spoke of himself, and consequently she glowed most of the time. Her husband-a

before Eugene in detail, in mass, and in all of their depth, breadth, and thickness. His f

ene, "to make him come to time. I can't do anything with him. If he gets in

e was such a roarer as all that!" he said, lightly, not tak

ped away through the kitchen, sneakingly, and climbed the back fence. In the alley he lit a cheap cigarette, and thrusting his hands into his pockets and shivering violently-

import compared to the established fact that at eleven o'clock he was one of the ball guests at the Pike Mansion. He took no active part in the festivities, nor was he one of the dancers: his was, on the contrary, the role of a quiet observer. He lay stretched at full length upon the floor of the enclosed porch (one of the strips of canvas was later found to have been loosened), wedged between the outer railing and a row of pa

ncers, a fitful glimpse of a pretty head that flitted across the window-the amber hair of Mamie Pike. He shivered in the draughts; and the floor of the porch was cement, painful to elbow and knee, the space where he lay cramped and narrow; but the golden bubbles of her hair, the shimmer of her dainty pink dress, and the fluffy wave of her lace scarf as she crossed and recrossed in a waltz, left him, apparently, in no

, since last summer," he h

when Eugene said "ma cherie," for it was known in the Louden household t

h since then. You have become so polished and so-" She paused, and the

rned, confidently, and his confiden

so thoroughly a man of the world. Now I

a masterful effort his pleasure from showing in his face.

ith profound admiratio

ys," Eugene admitted. "It's dif

own on poor little Canaan

ently. "Not at all, not at

of

answered, beco

u?" Her young voic

e leaned very close to her and

NOW I

her touch her hand, but she rose quickly. "There's the mu

towards the window, followed by the heavier

d that had touched Mamie's scarf

ithout a recurrence of the bitterness of that moment. The rhythmical pathos of the violins was in such accord with a faint sound of weeping which he heard near him, presentl

shadow, was a girl wearing a dress of beautiful s

DISA

of each small rosettes of red ribbon; after which she practised swinging the train of her skirt until she was proud of her manipulation of it. She had no powder, but found in her grandfather's room a lump of magnesia, that he was in the habit of taking for heart-burn, and passed it over and over her brown face and hands. Then a lingering gaze into her small mirror gave her joy at last: she yearned so hard to see herself charming that she did see herself so. Admiration came and she told herself that she was more a

their hair after the fashion introduced to Canaan by Mamie Pike the week before, on her return from a visit to Chicago. None of them had "crimped" and none had bedecked their tresses with artificial flowers. Her alterations of the wedding-dress had not been successful; the skirt was too short in front and higher on one side than on the other, showing too plainly the heavy-soled shoes, which had lost most of their polish in the walk through the snow. The

and pretended to be busy with

the effect that it was "very sweet of Mamie to invite her." Ariel was not like the others; she was not of them, and never had been. Indeed, she did not know them very well. Some of them nodded to her and gave her a word of greeting pleasan

stairs, until only Ariel was left. She came down alone after the first dance had begun, and greeted her young hostess's mother timidly. Mrs. Pike-a small

In Canaan no parents, no guardians nor aunts, were haled forth o' nights to duenna the junketings of youth; Mrs. Pike

bly over words and phrases and unintelligible mono-syllables, as if they all belonged to a secret society and these cries were symbols of things exquisitely humorous, which only they understood. Ariel laughed with them more heartil

ng hilariously together in the doorways. Ariel was careful not to glance towards them, but she could not help hating them. Once or twice between the dances she saw Miss Pike speak appealingly to one of the superfluous, glancing, at the same time, in her own direction, and Ariel could see, too, that the appeal proved unsuccessful, until at last Mamie appro

-natured, Mr. Flitcroft," she

ever dream of asking anybody else to do. I'd like to see 'em even ASK 'Gene Bantry to go and do some of the things the

rned, with a sprightly laugh, "becau

turned, sighing,

y; she hopped and lost the step, but they persevered, bumping against other couples continually. Circling breathlessly into the next room, they passed close to a long mirror, in which Ariel saw herself, although in a flash, more bitterly contrasted to the others than in

whose benefit he had constructed it. Eugene Bantry, flying expertly by with Mamie, was bestowing upon Mr. Flitcroft a condescendingly

stopped Eugene, who would have gone on, and he

bit of mine," she sa

r feet without help and walked quickly away with Norbert, wh

tter not try it ag

air against the wall whence he had brought her. There his responsibility for her seemed to cease. "Will you excuse me?" he

d think you WOULD be glad to get rid of me after tha

away with a step which grew lighter as the distance from her increased. Arrived at the haven o

began to seem, she was to live out the rest of her life. Now and then, if she thought people were looki

with a wan smile, stepped out quickly into the hall, where she almost ran into her great-uncle, Jonas Tabor. He

till laughing, went towards the fatal chair, when her eyes caught sight of Eugene Bantry and Mamie coming in through the window from the porch. Still laughing, she went to the window and looked out; the porch seemed deserted and was faintly illuminated by a few Japanese lanterns. She sprang out, dropped u

Joe. "Don't

ck with a low sound which would have been hysterical if it had been louder, while he raised

oing on about?"

You must go away, and quick. It's to

wo

k anything to

crying about?"

ated, the tears not ceasing to

You needn't tell me. That's it. I've been here for the last three dances and you we

t!" Then suddenly, without being

t. And you let yourself be a fool beca

it against her wet cheek. "Oh, Joe," she whispered, brokenly, "I think we have such hard lives, you and I! I

ment and shame he would have felt had sh

, to be like the rest,-and it's always a mistake, always, always, always!" She rocked herself, slightly, from side to side. "I am a f

h, and not because the

the same case. If we only had some one to show us! It all seems so BLIND, here in Canaan, for him and me! I don't say it's not my own fault as much as being poor. I've been a hoyden; I don't feel as if I'd learned how to be a girl

as he is here. I opened one of his books, and some one had written in it, 'Prigamaloo Bantry, the Class Try-To-Be'! He'd never noticed, and you ou

nd, wiping her eyes, smiled faintly. Then she be

ully, "I am. But I wouldn't think about him differently on th

he left the ques

, quietly. "O

it wouldn't

er have a chance to

oice had grown steady. "You

about me," he began

music had stopped, a loud clatter o

" Joe assured her, "with

she said, anxiousl

et; I

g Ariel engaged with threads in her sleeve, they turned away and disappeared. Other couples looked out from time to time, and findin

ntreaties that her obdurate and reckless companion should go. When, for the fourth time, the music sounded, her

d happen if they found

led. "They haven't even d

she said, slowly, "just to see h

chan

ge will do if an

se if any one s

ase

t t

SH

ut upon the porch bearing a tray of salad, h

nt any," sh

ntering the window, when a passionate whisp

KE

said th

lation restored, gave of his viands with the superfluous bounty

verything that's hot," said

else," she answered, thrustin

clink of cutlery on china. The young people spent a long time over their supper. By-and-by the waiter retur

for me,"

ease go now?"

" he responded. "They might t

s. The waiter might com

ertained by the great Martin Pike. Think what a real kindness I'm doing him, too. I increase his good deeds and his hospitality without his knowing it or being able to help it.

hispered, impatiently. "Suppose the wait

l see that jealousy has

e being pushed through the palm-leaves. She whispered a syllable of warning, and the dishes were hurr

"What's that?" he as

wered Ariel, s

those

laughed; "or it might have bee

the spot where the dishes had disappeared, mea

id, after a pause. "So

ief fall. She stooped to pick it up, with her face away from Norbert and towar

for you," said the fat one, slowly. "It

beginning to tremble violently,

ndfather-i

Old Eskew's waiting in t

mained for several moments looking earnestly at the palms; then he stepped through

ed him. "Go and tell Judge Pike to send some of the niggers to watch outside the p

Arp waiting in the hall, talki

rightened girl, quickly. "He sent me for you,

ing the old man's arm, hurried him down the

truth," she said. "You're

We're going this way, not that." They had come to the gate, and as she turned to

are we

to your unc

What do you want to take me there for? Don't

he look he wore when delivering a clincher at the "N

ER B

family connections, which are prominent in our social world, we withhold his name. Suffice it to say that through the vigilance of Mr. Norbert Flitcroft, grandson of Colonel A. A. Flitcroft, who proved himself a thorough Lecoq (the celebrated French detective), the rascal was seized and recognized. Mr. Flitcroft, having discovered him in hiding, had a cordon of waiters drawn up around his hiding-place, which was the charmingly decorated side piazza of the Pike Mansion, and sent for Judge Pike, who came upon the intruder by surprise. He evaded the Judge's indignant grasp, but received a well-merited blow over the head from a poker which the Judge had concealed about his person while prete

ime, and an idea of his coolness may be obtained from his having procured and eaten a full meal through an unknown source. Judge Pike is justly incensed, and swears that he will prosecute him on this and other charges as soon as he can be found. Much sympath

ore had shone forth with lights, though of these there were not quite a myriad. The festivities they illumined obtained no mention in the paper, nor did they who trod the measures in this second temple exhibit any sense of injury because of the Tocsin's omission.

Mike's Place." The shore end of the pier was so ruinous that passage was offered by a single row of planks, which presented an appearance so temporary, as well as insecure, that one might have guessed their office to be something in the nature of a drawbridge. From these a narrow path ran through a marsh, left by the receding river, to a country road of desolate appearance. Here there was a rough enclosure, or corral, with some tumble-down sheds which afforded shelter, on the night of Joseph Louden's disgrace, for a number of shaggy tea

nd where no ear hears, silence rested upon the country-side until an hour later. Then a lonely figure came shivering from the direction of the town, not by the road, but slinking through

ant roar of men's voices, punctuated with women's screams. Then the riot quieted somewhat; there was a clapping of hands, and a violin began to squeak measures intended to be Oriental. The next moment the listener scrambled up one of the

ng from any great depression of spirit through the circumstance of being "out on bail," as he was, to Joe's intimate knowledge-sat astride a barrel, resting his instrument upon the foamy tap thereof, and playing somewhat after the manner of a 'cellist; in no wise incommoded by the fact that a tall man (

riosity, what had happened to his head. He merely shook it faintly in reply, and crossed the room to an open hallway beyond. At the end of this he came to a frowzy bedroom, the door of which stood ajar. Seated at a deal table, and working by a dim

to git somebody to split yer head

pping weakly on the bed. "It

rising. "And I've no objection to not knowin' how ye come by it. Y

"WHEE!" he cried, as a long gash was exposed over the forehead. "I

o got something like it," he gasped, feebly; "and, oh, Mike, I wish you coul

ar water from a stand in the corner. "It's a beautiful thing to hea

mediately with a small jug of vinegar. Wetting a rag with this tend

. It may seem a trifle scratchy fer the moment, but it assassinates the blood-p'

writhing as the vinegar worked into the ga

s. "I wisht, after all, ye felt like makin' me known to what's the t

as somewhere I had no busine

caugh

n a low-down black man helped me to get away as soon as he saw who it w

from an old towel and began to bandage the boy's head with an accustomed hand. "Yer tas

lly blinking at his friend. "Do

e o' the respectable to believe it. There's a few others like ye in the wide world, and I've seen one or two of 'em. I've been all over, steeple-chasin', sailorman, soldier, pedler, and in the PO-lice; I've pulled the Grand National in Paris, and I've been handcuffed in Hong-Kong; I've seen all the few kinds of women there is on earth and the many kinds of men. Yer own kind is

ut Joe's comment on this harangue was not so responsive as might have been expected. "I've got seven d

RE in trouble! I thought it 'd come to ye so

said Joe. "I want to wa

he other. "And fergit the hulla

ed himself upon the bed,-"I've got

I have no use fer seven dollars," returned the re

s," said Joe, touching the bandage. "I can't help crying

ce-room, where some one seemed to be breaking a chair upon an acquaintance. "I'll go out and reg

t," Joe call

thinkin', fer ye won't sleep; ye're not the kind. But think easy; I'll have the th

GH ROAD AND I'LL

e sea spume in a hurricane; it swirled about him, joining the flakes in the air, so that it seemed to be snowing from the ground upward as much as from the sky downward. Fierce as it was, hard as it was to fight through, snow from the earth, snow from the sky, Joe was grateful for it, feeling that it veiled him, making him safer, thoug

unfrequented streets and alleys, bearing in the general direction of upper Main Street, to find himself at last, almost exhausted, in the alley behind the Pike Mansion. There he paused, leaning heavily against a board fence and gazing a

but he looked a long time through the thickness at that part

" he said, softly

ed behind his own home, where, however, he paused only for a moment to make a quick survey of the premises. A glance

into each as he went, ready to tap on the pane should he catch a glimpse of Ariel, and prepared to run if he stumbled upon her grandfather. But the place seemed empty: he had made his reconnaisance apparently in vain, and was on the point of going away, when he heard the click of the fr

the drift which had piled up against the gate almost knee-deep, the shabby skirt and the black water-proof flapping like torn sails, one hand out-stretched like that of a figure in a tableau, her brown face with its thin features mottled with c

l keeping her hand out-stretc

ou know me

the house. I've got some coffee on the stove for you. I've been up

andfathe

he won't be back till no

here he stamped and shook himsel

ah," he said, "but I've stopped to loo

ered, brushing him heartily with her red hands. "

en, where, when she had removed his overcoat, she placed him in a chair, unwound the comforter, and, as carefully as a nurse, lifted the cap from his injured head. When the strip of towel was

commanded, horri

there-but to SEE it! And it's my fault for

ar about it?" h

and I were up all night at Uncle Jonas's, and Colone

ll you abo

lices of bread upon a gridiron, began to toast them over the hot coals. "The Colonel said that Norbert thought he wou

abor's?" asked Joe, drinking hi

nt for," sh

at

piled it on a warm plate. This she brought to him, and kneeling in front of him, her elbow on his k

n't suppose Jonas would let you

sregarding his questions--"J

got to,"

on if you stayed?" She asked

. "He said he wouldn't, and he'll be spared the chance. He won't mi

d. "I can always tell. Whenever you don'

growing red to the tips of his ears.

ld you have to go to prison r

e any chances. I want to see other parts of the world, other kinds of people. I might hav

-how often! But, Joe, Joe,-you haven't an

master of seven dollars, genially. "I've save

f you could wait just a little whil

at

know how you'd feel; you wouldn't even let me give you that dollar I found in the street

e shoulders and shook her till the empty plate which had held the toast dropped

andfather would give me anything. He

f us is wandering? MONEY? R

reat many things have

t th

o you think it's bad of me not

N

voice, the night before on the veranda. "I'm glad, Joe, because I seemed all wrong to myself. Uncle Jonas died last night, and I haven't been able to

d Joe. "Why, I saw him

some speculations together, and it had all turned out well. It's very strange, but they say now that Uncle Jonas's heart was weak-he was an old man, you know, a

shock before," said Joe, "whe

last night it was all finished, the strain was over, and Uncle Jonas started home. His house is only a little way from the Pikes', you know

sorry," said

usiness, that was the one thing he put off. And we're all the kin he had in the world, grandfather and I. And they say"-her voice sank to a whisper of excitement-"they say

d he let it remain there. Her eyes st

he said. "It's going to

as foolish last night, but there had been such a long time o

ng, too!" J

uppose, but I've set

thousand times what HE'S said-ten ti

ave painted,-where the others can show him! To Paris, where we can study togeth

hat you're going to study painting; you mean that you're going to learn h

n how to DRE

d took the ragged overcoat from the back of

re she had placed it to

huskily, "can't

ttled and you can coax

t you could

Pa

ke you as hi

by the coffee, toast, and warmth she had given him. "You

ase,

g to earn a dishonest living," he went on. "I have an engagement to take a freight at a water-tank t

aught at his sleev

and was already at the front-

bye, A

o! WAI

own, and gave it a manly sha

out, but she sought to detain him.

s head to the storm as he sprang down the s

ed in a whit

o her that she would not know where to write to him. She ran down to t

I

DOG A B

surely it could hear itself talk. The death of Jonas Tabor and young Louden's crime and flight incited high doings in the "National House" windows; many days the sages lingered with the broken meats of morals left

ssed the plate o' Sundays, who held the fortunes of the town in his left hand, who was trustee for the widow and orphan,-Martin Pike, patron of all worthy charities, courted by

oung; a Richard in the bush to frighten colts. He was preached at boys caught playing marbles "for keeps": "Do you want to grow up like Joe Louden?" The very name became a darkling threat, and

for pain and was not afterwards wont to speak of those years which cut the hard lines in his face. The first account of him to reach Cana

the incredulous conclave. "There was that Joe, and nobody else, stuck up in a little box outside a tent at the Fair Grounds, and sellin' tickets to see the Spotted Wild Boy!" Yes, it was Joe Louden! Think you, Mr. Arp could forget that face, those crooked eyebrows? Had Eskew tested the recognition? Had he spoken with the outcast? Had he not! A

tion, the other (to the embitterment of Mr. Arp) that the reply was a distinct admission of ide

ild Boy was "simply SPOTTED,"-and the stung query, "I suppose you know what a spot IS, Squire?" When he came out of the tent he had narrowly examined the ticket-seller,-who seemed unaware of his scrutiny, and, when not engaged with his tickets, applied himself to a dirty law-looking book

' tickets for a side-show. He wasn't even the boss of it; the manager was about the meanest-lookin' human I ever saw-and most humans look mighty mean, accordin' to my way of thinkin'! Riffraff of the riffraff are his friends now, same as they were here. Weeds! and HE'S a weed, always was and always will be! Him and his kind ain't any more than jimpso

formed the habit of denying that he had ever made it at all, and, finally having come to believe with all his heart that the prophecy had been deliberat

er citizen of the town encountered the wanderer, however, but under circumstances so susceptible to misconceptio

ers should be uninterrupted? But it was his misfortune to find the Metropolitan Museum less interesting than some intricate phases of the gayety of New York-phases very difficult to understand without elaborate study and a series of experiments

the catastrophe. It came suddenly, and the knife did not flash. Sick and thinking of himself, Eugene stood staring at the figure lying before him upon the reddening floor. A rabble fought with the quick policemen at the doors, and then the lights went out, e

roke his leg, I think, and they caught him, anyway, as soon

rough a narrow doorway and down a flight of tricky, wooden steps, at the foot of which, silhou

irway. "That's a friend of mine and not one of those

; after which he stormed vehemently: "On yer way, both of ye! Move on up the street! Don't be

tor at his side. "You'd better not go to places like the 'Straw-Cellar,'" said the latter, gra

r before," he babbled, incoherently, "never, never, never! I thought she looked handsome, and asked her if she'd dance with me. Then I saw s

nd seem sensible, one minute, and promise to behave, and mean it too, and the next, there they go, making a scene, cutting somebody or killing themselves! You can't count on them. But that's not to the point, exactly, I expect. You'd better keep away from the 'Straw-Cellar.' If you'd bee

his eyes and stared into t

den!" he

o it because you care." He smiled wanly, his odd distorted smile of friendliness. "When you go back you might tell fathe

his eyes agai

he went on, thoughtfully-"I expect, maybe, you'd prefer NOT to say you'd seen me, when you go

, still white and shaking. "D

. "But there's one thing

health is perfe

mmered, pitifully. "Are they all-are t

. "Are you going to get me away

id Joe, and cheer

drearily staring after the lamps of the gypsy night-cab he had found for his step-brother.

hing of her; no such explanation serves Joe for his neglect, for the fair truth is that he had not thought of her. She had been a sort of playmate, before his flight, a friend taken for granted, about whom he had consciously thought little more than he thought about hims

I

PENNY

r Mr. Arp's adventure, five years passed into the imperishable before the town heard of the wanderer again, and then it heard at first hand; Mr. Arp'

d. He was still pale and thin; his eyebrows had the same crook, one corner of his mouth the same droop; he was only an inch or so taller, not enough to be thought a tall man; and yet, for a few moment

cheerfully. "Perhaps I've changed in

r, his mouth falling open. "Good God!" he said, not n

hand

come back

a long time without reply

ill got a scar o

ther, twisting his hat in his hands. "Seven yea

ipe out a good deal with some people. How'd you happen t

come bac

his as no pleasant surprise.

tise law

ha

an opening here for me. I'm a graduate of as

u a

tly. "I've put myself throu

Louden snorte

son, laughing. "Anything I could get. But I've

knee, his brow deeply corrugated. "Do you

e in New York since I left the school, an

. Louden, bri

Don'

Canaan would put a

anything important at the

our rep

ht I was a harum-scarum sort of boy," he answered lightly, "and that it was a fool

t," said M

rgotten all about it, and forgotten me, too. So, you see

your mind to s

es

marked uneasiness, "that Mrs. Louden wo

himself with the contempt he had learned to feel for those who pity themselves. His father had not even asked him to

e. "Well, I won't keep you from your work,

mptly. "But I'll see you again before

ot going to leave Canaan, I m

ought the Tocsin last year, and he thinks a good deal of Eugen

Mr. Louden looked at him out of small implacable eyes, the steady hostility of which o

in trouble you never did anything you ought to; you ran with the lowest people in town, and I and all your folks were ashamed of you. I don't see

nd he made his way towards Main Street at a lively gait. As he turned the corner oppos

en, as Mr. Arp made no response, but stood stock-still in the way, staring at hi

r's. "NO FREE SEATS!" he hissed, savagely; and s

ional House." As the door closed, he became aware of a mighty shadow upon the pavement, and turning, beheld

" He came to a full stop, as the fat one, thrusting out an un

otice of him, only two or three giving him second glances of half-cognizance, as though he reminded them of some one they could not place, and it was not until he had come near the Pike Mansion that he saw a full recognition in the eyes of one of the m

Grounds, and in his early boyhood (until he had grown wicked and shabby) he had been sometimes invited to the Pike Mansion for the games and ice-cream of the daughter of the house, before her dancing days began. He had gone timidly, not daring ever to "call" her in "Quaker Meeting" or "Post-office," but watching her reverently and surreptitiously and continually. She had always seemed to him the one thing of all the world most rare, most mysterious, most unapproachable. She had not offered an apparition less so in those days when he began to come under the suspicion of Canaan

startled, he took his courage in two hands

ember me?" h

wered, a littl

er, unconsciously. "I feel like a returned ghost wandering abou

you'll find everybody remember

aid not," he

raid th

like that to me a while ago. He meant that they used t

d, her face growing more troubled; for

in. "I know your father was angry with me once or twice, especially the night I hid on your porch

ecting a painter who was at work on one of the cast-iron deer. The Judge was apparently in good spirit

as she could, "I shall have to ask you not t

ped with

o in and shake hands wi

terror and of awe spread it

ous!" she c

aid Joe, humbl

xcluded the young man from the street, Judge Pike's street, and from the town, Judge Pike's town. It swept him from the earth, abolished him, denied him the right to breathe the common air, to be seen of men; and, at once a headsman's stroke and an excommunication, destroyed him, soul and body, thus rebuking the silly Providence

SE T

n to shake hands

ong, ramshackle cottage next door. The windows were boarded; the picket-fence dropped even to the ground in some sections; the chimneys sagged and curved; the roof of the long porch sprinkled shingles over the unkempt yard with ever

sin building. This time he did not hesitate, but mounted th

ene. "YOU'VE t

nte who amused himself slightly by spending an hour or two in the room now and then. It was the evolution to the perfect of his Freshman manner, and his lively apparel, though somewhat chastened by an older taste, might have been foretold from that which had smitten Canaan seven years before. He sat not at the orderly and handsome desk, but lay stretched upon a divan of green leather, smoking a cigar of purest r

k to stay, 'Ge

e said. "I suppose you'll try to find something to do. I don't think you could get a pla

ewhat sadly. "But I don't want newsp

courage, my festive

he friendly puppy. "You always did like to talk that n

you saved up anything to st

salary in an office for a year, and I

" said his step-brother. "You don't see

y, too-in a way. Well-I won't keep you any longer. I j

briskly. "And, by-the-way, I haven't

t suppose th

say anything ab

don't think that you need be a

her noisy with it open. Good-bye." Eugene w

he clerk, to which they listened intently: "Yes. This is Brown. Oh-oh, it's Judge Pike? Yes indeed, Judge, yes indeed, I hear you-ha, ha! Of course, I understand. Yes, Judge, I heard he w

r. "My trunk is still at the station," he said

d the clerk. "We

never knew more than eight people to

ms," repeated t

a conven

no room

ndensed eyes of Mr. Brown

closed behind him, he heard the outbreak of the sag

ed to Beaver Beach, and followed the path through the marsh to the crumblin

Can you take me in for a few days until I fin

stared hard at the wanderer; then he uttered a howl of joy

in' myself, that wouldn't kill me if I couldn't! Ye'll have old Maggie's room, my own aunt's; ye remember how she used to dance! Ha, ha! She's been burnin' below these four years! An

R DAR

ng him out to strangers on the street the very day of his return. His course of action, likewise that of his friends, permitted him little obscurity, and when the rumors of his finally obtai

ital of another on the homeward way, the ensuing proceedings in court bringing to the whole affair a publicity devoutly unsought for. Mr. Happy Fear (such was the habitual name of the imprisoned gentleman) had to bea

d-bearded man to Mr. Fear, upon the latter's return to

et, "he didn't say what he was g

e for the proper behavior of his protege-was, in fact, bound to enforce it; additionally, Happy had once been saved from a term of imprisonment (at a time when it would have been more than ordinarily inconvenient) by help and advice from Joe, and he was not one to forget. Therefore he was grieved to observe that his own guest seemed to be somewhat jealous of the hero of the occasion and disposed to look coldly upon him. The stranger, however, contented himself with innuendo (mere expressions of the face and other manner of things for whi

very poor or very wicked. The Tocsin printed an adequate account (for there was "a large public interest"), recording in conclusion that Mr. Louden paid the culprit's fine which was the largest in the power of the presiding judge in his mercy to bestow. Editorially, the Tocsin leaned to the facetious: "Mr. Louden has but recently 'returned to our midst.' We fervently hope that the distinguished Happy Fear will appreciate his patron's superb generosity. We say 'his patro

a better trick, the hand of Eugene. And, little doubt, he would have agreed with

n in the Tocsin this month-one of the boys over there told me. He wrote it out of spite against Joe; but he'd ought to of done better.

. "He only thought he saw a chance to be kind of funny and pleas

right?" cr

ce at Mr. Brown, the clerk, and, perceiving that he

said Colon

ut I don't think he done wrong," Buckalew went on

Arp. "Why, haven't you go

onist. "How many friends have you got th

is consistency led him to destruction. "Not a one!

ds that would

elp him when the crowd lit on him, and I'll bet old Mark Antony was mighty glad they got him out in the yard before it happened,-HE wouldn't have lifted

to admit," he murmured, "that, while I ain't defendin' Joe Louden's character, it was kind of proper for him

tel. It was the only morning in all the days

ned, modestly, to the others,-"I expect I don't think any more of Joe Louden than he does, and I'll be glad when Canaan sees

eets and sunshine once more, he knew that his first duty lay in the direction of a general apology to Joe. But the young man was no longer at Beave

sheriff's door o' the jail-ye've been neighbors this long time! A hard time the boy had, persuadin' any one to rent to him, but by payin' double the price he got a place at last. He's a practisin' lawyer now, praise the Lord! And a

dow, small-paned and shadeless; an inner door of this sad chamber stood half ajar, permitting the visitor unreserved acquaintance with the domestic economy of the tenant; for it disclosed a second room, smaller than the office, and dependent upon the window of the latter for air and light. Behind a can

ast-iron dogs of the Pike Mansion. He greeted Mr. Fear hospitably, having been so lately an offcast of the streets himself that his adoption had taught him to lose only his old

ly. "I hoped you'd come to see me to-day.

hook hands. "I need one bad enough, but you know t

s which completed the furniture of his o

pon it with embarrassment,-"first lemme say what I come here to say. I-well-"

" Joe began. "We

quiet to suit HIM-said he couldn't see nothin' TO you! 'Well,' I says to myself, 'jest let him go on, jest one more,' I says, 'then he gits it.' And he did. Said you tromped on his foot on purpose, said he knowed it,-when the Lord-a'mightiest fool on earth knows you never tromped on no one! Said you was one of the po'rest young sports he ever see around a place like the Beach. You see, he thought you was jest one of them fool

do me any

your rep

n the world could harm it. Abou

said Happy, rat

growing red, "I need a

ar interrupted, wi

after t

these tw

ckly. "It wouldn't be any sinecure, Happy. Yo

n of embarrassment gone from him, t

! You had no business to pay my fine; you'd ort of let me worked it out. Do you think my eyes ain't good enough to see how much you needed the

t say tha

without that. But I've said what I come here to say, and I'll say one thing more. Don't you worry about gittin' law practice.

inned against the laws of Canaan, those under the ban of the sheriff, those who had struck in anger, those who had stolen at night, those who owed and could not pay, those who lived by the dice, and to his other titles to notoriety was added tha

ld him in personal contempt but feared him professionally; for he proved that he knew more law than they thought existed; nor could any trick him-failing which, many tempers were lost, but never Joe's. His practice was not all criminal, as sh

kind of sublimity in its immenseness-on a day when i

st credible that the great man had counted upon the ignorance and besottedness of Joe's client-a hard-drinking, disreputable old farmer-to get his land away from him without paying for it. Now, as every one knew such a thing to be ludicrously impossible, it was at once noised abroad in Canaan that Joe had

Joe had saved a half-witted negro from "the extreme penalty" for murder, the Tocsin had declared, with great originality: "This is just the kind of thing that causes mobs and justifies them. If we are to continue to permit the worst class of malefactors to escape the consequences of their crimes through the unwholesome dexterities and the shifty man

nominal. Tatters and rags came up the narrow stairway to his door-tatters and rags and pitiful fineries: the bleared, the sodden, the flaunting and rouged, the furtive and wary, some in rags

use"-welcomed him gratefully and admiringly. Once he went to church, on a pleasant morning when nice girls wear pretty spring dresses; it gave him a thrill of delight to see them, to be near clean, good people once more. Inadvertently, he took a

m, but the shunning and snubbing of a young man by a pretty girl have never yet, if done in a certain way, prevented him from continuing to be in love

onal House," and the result is imaginable. How many of Joe's clients, especially those sorriest of the velvet gowns, were conjectured to ascend his stairs for reasons more convivi

with him, the two alone together. The dog was not his only confidant. There came to be another, a more and more frequent partner to their conversations, at last a familiar spirit. This third came from a brown jug which Joe kept on a shelf in his bedroom, a vessel too frequently replenished. When the day's work was done he shut himself up, drank alone and drank hard. Sometimes when the jug ran low and the night was late he would go out for

ghter. Joe ate nothing during the day, and went through his work clumsily, visiting the bedroom shelf at intervals. At ten in the evening he went out to have the jug refilled, but

as a still, small consciousness in him which knew that in his wandering something incredible and unexpected was happening. What this was he did not know, could not see, though his eyes were open, could not have told himself any more than a baby c

TR

me caution. This had come to be custom. The operation assured him of the worst; the room swam round him, and, with a faint groan, he let his head fall back upon the pillow. But he could not sleep again; pain stung its way through his

shine, apparently undecided which way to go. The church bells were silent; there was no breeze; the air trembled a little with the deep pipings of the organ across the Square, and, save for that, the town was very quiet. The paths which crossed the Court-house yard were flecked with steady shadow, the strong young foliage of the maples not moving, having the air of observing the Sabbath with propriety. There were benches here and there along the walks, a

og?" she asked, without

ped at the child with a rush and rustle of silk, and bore her on violently to her duty. When they had gone a little way the matron's voice was heard in sharp reproof;

of life, for the wise men were not allowed to foregather on Sundays. The organ had ceased to stir the air and all was in quiet, yet a quiet which, for Louden, was not peace. He looked at his watch and, without intending it, spoke the hour aloud: "A

SS MAIN STREET

es next!" His laughter fled, for, louder than the ringing in his ears, unmistakably came the strai

d a walk, I think. Let's you and me mov

the river, and presently, as he walked on, fanning himself with his

EET BRIDGE AT NOON!" it sa

," he answered, wiping his forehead; "

reeted him heartily and petted the mongrel. "I'm mighty glad yo

ere, H

"Don't you rec'lect m

k his head.

was goin' to leave Canaan fer good and didn't want nobody to know it. Said ye was goin' to take the 'leven-o'clock through train fer the West, and told me I couldn't come to the deepo with ye. Said ye'd had enough o' Canaan, and

said Joe. "I w

d the other. "DO

Joe smiled

nd shook his head again. He seemed on the point of delivering some advice, but evidently perceiving the snobbishne

rimaries. Mike says ye got some chances ye don't kno

nk when I was a boy. But now-pshaw!" Joe broke off with a tired laugh. "Tell

ear there," he said, scraping his patched shoe up a

t fe

fter Claudine to git his evens with me. He's made a raise somewheres, and plays the spender. And her-well, I reckon she's tired

our wife? He must have set about it pretty openly if they're going to the Beach to-day, for there is always a crowd there on Sundays. Is it hard for you to see

hot, his nostrils expanding incredibly.

e this for you, myself. You send word to Claudine that I want to see her at my offic

he said. "I'll do whatever you tell me to. Any o

urned to go and they shook hands. "

omed ominously, and, shaking his head, he ruminati

d; for the town had never crossed the river. Joe found the cool shadow in the bridge gracious to his hot brow, and through the slender chinks

tely stood still, listening. "'REMEMBER,"' he ventured to repeat, again daring, "'REMEMBER! ACROSS MAIN STREET BRIDGE AT NOON!'" And again he listene

the bank; the mongrel, intensely preoccupied with this road, scampered away, his n

re the dog's interest in the pursuit became vivid; temporarily, however, for after a few minutes of agitated investigation, he w

nite, but something very far away and shadowy, yet just poignant enough to give him a queer feeling that he was really keeping an appointment here. Was it with some water-sprite that would rise from the river? Was it with a dryad of the sycamores? He knew t

y would alight near him, scratched his ear with the manner of one who has neglected such matters overlong; reversed his position; slept again. The young corn, deep green in the bottomland, moved with a staccato flurry, and the dust ghost of a mad whirling dervish sped up the main road to vanish at the

could take from him-not even the ban of Canaan! Unforewarned, music sounded in his ears again; but he did not shrink from it now; this was not the circus band he had hea

u'll keep it up like this awhile, I'll follow with 'Littl

h interrupted and annihilated them: the Court-house bell clanging out twel

ed about him whimsically. T

d from the bridge and

he case of the sleeper who dreams out a long story in accurate color and fine detail, a tale of years, in the opening and shutting of a door. So with Joseph,

quisite-horrid as have been the uses of the word, its best and truest belong to her; she was that and much more, from the ivory ferrule of the parasol sh

he discovered that the gloves she wore that day were gray, and that her hat was for the most part white.) The charm of fabric and tint belonging to what she wore was no shame to her, not being of primal importance beyond herself; it was but the expression of her daintiness and the adjunct of it.

sort of coquetry with trimness, is the true key to the mystery of the vision of the lady who appeared to Joe. Let us say that she suppressed everything that went beyond grace; that the hint of floridity was abhorrent to her.

hought-and as she drew near

mystery of last night. He did not remember, but it was as if he lived again, dimly, the highest hour of happiness in a life a th

of women; but it was not only that; a great shyness beset him. He had risen and removed his hat, trying (ineffectually) not to clear his throat; his every-day sense urgin

g miserably, meaning to finish with

eyes had filled with tears-filled and overfilled. "I'll sit here on the log with you," she said. An

" he g

went on, tremulously. And even

HALF-

sure that she was part of a wonderful dream he might have dared. She was seated beside him, and had handed him her parasol in a little way which seemed to imply that of course he had reached for it, so that it was to be seen how used she was to have all tiny things done for her, though this was not the

no thought that she was one he had known but could not, for the moment, recall; there was nothing of the awkwardness of that; no, he was overpowered by the miracle of

voice again, shaking

d you rem

d what?" h

" she cried. "An

re, do y

ow, at

speak aloud. "Was it you who said-w

ge at noon!'" she finishe

f it. "Where was it you said that?" h

know that you

to-to me

cry, very near a sob, seei

," she said. "You were at the station when I

ace burning hotly, he co

t see me at first, not until I had called your name and ran to you. You said, 'I've come to meet you,' but you said it queerly, I thought. And then you called a carriage for me; but you seemed so

er. She had lifted her handkerchief to her eyes, but at his movement she dropped it, and it wa

" she cried. "

u took

lived," she answered.

he stammered, huskily.

lightly, looking at him

ast night," she said.

the lady, as she saw the truth, underwent an April change. She drew back lightly; he was favored with the most delicio

the same, and I'm glad I've changed, though that isn't why you have forgotten me. You've forgotten me beca

leaning ba

l, you know I must have told you a thousand times that it was like a nice friendly puppy; so why sho

leaped upon him uproariously, thinking

rasol. And I must warn you now: Never, never TREAD

vision there swept, through the warm, scented June air, a veil of snow like a driven fog, and, half obscured in the heart of it, a young girl stood, knee-deep in a drift piled ag

y; "how like you and nobody else in t

EL T

ed the words

e strange ladies in the HABIT of des

nothing to this. Mr. Bantry had left temporary paralysis in his wake; but in the case of the two young people who passed slowly along th

ched along the new cement side-walks from a little below the Square to Upper Main Street, where maples lined the thoroughfare and the mansions of the affluent stood among pleasant lawns and shrubberies. It was late; for this had been a communion Sunday, and those far in advance, who had already reached the pretty and shady part of the street, were members of the churches where services had been shortest; though few in the long parade looked as if they had been attending anything very short, and many heads of families were crisp in their replies to the theological inquiries of their offspring. The men imparted largely a gloom to the itin

of the sermon; that is, praise of the sermon, with here and there a mild "I-didn't-like-his-saying" or so; and its lighter aspects were apt t

asol carried by Joseph Louden. The congregation of the church across the Square, that to which Joe's step-aunt had been late, was just debouching, almost in mass, upon Main Street, when thes

IN church (even so!), and coming out of church. An account of her house in the Avenue Henri Martin, and of her portrait in the Salon-a mysterious business to many, and not lacking in grandeur for that!-had occupied two columns in the Tocsin, on a day, some months before,

d the women told their men. Hence the un-Sunday-like demeanor of the procession, for few towns hold it more unseemly to

who did not identify Miss Tabor, and her effect upon him was extraordinary. His mouth opened and he gazed stodgily, his widening eyes like sun-dogs coming out of a fog. He did not recognize her escort; did not see him at all until they had passed, after which Mr. Flitcroft experienced a few moments of trance; came out of it stri

though it had not left her merely pink and white. This was a delicate rosiness rising from her cheeks to her temples as the earliest dawn rises. If there had been many words left in Joe, he would

lking"; and when it became necessary to step out to the curb in passing some clump of people, it was

e world. He had always been embarrassed, himself, and ashamed of her, when anything she did made him remember that, after all, she was a girl; as, on the day he ran away, when she kissed a lock of hi

ht to have called me that, years ag

sed to know nearly everything you were going to

upted. "It does s

nt on, "I doubt

d, with fine gravity

was the slight blush, which very soon disappeared. That people turned to look at her may have been not altogether a novelty: a girl who had learned to appear unconscious of

and everything which had happened since his return to the town. He had not, in his turn, reached the point where he would begin to question her; he was too breathless in his consciousness of the marvellous presen

that it was growing close upon l

d-bye," he rep

hy

be seen with me. Perhaps, though, you do understand. Wasn't

. Without a word she took the parasol from him, opened it herself, placed the smooth white coral handle of it in his hand, and li

e and there, turned in at the various gates. Nobody, however, appeared to have gone in-doors, except for fans, armed with which immediately to return to rockers upon the shaded

did it and how pretty the top of her hat was, became gradually conscious of a meaning in her action: that she had bowed to some one across the street. He lif

btle change had befallen her-a change so mystifying to him that for a moment he almost doubted that she was Mamie Pike. It came to him with a breath-taking shock that her face lacked a certain vivacity of meaning; that its sweetness was perhaps too placid; that there would have been a deeper goodness in it had there been any hint of daring. Astonishing questions assailed him, startled him: cou

Mamie had never

emerged from the profundities o

ier than ever

," he answer

tly thinking better of it, changed her question: "What i

yellow dog," he e

!" she sai

reluctantly, "I call

ng? I want to kn

Joe, "but when I picked him up he was so yellow, and so thin, and

rt in the midst of it, and became grave. "

tested. "I told

d not

touch upon his sleeve, and crossed the street toward the gate, which Mamie and Eugene had entered

gate, as if waitin

e appeared. "I don't believe we'd better stop here," he said. "The

he was the administrator, or something." Then seeing him chopfallen and aghast, she went

to live HERE

e?" she laughed. "Will

"You know I c

then, just to see Mamie dance by a window.

" he gulped

eyes fixed upon Ariel, within them a rising glow. An impression ca

e, in a deep and impressive voice, lifting his hat

with a bright, negligent smile. "Oh, quite," she answered, turnin

said Joe.

y and he, together, interfering

riel. Eugene accompanied the latter into the house, and Joe, looking back, understo

ought took away his brea

detained after services-without doubt a meeting of the church officials. Mrs. Pike, blinking and frightened, sat at her husband's side, agreeing feebly with the bull-bass which rumble

I

IELD OF BATTLE IS

upon a marble-topped table near the door, and, removing her gloves, drifted into a room at the left, where a grand piano found shelter beneath crimson plush. After a moment of contemplation, she pushed back the coverlet, and, seating herself upon the plush-covered piano-s

id a voice behind her. She had not observed

a cafe table, had lately skipped out of the Moulin Rouge to disport itself over Paris. She played it slowly, in the minor, with elfish pathos; while he leaned

things, isn't it?" he said, sig

minade?" she returned, droppi

replied Eugene. "He appeals

quickly down again, and hastened the time emph

the 'Pilgri

ook he

r?" inquired Eugene,

m him, except the chin, which, he saw with a thrill of inexplicable emotion, was trem

construction, possessing both rockers and legs. She had moved in a way which prevented him from seeing her face, but he was certain of h

hat she looked astonishingly happy, almost as if

d, sinking into it, "

e could not

ing to live in it. It has been reupholstered, but

" exclaimed Eu

tapping the arms lightly with her finger-tips

ccasion she mentioned, therefore wishing to shift the subject. "I fear you may still find it so. T

ftly, with a look that went deep enough into h

open window close by. "There has been," he a

ere were no loose threads; it was an old habit of hers which she retained. "I suppose," she murmured,

upon she made him a

e you compla

"You don't know wha

I lived here se

an to object, "a

ther ran away? Of coming home for vacation-I think it was your first year

face cleared. "Certainly," he said: "I found him b

all you r

ed, honestly. "

half closed. "Except that I we

, I should like to polish up my French a little. Would you mind my asking you to read a bit with me,

ying to persuade Miss Tabor," he explained, with something too much of

ly, and there was no color in her cheeks. "Ariel," she e

l said, with a gest

h, "but I'm afraid you will think it, bec

it that h

aw you with him I was troubled, and asked Eugene what I'd better do, because Eugene always knows what is best." (Mr. Bantry's expression, des

tood," said Ariel, slowly,

this right away,

f it is of the slight

consternation. "He wants to see you," she r

been left open, and out to the steps, evidently with the intention of remov

followed her to the doorw

?" he inquired, with

Ariel had

he li

to ask you if you wouldn't speak to the Judge for me

you?" repeated the

y trouble you. Tell him, certai

t she had shifted the position of her chair slightly, and was gazing out of the window with every appearance of cheerful meditation. She assumed so unmistakably that he had of course gone on he

e wished with every step that the distance to th

oor slammed, a heavy and rapid tread was heard in the hall, and Ariel, withou

me. I'm anxious, of course, to go over my affairs with you, and last night, after my journey, I was too tired. But n

had stopped on

oldly, "when I say m

You mean you keep all the papers and books of the estate in

exclaimed. "What I want to talk to you

ly. "That's along the lin

his standing in this community! I know you did, because Mrs. Pike told me you ask

ent in Canaan, one who has always taken a great interest in Mr

shouted, coming toward her, "t

y, yet with so magically compelling an intonation that he stopped his shouting in the middle of a

responded, after a moment of angry sil

"But of course I must not tax it too far. And about Mr

y. "So do I, and I'm going t

old friend of mine, you know, and I have made u

ha

ll more important than mine; it isn't fair that you should bear the whole burden of my affairs, and I think it will

ing forward in her chair, her gaze alert but quiet, fixed on the dilating pupils of his eyes. He seemed t

ow whether or not he'll consent, but I think it possible that he may come to see me this

get a warm welcome," he promised, hus

nodded pleasantly. "Then certainly I shall not. Such t

ot see hi

rrange that? You see, Mr. Louden is even an older friend of mine than you are, and so I must trust his adv

r. "I'm tired of this," he b

at her, so that it was difficult to get out of her chair without pushing him away-a feat apparently impossible. Ariel Tabor, in rising, placed her hand upo

, too!" She swept lightly and quickly to the door, where she paused, gathering her skirts. "I shall not detain you another instant! And if Mr. Loud

s and cinnamon left in the room where Martin Pike

I

HER AND

ning) about three o'clock, and, soon after, Mamie tossed a number of cushions out upon the stoop between the cast-iron dogs,-Sam Warden having previously covered the steps with a rug and placed several garden chairs near by on the grass. These simple prepa

grass against the fence. She stopped to pat the neck of one of the cast-iron deer, and with grave eyes proffered the clover-top first for ins

cast-iron!" She smiled and nodded to a clump of lilac-bushes near a cedar-tree, and to

e you speaking to?" a

t de

bowed to

r eyebrows,-"that was your

N

e cedar-tree, quite near the gate. No, you couldn't see him from here; you'd have to go as far as the deer, at least, and ev

nap on Sunday afte

ho avoided her clear gaze. "He has the air of having settl

in-doors for her, to Ariel's room, to insure its safety. "You look so sort of temporary, wearing it," she urged, "as

nd touched the other's hand l

mber of the household) had been, until now, undefined. She had been on her guard, watching for some sign of conscious "superiority" in this lady who had been so long over-seas, not knowing what to make of her; though thrown, by the contents of her trunks, into a wistfulness which would have had something of rapture in it had she been sure that she was going

nd with the touch upon the hand, it was all suddenly settled; she would

Ariel, "because at any moment I

added, smiling over this worn quip of the betrothed, and shaking her head at Eugene, who grew red and coughed. "There'll be plenty to-day, but they won't be her

tween the round pickets of the gate. They had come from the house across the street, evidently stimulated by the conversation at their own recent dinner-table (they wore a few deposits such as are left by chocolate-cake), and the motive of their

T'S

ll heads turned simultaneously in that direction; something terrific was

dinner with relatives; young people meditative (until they reached the Pike Mansion), the wives fanning themselves or shooing the tots-able-to-walk ahead of them, while the husbands, wearing long coats, satin tie

ng to move in pairs; the eldest, such as were now beginning to be considered middle-aged beaux, or (by the extremely youthful) "old bachelors," evidently considered it advantageous to travel alone. Of all these, there were few wh

ed for him. He had been the first to arrive, coming alone, though that was not his custom, and he established himself at Ariel's right, upon the step just below her, so disposing the great body and the ponderous arms and legs the gods had given him, that no one could mount above him to sit beside her, or approach her from that direction within conversational distance. Once established, he was not to be dislodged, and the only satisfaction for thos

this close vantage he fastened his small eyes immovably upon Ariel's profile. Eugene, also apparently determined not to move, sat througho

on of her as she was before Roger Tabor and she had departed out of Canaan. She had lived her girlhood only upon their borderland, with no intimates save

eyes furtively reverting to her as each shaft was loosed), she found more or less enigmatical. The young men, however, laughed at each other loudly, a

yes were fixed upon the western distance of the street where gold-dust was beginning to quiver in the air. She did not hear Eugene, but she started, a moment later, when the name "Joe Louden" was pronounced by a young man, the poetic Bradbury, on the step below

down upon the young man. (It was this smile which inspi

alk among the-" He paused awkwardly, remembering that Ariel had walked with Joseph Louden in the

HA

a pleasing notion that it would not happen again, founded on the idea that Ariel, having only arrived the previous evening, had probably met Joe on the street

es, he's 'talked of' for Mayor-by the saloon people and the niggers! I expect

Beach?" asked Ar

king his head awesomely. "It's a Place," he said, with abysmal solemni

to do with

portunity to enlighten her concerning Joe's character, since the Pik

e first came back from running away, and he's a friend of Mike Sheehan's

u know he

fter he came back!" He appealed for

hat was like a search-light. "How do you KNOW, Mr. Flitcroft," she went on very rapidly, raising her voice,-"how do you KNOW that Mr. Louden is familiar wi

instant he opened it. She had spoken so quickly and with such vehemence, looking him full in the eye, t

smothered laughter, and Norbert, overwhelmed

ll," said Ariel, gently, and turning to Eugene, "

ut answered with en

ich there was a distinct hint,-sat where he was until all of them, except Eugene, had tak

ble) held their places and waited-waited, alas! in vain.... Ah! Joe, is THIS the mettle of your daring? Did you not say you would "try"? Was your courage so frail a vessel that it could not carry you even to the gate yonder? Surely you knew that if you had strive

f Eskew Arp. He bowed gloomily to Mamie, and in response to her inquiry if he wished to see he

!" She ran down to him and gave him her han

so long in the planting, so carefully tended, was now a dreary waste; yet he contemplated this not so much as his present aspect of splendid isolation. Frozen by the daughter of the house, forgotten by the visitor, whose conversation with Mr. Arp was carried on in tones so low that he could not understand it, the fat one, though heart-breakingly loath to take himself away, began to compreh

ed, Mr. Flitcroft?" she ask

he replied, rubbing his leg, "

ground reminded me of something that happened long

went away. You haven't said if you'll

p, acidly. "Somebody 'll fal

aid, recounting the benefits she might derive through acceptance of his invitation; and having, thus busily, risen to his knees, became aware that some one was passing near him. This some one Mr. Flitcroft, absorbed in artful persuasions, may have been betrayed by the darkness to mistake for Eugene. Reaching out for assistance, he mechanically seized upon the skirts of a coat, which he put to the uses of a rope, coming up hand-over-hand with such noble weight and energy that he brought himself to his feet and the o

off, Judge?" asked E

he indignity which had been put upon him: whatever the case, he went his way in-doors, leaving the cynic's offer unacknowledged. Eskew sank back upon the bench, with the little

ith lemon the acrid, withered face and trembling hands of the veteran. "You are younger than you were nine years ago, Mr. Ar

th this fool world-and I'd be glad of it, if I didn't expect tha

chin in her hand, so that the shadow of her hat shielded her eyes fr

he exclaimed. "Who

hy

, confounded by he

. "That's what I'm

ay?" he demanded. "Did you meet a

y shoul

broke out. "Ain't you g

have are still in th

with money, and nobody was prepared for it when they saw you. You don't need to drop no curtseys to ME." He set his mouth grimly, in response to the bow she made him. "I think female beauty is like all other human furbelows, and as holler as heaven will be if only the good people are let in! But yet I did stop to look at you when you went p

rp?" she cried. "

eploringly. "After what I'd

g his sleeve with her fingers,

"It was a pleasure. Do you remember

that you wer

hs after Louden ran away, and before you and Roger left Canaan, and you

put it so,

o tell you how and when and all about it. And I did it, and kept you sharp on his record ever since he lan

dness of your h

ed colder. I promised, and I kept my promise, because I knew th

ll?" she insi

you if I've written

eceived here," she began, "and I've been

he didn't deserve it all? Haven't I told

d you

o-day? Because I knew you did it in cold blood and knowledge aforethought! Other folks th

you were disappointed w

snapped.

onsternation in your face!

what you're

for this once you must let me. You are so consistent that you are never disap

nly not. I

mething you knew was right and good. You see?" She leaned a little closer to him,

cted pickpocket. "I DON'T! Me ADMIRE? WHAT? It's an ornery wo

d it! But that is the least of your secret; th

ing down the walk toward the gate, leaning heavily on his stick. "Nothin' of

ed after him. "I'm sorry you go away

ed, uneasily. There was a pause, followed by a malevolent chuckle. "At any rate,"

me, after a time, sadly. "Perhaps

ught so! G

ight, M

es from the arc lights on the corner, moving to and fro in the deep shadow as the lamp swung slightly in the night air. Somewhere, not far away, the peace was broken by the screams of a "parlor organ," which honked and wailed in pious agonies (the intention was hymnal), interminably protracting each spasm. Presently a woman's voice outdid the organ, a voice which made vivid the picture of the woman who owned it, and the ploughe

llowed suit, in a neighboring house: "Precious Jewels." More distant, a second organ was heard; other pianos, other organs, took up other themes; and as a wakeful puppy's barking will go over a village at night, stirring first the nearer dogs to give voice,

lhood; now grown to seem the girlhood of some other person. It was true: her foot was on her native heath and her name was Ariel Tabor-the very name of the girl who had shared the town'

use, heard Eugene's voice at the door, and

for me," he added, peering out under his h

in and went to he

to tell her

dear. Go

teps and went slowly toward the gate, looking about him into the darkness as if searching

randa, where, on a night long past, a boy had hid and a girl had wept. A small creaking sound fell

you, Sam?

He stretched an arm along the cross-bar of the reel, relaxing himself, apparently, for conversation. "

hink s

all beat, Miss Airil! Dey ain' be'n no one 'roun' dis town evah got in a thousum mile o' you! Fer looks, an' de way you walk an' ca'y yo'self; an' as fer de clo'es-name o' de good lan', honey, dey ain' nevah SEE style befo'! My ole woman say you got mo' fixin's in

Mr. Louden, now

"Ain' I seen him dis ve'y day, fur up de street at de

n to see him anywhere

ished and his lowered voice became serious

did yo

wn, I reckon," he answered, gravely, "an' de

each, do

some shootin' goi

and caught at his a

him! Nigh as I kin mek out f'm de TALK, dat Happy Fear gone on de ra

I

ES IN A L

y area of his countenance. Was there not, i'faith, a glow, a Vesuvian shimmer, beneath the murk of that darkling eye? Was here one, think you, to turn the other cheek? Little has he learned of Norbert Flitcroft who conceives that this fiery spirit was easily to be quenched! Look upon the jowl o

om the wrath of a Pike, with a pretty girl looking on (to say nothing of the acrid Arp, who will fling the legend on a thousand winds), might well agonize you now, as, in less hasty moments and at a safe distance, you brood upon the piteous figure you cut. On the contrary, behold: you see no blood crimsoning the edges of the horrid gash in your

sometimes has

rors of his position acute. Was he, like Joe Louden, to endure the ban of Canaan, and like him stand excommunicate beyond the pale because of Martin Pike's displeasure? For Norbert saw with perfect clearness to-day what the Judge

fter your remark yesterday afternoon on the steps which was overheard by my mother who happened to be standing in the hall behind you an

respe

IE P

rning "Yours respectfully," but she had finally let it stand, evidently convinced th

sk, his lips moving to the tune of those horrid phrases, and stared out at the street. Basilisk glaring this, with no Christian softness in it, not even when it fell upon his own grandfather, sitting among the sage

two Tabors had gone, and Uncle Joe Davey could no longer lay claim to the patriarchship; he had laid it down with a half-sigh and gone his way. Eske

dows, but courted the genial weather out-doors, and, as their summer custom w

with a side-glance of expectancy at Eskew, "that Jona

imself with his wide st

rned at all, lately, I reckon it's in his grave, and I'll bet he HAS

lew began, "that young fo

Eskew. "The shorter your memo

s so remarkable in her comin' back and walkin' up-street with Joe Louden. She used to go kitin' round wit

ueer thing to say, and I stirred up a good deal of opposition at home, yesterday evening, by sort of ment

ssued from the mouth of Mr. Arp. The Colonel turned up

began promptly, "of somethi

t wa

audience properly to be selected for this recital, choked a half-born word, coughed loudly, realizing that he

k of. Go on with

at it seems to me a good action for a young lady like that

you call that stickin' to him? She's been away a good while; she's forgotten what

nce," interrupted Peter B

ll you hear what you're agreein' to! I say: you take a young lady like that,

uckalew, impatiently. "Noth

tcast with a reputation as black as a preacher's shoes on Sunday! I don't care if he's her oldest friend on EARTH, she won't stick to him! She walked with him yesterday, but you can mark my words: his goose is cooked!" The old man's voice rose, shri

the pavement, remained suspended in the air. A sudden color rushed over his face, and he dropped speechl

cool gray, carrying a big bunch of white roses in her white-gloved hands, had just crossed the sidewalk from a carriage an

T," he added, and, exercising a self-restraint close upon the saintly, did not

tchful, dodging into the narrow entrance furtively; some smiled contemptuously as long as they were in view of the street, drooping wanly as they reached the stairs: some were brazen and amused; and some were thin and troubled. Not all of

steel safe.] But when evening came and the final gray of twilight had vanished from the window-panes, all had gone except one, a woman who sat patiently, her eyes upon the floor, and her hands folded in her lap, until the footsteps of the last of the others to depart had ceased to sound upon the pavement below. Then, w

ence, she heard a footfall on the stairs and immediately relapsed into a chair, folding her hands again

ly, because of any timidity (her expression being too thoughtfully assured for that), but almost immediately she

turn. Then, furtively, during a protracted silence, she took stock of the new-comer, from the tip of her white suede shoes to the filmy lace and pink rose

e continuing, she coughed several times, to effect the preface required by he

ms to be a good

aiting very long

nce six

e other. "That

ken, she felt free to use her eyes more direct

be Miss Ariel T

roses upon Joe's desk with her

I expect," she added, with loud, inconsequent laughter, "there's not many in Canaan ain't heard you've come back." She paused, laughed again, nervously, and again

said

with more laughter,-"I stay in the house when it rains. Some people don't

es

isily, "there's plenty ladies and gen

her easier in Miss Tabor's presence, but as it increased in shrillness, she seemed to be losing control of herself, as if her laughter we

t the foot of the stairs; there was the snap of a match; then the steps sounded again, retreating. She sank back in h

iel's eyes were bent up

er, delivered with a sharp and painf

-sweet as the face of the woman who had saturated her handkerchief with it, a scent which went with her perfectly and made her unhappily definite; suited to her clumsily dyed hair, to her soiled white shoes, to the hot red

" Apparently she had no genuine desire for light upon this mystery, as she continued, immediately: "I have a gen'leman friend that's always gittin' 'em off. 'Well,' he says, 'the best of friends mu

eyes and slid along the lids, where she tried vainly to restrain them. Her face had altered too, like her voice, haggard lines suddenly appearing about the eyes and mout

"but I be'n waitin' so awful long-and I got a goo

roses, and faced her and the heavy

y, and the longer he is the more it scares me." She shivered and set her teet

Louden will be able to t

as crying openly now, wiping her eyes with her musk-soaked

h, do you mean?" asked

me. It was all my fault. I deserve all that's comin' to me, I guess. I d

leman friend of mine-Mr. Nashville Cory's his name-he kind o' coaxed me into it, and he's right comical when he's with ladies, and he's good company-and he says, 'Claudine, we'll dance the light fantastic,' he says, and I kind o' wanted something cheerful-I'd be'n workin' steady quite a spell, and it looked lik

rouble between him and Mr. Fear-that's my husband-a good while ago, when Mr. Fear up and laid him out. That was before me and Mr. Fear got marri

tage?" Ariel excla

then he vurry, vurry seldom acks rough unless he's jealous. That was the trouble yesterday. I never would of gone to the Beach if I'd dreamed what was comin'! When we got there I saw Mike-that's the gen'leman that runs the Beach-lookin' at my company and me kind of anxious, and pretty soon he got me away from Mr. Cory and told me what's what.

derstand,"

or Mr. Cory, because Mr Fear nearly killed him when they had their first trouble, and that would give Mr. Cory a good excuse to shoot

ely

rbance and start trouble the way SOME do; and right while I was talkin' we both see my husband pass the window. Mr. Cory give a kind of yelling laugh and put his arm round me jest as Mr. Fear come in the door. And then it all happened so quick that you

had run, but Mike made a dive and managed to knock the gun to one side, jest barely in time. Then Mike and three or four others that come out from behind things separated 'em-both of 'em fightin' to git at each other. They locked Mr. Cory up in Mike's room, and took Mr. Fear over to where they hitch the horses. Then Mike sent fer Mr. Louden to come out to talk to my husband and take care of him-he's the only one can do anything with him when he'

ir. "Why should your husband h

Cory again. They ain't after him, but he may not know it. They haven't heard of the trouble, I reckon, or they'd of run Cory in. HE'S around town to-day, drinkin' heavy, and I guess he's loo

and crept under the desk. Mrs. Fear wheeled toward the door and stood, rigid, her hands clenched tight, her whole body still, e

!" she call

way. "It's all right, Claudine.

ly, with his hand over his eyes as if they were very tired and the light hurt them, so that, for a moment or

audine," he repeate

stopped stock-still with one arm outstretched, remaining for perhaps ten seconds in that attitude, while sh

come here twice to-day." She nodded slightly toward Mrs.

other. "Claudine," he said, "y

and her tone was cheerful. "I don't see no harm in tha

ubled smile, and turned again to Mrs.

ady to listen to reason?

aiting

She ros

rply. "You must be ve

nterrupted, with a catch in her voice. "D

he time, you'll follow the first impulse you have, as you did yesterday, and your excuse will be that yo

what I WANT to d

idn't want me to find him until he had met this fellow Nashville. Happy is a hard man to come at when he doesn't care to be found, and he kept shifting from place to place until I ran him down. Then I got him in a corner and told him that you hadn't meant

ant to see again-the fresh thing!" Mrs. Fear's burden had fallen; her relief was perfect

istakes," he said, risi

r. Fear. I never DID like to START anything; I like to see people laugh and be friendly, and I'm mighty glad it's all blown over. I kind o' thought it would, all along. PSHO!" She burst into genuine

alley beyond Vent Miller's pool-room? Go down the alley till you come to the second gate. Go in, and you'll see a basement doo

dly. "I know HIM! Inside of an hour I'll ha

thoughtfully after her. "Perhaps, after all, that i

s pressing her face into the roses again. As he saw how like them she was, he was shaken with a profound a

R GIVES H

Ariel, as he came back into the r

beginning to fumble with the shade of

d, stretching upon tiptoe, turned out the gas. "No," she continued, seated again and looking acros

"Let me tell you why I

the chair which had been occupied by Mrs. Fear.

"Ah, I understand. Sam Wa

of it. He knew last night, but there was nothing in the papers this morning;

ad happened, and had their theories about what might happen to-day in case the two men met. Still, you see, those who knew, also knew just what people not to tell. The Tocsin is the only newspaper worth the name here; but even if the Tocsin had known of

ruly. A man said to me yesterday that he foun

he answered

hate C

ainly

t dull, provincia

over your friend. I see a more interesting side of things probably. The people

about the life you lead," she interrup

ourse

in which Mrs. Fear had sat. "Joe," she said, "last night I heard the peop

one hymn they sing more than any other; it's

scue the P

g the words again, gave forth a peal of laughter so hearty

but, after a moment, she did, and joined her o

from his eyes. Then all trace of mirth left him. "Is it

nswered, in a low voice

come because I-" He grew very red, and shifted the sentence awkwardly: "I was afraid you might think that I was

ered, gently. "No

d, "that that is all over? Th

it," she retu

a little of w

" she pr

e already. It wasn't hard-it won't be-though

would you have come to Judge Pike's house to see me? You said you would try." She

ted glance she knew that he was looking at he

head and blu

know?" he

. "Yes, I do," she answered. "You would have come. When you left me

d at first; but I knew," he went on, rapidly, "

cried, her eyes sparkling a

tch in his voice which was half chuckle, half groan, "if you hadn't meant

laughed together, but only for a moment, beco

ked you for the

. When you first

you saw. To find them here took my b

em this morni

you had not understood

her lips. "For a time last evening, before I heard what had happ

jaculation, partly

this morning, after all, even if you had a poorer excus

u d

to be here now, doesn't it?-for me to have come out alone afte

" he

k, and turning it, meditatively felt its point with her forefinger before she sa

artin Pike?

take charge of every

e. "You ought to look after your own propert

n't help me?" she returne

swer; then asked, "What makes you t

was his look when I told him that I meant

think," said Joe. "You might be right-if h

th receipts and other things to sign and return to him. I haven't the faintest notion of what I own-except the old ho

bled. "And Roge

he same. To him poor Uncle Jonas's money seemed to

andsome roundabo

ully. "And he trusted the Judge

have managed to get away with anything of consequence after he became the administrator. He wouldn't have tried it, probably, unless he

g I want you to do fo

t's

e put in order. I'm

lo

ng enough of an old maid for me to risk

anything you do

, "it thought everyth

t's the d

commend me because

"it isn't that. It's because ev

erybody!"

ied. "Anybody who di

ou always were the nicest

leaving her eyes, which were lowered thoughtfully, in the shadow of her hat. The room was blotted out in darkness behind her. Like the background of an antique portrait, the office, with its dusty corners and shelves and hideous safe, had vanished, leaving the charming and thoughtful face revealed against an even, spacious brownness. Only Ariel and the roses and the lamp were clear; and a strange, small pai

her, as he said again what he had said a l

, it I

d at him

on't you? You're not goin

nce at him wavered and fell. She rose, turning slightly away from him,

ant I should ever ask you to stay here! I couldn't mean that; you know I couldn't, don'

ust ME, Joe," she said. "It

could ever actually happen. It's just a light coming into a dark room and out again. One day, long ago-I never forgot it-some apple-blossoms

. "You'd rather have died than have said that to me once,"

d, despairingly. "And you don't deny that you're going away again-so it's true! I wish I hadn'

'm going away again? Why should I want the old house put in order unless I mean to stay? A

w. It was always the same and

hat," she ret

for me-and I do. I know HOW. It's just

a pretty goo

stand!" He got to his feet aga

She wiped sudden t

d. "Do you think that 'passing the

answered

on the old house to-morrow

y by his matter-of-fact tone. "Good-night, Joe." She gave him her hand.

wever," he said, picking up

are so ti

man ran furtively into the room, shut the door behind him, and set his back against it. His f

's got me good, too;-I got to clear out. He's fixe

the room like a

on the instant his hand fell sharply acro

e man's shoulders and swung him

slouch hat; his eyes followed an imperious gesture toward Ariel, g

o Ariel. He went in quickly aft

aspect, overcame her. She was possessed by astonishment: Did she know him so well, after all? The strange client had burst in, shaken beyond belief with some passion unknown to her, but Joe, a

broken and protestive, but soon rising shrilly. She could hear only fragments. Once she heard the client cry, almost

HAPPY,

s sure that something horrible had happened. She went to the window; touched the shade, which disappeared upward immediately, and lifted the sash. The front of a s

and of Claudine was like the voic

HAPPY,

'll she do? She can't hold her

gazed far beyond all that was about him; and suddenly she was aware of a great tragedy. The little man's chin trembled and he swallowed painfully; nevertheless he bore himself upright and dauntlessl

tter for you to go alone. Don't you worry.

ng voice came back from the foot

elow; and she felt an infinite pathos gathering about it as it paused for a moment, hesitating, underneath the arc-lamp at the corner. They saw t

. "Now we'll go," he s

emulously, as they reached t

just an o

though she came as rapidly as she could. She put her hand rather timidly on hi

id. "Perhaps it would shock you less if I tell you now than if yo

him!" sh

ut I wouldn't let him. He has my word that I'

V

WO CA

later by a brownish streak as the mongrel heeled after him. When they had passed the second corner she could no longer be certain of them, although the street was straight, with flat, draughtsmanlike Western directness: both figures and Joe's quick footsteps merging with the night. Still she did not turn to go; did not alter her position, nor cease to

r and his dwelling: that other Canaan where peace did not fall comfortably with the coming of night; a place as alien in habit, in thought

orning; there were haunts of haggard merriment in plenty: surreptitious chambers where roulette-wheels swam beneath dizzied eyes; ill-favored bars, reached by devious ways, where quavering voices offered song and were harshly checked; and through the burdened air of this Canaan wandered heavy smells of musk

ct, she felt only an overwhelming pity for him. She was not even horror-stricken, though she had shuddered. The pathos of the shabby little figure crossing the street toward the lighted doors had touched her. Something about him had appealed to her, for he had not seemed wic

a good man," he said. "I've known few better, given his chances. And none of this would have happened except for his old-time friendship for m

it be

nd him and shake his hand, bury past troubles and be friends. I think he told Claudine the same thing when they met, and convinced the tiny brainlet of his sincerity. Cory was a man who 'had a way with him,' and I can see Claudine flattered at the idea of being peace-maker between 'two such nice gen'lemen as Mr. Cory and Mr. Fear.' Her commonest asseveration-quite genuine, too-is that she doesn't like to have the gen'lemen making trouble about her! So the poor imbecile led him to where her husband was waiting. All that Happy knew of this was in her cry afterwards. He was sitting alone, when Cory threw

stood in high danger of having his neck broken, unless Joe could help him. He made it clear to her that the State would kill Happy if it could; that it would be a point of pride with certain deliberate men holding office to take the life of the little man; that if they did secure his death it would be set down to

t parting. "It may be hard. I'm

ried. "I want

had gone, there came from the alley behind the big back yard the minor chordings of a quartette of th

l is a-full o' t

ry

lk withouten

le'ss

walki

sow'owful, an

n' fo'

ind her, and, turning, saw a white

?" she

and. "The windows are open," she

't you gon

where else; so I knew you must have gone out. I've been sitting by the front window, waiting to let you in, but I went to sleep until a little while ago, when the telephone-bell rang and he got up and answered it. He kept talking a long time; it

ave rung,"

nd telling me where you've been? I won't tell him-nor mamma, either. I think, after

put her arm round the other's waist. "I wen

and-I could almost believe there's some good in him, since you like him so. I know the

y in the world," said

V

EEHAN'

the substance of what he said to her, and that she was convinced of his peaceful intentions. When they reached the room where her husband was waiting for her, Cory entered first. The woman claims now that as they neared the vicinity he hastened forward at a pace which she could not equal. Naturally, her testimony on all points favoring her husband is practically worthless. She followed and heard the murdered man speak, though what his words were she declares she does not know, and of course the murderer, after consultation with his lawyer, claims that their nature was threatening. Such a statement, in determining the truth, is worse than valueless. It is known and readily proved that Fear repeatedly threatened the deceased's life yesterday, and there is no question in the mind of any man, woman, or child, who reads these words, of the cold blooded nature of the crime. The slayer, who had formerly made a murderous attack upon his victim, lately quarrelled with him and uttered threats, as we ha

th the authorities, for they do not countenance crime. Has it come to the pass that, counting on juggleries of the law, criminals believe that they may kill, maim, burn, and slay as they list without punishment? Is this to be another instance of the law's delays and immunity for a hideous crime, compassed by a cunn

ained for the defence! The murderer, before being apprehended by the authorities, WENT STRAIGHT FR

ers, meeting on the road, halted their teams and loudly damned the little man in the Canaan jail; milkmen lingered on back porches over their cans to agree with cooks that it was an awful thing, and that if ever any man deserved hanging, that there Fear deserved it-his lawyer along with him! Tipsy men hammered bars with fists and beer-glasses, inquiring if there

"Why?" he a

nd whistled shrilly in derision. "You'd

Joe, "that we have

you sh

ir," he returned, "you speak to me wi

er sneer, he seized a bad potato from an open barrel and threw it at the mongrel, who had paused to examine the landsca

r, was Mr. Sheehan, but grizzled and gray, and, this morning, gray of face, too, as

easily, on the other's entrance. "This is the worst I ever

got to

e's a chanst of it! I l

do

up the public sentiment; and if there ever was a folle

lf heavily in a chair-"there'd not be so

eep goin' the way they've started to-day, the gran' jury's bound to indict him, and the trial jury to convict him

ow, I

erchief, "and that's this, my boy: last night's business has just about put the ca

you think my old notion of what mi

'if ye altered the Beach a bit. Make a little country-side restaurant of it,' ye'd say, 'and have good cookin', and keep the boys and girls from raisin' so much hel

y not?" a

ke more money, because ye're afraid of preachin' at any of us: partly because ye know the little good it 'd be, and part

he grew very red and failed to

: ye're little better than a missionary! It took me a long while to understand what was drivin' ye, but I do now. And ye've gone the right way abo

sly, and with visible embarrassment. "You think you cou

wn out there the way I yoosta could, and I'm sick of it-sick of it i

as a w

othes! Took it fer granted it was Happy's, and thought she'd help him by hidin' it! There's a hard point fer ye, Joe: to prove the gun belonged to Cory. There's nobody about here could swear to it. I couldn't m

ve found out that he

where be

l keep on travelling t

long trip, but ye're all the little man has to depend on. Did ye not

e. "It's part

g forward in his chair,-"did it strike ye that the Tocsin wa

ht that over, and it seemed possible that I might do H

f ye. Besides, Happy wouldn't have no other lawyer; he'd ruther be hung with you fightin' fer him than be cleared by anybody else. I b'lieve it,-on my soul I do! But look her

se it was aimed to strike

at! I want ye to listen. Now see here: the Tocsin is Pike, and the

y, I sup

bearded man broke off at a gesture from Joe and exclaimed sharply: "Don't deny it! I know what ye was like! Ye wasn't impudent, but ye looked at him as if ye saw through him. Now listen and I'll lead ye somewhere! Ye run with riffraff, naggers, and even"-

wearily. "In the spir

e? On yer soul didn't it sound so bitter that it sounded desprit? Now why? It looked to me as if it had started to ruin ye, this time fer good and all! Why? What have ye had to do with Mart

makes you think Judge Pike isn't trustworthy?" he had asked Ariel, and her reply had been: "Nothing very

zedly to his feet. "Y

my soul I have the penetration! Ye don't need to tell me one thing e

" sai

iss my guess if I said that ye think Pike may be scared ye'll st

e. "You would

se, mopping the inner band of his straw hat.

e an impatient gesture. "Pshaw!" he interrupted; but

n't sense to know that nobody can say what way the wind's blowin' week after next. All the bo

n," sa

mean. If ye git the nomination

n't be n

that's all. Ye've got to do to him what he's done to YOU, and what he's tryin' to do now worse than ever before. Well-there may be ways t

Mike," Joe smiled. "I'd be glad to know w

, if the old wolf presses me too hard in the matter o' tryin' to git the little man across th

wearily to his desk. "I don't

r, but he paused on the thresho

come when I couldn't help it"-he lowered his voice to a hoarse but pi

V

HEAT OF

ight, so low that the four or five shabby idlers, upon the benches beneath, now and then flicked them sleepily with whittled sprigs. The doors and windows of the stores stood open, displaying limp wares of trade, but few tokens of life; the clerks hanging over dim counters as far as possible from the glare in front, gossiping fragmentarily, usually about the Cory murder, and, anon, upon a subject suggested by the sight of an occasional pedestrian passing perspiring by with scrooged eyelids and

ll the tin from a shelf in the pantry. The loafers on the benches turned hopefully, saw what it was, then closed their eyes, and slumped back into thei

or of its attack without effect. Sleepy as Main Street seemed in the heat, the town was incensed and roused to a tensity of feeling it had not known since the civil war, when, on occasion, it had set out to hang half a dozen "Knights of the Golden Circle." Joe had been hissed on the street many times since the inimical clerk had whistled at him. Probably demonstrations of that sort would have continued had he remained in Canaan; but for almost a month he had been absent and his office closed, its threshold gray with dust. There were people who believed that he had run away again, this time never to re

were for the greater part obscure and even darkling in their lives, yet quite demonstrably human beings, able to smile, suffer, leap, run, and to entertain fancies; even to have, according to their degree, a certain rudimentary

ve served faithfully, and with my full endeavor and ability, to enact the laws and statutes of my State, but there is a point in my patience, I would state, which lawbreakers and their lawyers may not safely pass. Of what use are our most solemn enactments, I may even ask of what use is the Legislature itself, chosen by the will of the people, if they are to ruthlessly be set aside by criminals and their shifty protectors? The blame should be put upon the lawyers who by tricks enable such rascals to

s and "seven-up" with loafers: not quite the same Louie Farbach, however, in outward circumstance: for he was now the brewer of Farbach Beer and making Canaan famous. His rise had been Teutonic and sure; and

behind the new Italian villa he had erected in that part of Canaan where he would be mos

d, in return, with no expression decipherable either u

reporter, grinning. "

tonily. "He iss not a man peobles bedder try to run

about this thing; and you might give me a brief expression concerning that man Louden besides: just a hint of w

ppy Fear I hef knowt for a goot many

ha

continued Mr. Farbach, turning

t o

ha

out passion, without anger, without

against the German nati

ce for his own sake and twice more "to show up that shyster Louden." Warm words followed, leading to extremely material conflict, in which, in spite of his blindness, the broom-maker had so much the best of it that he was removed from the triumphant attitude he had assumed toward the person of his adversary, which was an admirable imitation of the dismounted St. George and the Dragon, and conveyed to the jail. Keenest investigation failed to reveal anything oblique in th

that the wrath of Canaan was one farther jot increased a

ke and eclipse"; even then he could but picture the credible, and must despair of this: the silence of Eskew Arp. Not that Eskew held his tongue, not that he was chary of speech-no! O tempora, O mores! NO! But that he refused the subject in hand, that he eschewed expression upon it and re

rose or sat. Old always, from his boyhood, he had, in the turn of a hand, become aged. But such things come and such things go: after eighty there are ups and downs; people fading away one week, bloom out pleasantly the next, and resiliency is not at all a patent belonging to youth alone. The material change in Mr. Arp might have been thought little worth remarking. What caused Peter Bradbury, Squire Buckalew, and the Colonel to shake their heads secretly to one another and wo

s silent, fell into sorr

and often carried them far afield by secret ways of his own. This hot morning he had done that thing: they were close upon him, pressing him hard, when he roused that outburst which had stirred the idlers on the benches in the Court-house yard. Squire Buckalew (sidelong at the others but sq

mes G. Blaine's furrin policy was childish, a

s. Eskew, like Rome, was saved by a cackle, in which he joined, and a few moment

s drowned in the noise of men at work on the old Tabor house. It seemed the only busy place in Canaan that day: the shade of the big beech-trees which surrounded it affording some shelter from the destroying sun to the dripping laborers who were sawing, hammering, painting, plumbing, p

hem along the wall. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at them, seeing the tragedy of labor the old man had expended upon them; but she felt the recompense: hard, tight, literal as they we

his big Henry-the-Eighth face flushed more with anger than with the heat. His hat was upon his head, and remained there,

ng after my retur

"why it was kept secret from

e of her hand to indicate the no

authority wa

else coul

don't you try to fool me! You haven't done al

most of the arrangements for me," she replied, quietly, "before he went away. He will take charge of ever

t at this he stopped and s

resting negligently upon the back

mly laconic, though now and then she would hear him joking heavily with Sam Warden in the yard, or, with evidently humorous intent, groaning at Mamie over Eugene's health; but it had not

inued steadily to meet his hot eyes, that he was trying to hold h

rst out, shouting hoarsely. "You

en him and the door. "Mamie

is this two-for-a-nickel old shack over your head and a bushel-basket of distillery stock that you can sell by the pound for old paper!" He threw the words in her face, the bull-b

re in which he seemed fairly to envelop himself; least of all did that shaking of his-the

she said, very quickly. "Aft

you spendthrift! All there was TO your grandfather when you buried him was a basket fu

terrupt; "you have made the same quarterly payments since his

face empurpled, his forehead dripping, and his hands ruthlessly pounding the back of the chair; but this straight question stri

ncome was from dividends, and I knew and thought nothing about it; but

"That distillery stock, I tell you,

my income," she persisted, steadily

poke with a pallid and bitter desperation, like a man dr

d

ent

ean from

t was my

ers straightly and angrily; and at this she lean

u send it?"

swered, after pa

the lintel of the door, staring at him incred

n habit of dominance came back to him. "Charity, madam!" he broke out, shouting intolerably. "Charity, d'ye hear? I was a friend of the man that made the money you and

'Support'! You sent me a

d as if they had been suddenly splashed with hot red. "You go back

ke it, rang in his ears till it stung like a castigation. It was ominous, portentous of

t of the gate; and as he passed his own home on his way down-town, he saw her white dress mingling with his daughter's near the hor

rash upon his face. A yellow butterfly zigzagged before him, knee-

I

EW

the small dog found the world lonely and time long without Joe. He had grown more and more restless, and at last, this hot morning, having managed to evade the eye of all concerned in his keeping, made off unobtrusively, partly by swimming, and reaching the road, cantered into town, his ears erect with anxiety. Bent upon reaching the familiar office, he passed the grocery from the doorway of which the p

to keep things in mind when one is violently smitten on mouth, nose, cheek, eye, and ear by a missile large enough to strike them simultaneously. Yelping

nd the vigor of what he did may have been additionally inspired by his recognition of the mongrel as Joe Louden's. The impact of his toe upon the little runner's side was momentous, and the latter rose into the ai

here were shouts; the sleepy Square beginning to wake up: the boy who had mocked the planing-mill got to his feet, calling upon his fellows; the bench loafers strolled to the street; the aged men stirred and rose from their chairs; faces appeared

ng distractedly. The dead town had come to life, and its inhabitants gladly risked the dangerous heat in the interests of sport, whereby it was a merry chase the little dog led around the block, For thus some destructive instinct drove him; he could not stop with the unappeasa

y, keeping to the middle of the street, and, not howling, set himself despairingly to outstrip the Terror. The mob, disdaining the sun superbly, pursued as closely as it could, throwing bricks and rocks at him, striking at him with clubs and sticks. Happy Fear, playing "ti

were some who cried, "JOE LOUDEN'S DOG!" th

trusting that Respectability would come round again. He was right, and the flying brownish thing streaked along Main Street, passing the beloved stairway for the fourth time. The policeman lifted his revolver, fired twice, missed once, but caught him with the second shot in a forepaw, clipping off a fifth toe, one of the small claws that grow above the foot

ping feebly at the showering rocks, but still indomitably a little ahead of the hunt. There was no yelp left in him-he was too thoroughly winded for that,-but in his

of the hardiest stood squarely in his path, and he hesitated for a second, which gave the opportunity for a surer aim, and many missiles

ed the pimply one as he passed, and the clerk, already rehearsing in his mind the honors which should follow the brave stroke, raised the tines above the little dog's head for the coup de grace. They did not descend, and the daring youth failed of fame as the laurel almost embraced his brows. A hickory walking-stick w

at appeared to be a riot. When he was close enough to understand its nature, he dropped his bag and came on at top speed, shouting loudly to the battered mo

is stepbrother with all his force, sending him to earth, and went on literally over him as he lay prone upon the asphalt, that

d tripped the clerk, and his hand which had struck him down. All his bodily stre

reeled. The Colonel and Squire Buckalew were making their way toward him, bu

himself free from the supporting arm-"it's a

he street where Joe stood, the wounded dog held to his breast by one arm, the old man, white and half fainting, supported by the other. Martin Pike saw this and more; he saw Ariel Tabor and his own daughter lean

ARE EN

supported by two pale ladies, his head upon the shoulder of the taller; while beside the driver, a young man whose coat and hands were bloody, worked over the hurts of an injured dog. Sam Warden'

Ariel's friend and honest follower for nothing; and it was Mamie who had cried to Joe to lift Eskew into the carriage. "You must come too," she said. "

woollen-mill and the water-works. The workmen were beginning their dinners under the big trees, but as Sam Warden drew in the lathered horses at the gate, they set down their tin buckets hastily and ran to help Joe lift the old man out. Carefully they bore him into the house and laid h

es remained closed, Joe saw that Eskew understood,

Pike take Respectability from his master's arms and carry him tenderly indoors, while Joe and Ariel occupied themselves with Mr. Arp, the good lady sprang to h

ring for his dinner, and she leaped at him.

spouse replied in no uncertain terms that she had seen quite that much for herself, urging him to continue, which he did with a deliberation that caused her to recall their wedding-day with a gust of passionate self-reproach. Presently he managed to interrupt, reminding her that her dining-room win

with the young man, and, hearing him enter the front door, she called to him that his dinner was waiting.

out of the house, and, bowing sadly to three old men who were entering the gate as she left it, stepped into her carriage and drove away. The new-comers, Colonel Flitcroft, Squire Buckalew, and Peter Bradbu

rassed and perfunctory; but his two companions, each in turn, gravely followed his lead, and Joe's set face flush

m. "He said he knew you'd be here soon without

the pillow was not whiter than that. Yet there was a strange youthfulness in the eyes of Eskew; an eerie, inexplicable, luminous, LIVE look; the thin cheeks seemed fuller than they had been for years; and though the hea

ately, and though all three cleared their throats with what they meant for casual cheerfulness, to indicate that the situation was not at all extraordinary

. "Well, boys?" h

y over the fourth upon the pillow; and Ariel saw waveringly, for her eyes suddenly fille

soldier, gently-"it's not on

it 'shock and exhaustion'; but it's more than that. It's just my time. I've heard t

ou'd oughtn't to talk that-a-way! You only kind

with feeble asperity, "did you ev

Esk

're not do

oo late to conceal what had happened. "There ain't any call to feel bad," said Eskew. "It might have happened any time-in the night, maybe-at

Colonel, "if you-you talk about goin' away

rp murmured, between short struggles for breath, "th

tronger voice and with a gleam of satisfaction in the vindication of his belief that he was dying

uickly to

ands with the Colonel

nitely surprised and troubled. "We s

said Eskew. "I

nded, so that he could not see the wrinkled hand

because I was stubborn. I hated to admit that the argument was against me. I a

Arp," began Joe, trem

o give you a blacker one. Now it's time some one stood by you! Airie Tabor 'll do that with all her soul and body. She told me once I thought a good deal of you. She knew! But I want these three old friends of mine to do it, too. I was boys with them and they'll do it, I think. They've even stood up fer you against me, sometimes, but mostly fer the sake of the argument,

e, and Ariel, upon the other side of the room, could hear him whispering again for the resto

querulous, but determined. Responses sounded, intermittently, from the Colonel, from Peter, and from Buckalew, and now and then a sorrowful, yet almost humorous, protest from Joe; and so she made out that the veteran swore his three comrades t

hands was bandaged, a thin strip of court-plaster crossed his forehead from his lef

he said. "I've been wa

way in whatever he might ask." Ariel w

. "I'm not laboring under any anxiety about him. You needn'

ward the house; but, as he followed, insisting sharply that he must speak with

said. "Is it a me

faltered an

to see her?"

goodness and bravery caused h

you fear he may have been rough with her for taking my step-brother into the carriage. He was not. On the contrary, he

t care particularly to he

" he broke out. "I w

isunderstanding the real passion that shook him,

d with his open hand, "that young fool of a Bradbury told me you refused him only yesterday! He was proud of even rejection from you! And there'

is of yourself that you want

are or not. He gave me this-and this to-day!" He touched his bandaged hand and plastered forehead

, cheeks aflame, ey

home and try if you can discover anything in yourself that is worthy of Mamie and of what she s

gh to follow, babbling: "What do you think I'm made of? You

that he stopped short. Then, through the window o

job and quit, than do what he's done to help make the town think hard of Joe. And what IS he? Why, he's worse than Cory. When that Claudine Fear first came here, 'Gene Bantry

at!" Eugene stammered huskily.

, "you would know that before these men leave thi

such a flame of scorn as he could not endure to look upon. For the first time in his life he

y you!" she

ut looking up, and did not see his mother beckoning frantically from a window. She ran to the door

X

WAITS

to the shop doors to stare up and down the sidewalks. Out of the confusion of report, the judicious were able by evenfall to extract a fair history of this day of revolution. There remained no doubt that Joe Louden was in attendance at the death-bed of Eskew Arp, and somehow it came to be known that Colonel Flitcroft, Squire Buckalew, and Peter Bradbury had shaken hands

t was truthfully reported that he had done and said very little. He had merely discharged both Sam Warden and Sam's wife from his service, the mild manner of the

had written a formal letter to the Judge and repeated the gist of it to his associates in the office and acquaintances upon the street. He declared that he no longer sympathized with the attitude of the Tocsin toward his step-brother, and regretted that he had

e elder Louden when his step-son sought him out

"Good-bye. I'm going now to see mother

e wh

Eugene answered from the door. "I

. Louden, inspired. "You'd bett

her. Good-bye," he said, and was gone before Mr. Louden could

something akin to frenzy. Mrs. Flitcroft (a lady of temper), whose rheumatism confined her to a chair, had her grandson wheel her out upon the porch, and, as the dusk fell and she finally saw her husband coming at a laggard pace, leaning upon his cane, his chin sunk on his breast, she frankly told Norbert t

wife, had a remarkable effect upon his grandson. This was t

t, starting to his feet. "W

clerks came with a basket full of tin boxes and packages of papers and talked to Miss Tabor at the door and went away. Then old Peter blundered out and asked her point-blank what it was, and she said it was her estate, almost everything she had, except the hou

f: blocks and blocks of stock in that distillery trust that went up

outed Norbert, unco

d. I tell y

ore the old man died. The check went through my hands. You don't think I'd forget as big a check as that, do you, even if it was more than a

isted the Colonel. "I te

k of wonder struggling its way to expression upon him, gradually conquering every knobby outpost of his countenance. He str

up with Eskew. What

's enough, I guess, for one of this family to go runnin' after him and

mother's geranium-bed, and, making off at as sharp a pace as hi

ame forward

ey sot me out heah to tell inquirin' fr

" returned Norbert. "I wan

yit," Sam said, in a low tone

he door of the sick-room. The door was open, the room brightly l

the colored man needed no warning to make him remain silent in the hallway. The vet

when I was a little boy. I reckon I'm kind o

Mr.

't see very well-lately.

She knelt clo

ust-wanted to know if you was still here.

and was silent for a time. Then he struggled to

d the old man. "I'm pretty ne

es

illing to change places wi

and Eskew smiled again.

es

harge admission-up there?" His eyes were lifted. "Do you suppose you've got to-to show

I do hope-they'll have some free seats. It's a

n set his hand gently upon the unseeing eyes. Ariel did not rise from wher

Joe, "you

X

EEHAN

ry, the Colonel, and the grandsons of the two latter, and Mrs. Louden drew in her skirts grimly as her step-son passed her in the mournfu

ony, experienced a natural reaction, talking cheerfully throughout the long drive. He recounted many anecdotes of Eskew, chuckling over most of them, though filled with wonder by a coincidence which he and Flitcroft had

and I got to talkin' it over, out on his porch, last night, tryin' to rec'lect what was goin' on about then, and we figgered it out th

range and unreasonable pain. The young minister had lived in Canaan only a few months, and Joe had never seen him until that morning; but he liked the short, honest talk he had made; liked his cadenceless voice and keen, dark face; and, recalling what he had heard Martin Pike vociferating in his brougham

as to lie beside a brother who had died long ago. He let the minister help Ariel out, going quickly forward himself with Buckalew; a

y seated and waiting. "Aren't you going to

. "I have to talk with Norbert Flitcro

ves, continuing earnestly until Joe spoke to the driver and alighted at a corner, near Mr. Farbach's Italian possessi

he Pike Mansion, rising above the maples do

ive others were prosperous owners of saloons; two were known to the public (whose notion of what it meant when it used the term was something of the vaguest) as politicians; the fifth was Mr. Farbach's closest friend, one who (Joe had heard) was to be the nex

t the head of the table. He looked thinner and paler than usual, which is saying a great deal; but presently, finding that the fateful hush whic

ntlemen?"

n his chair, gnawing his cigar, crossing and uncrossing his knees, rubbing and slapping his hands together, clearing his throat with violence, his eyes fixed all the while, as were those of his companions, up

lacidly, "you are der

hat?" asked the y

er his waistcoat, that being as near folding his hands as lay within hi

breath. "Why d

l you." He paused to contemplate his cigar. "We want

kind of man you're looking for. If I went in-" He hesitated, stammering. "It seems an ungra

nt to holt der parsly in power, we shoult be a leetle ahead off dot mofement so, when it shoult be here, we hef a goot 'minadstration to fall beck on. Now, dere iss anoder brewery opened und trying to gombete mit me here in Canaan. If dot brewery owns der Mayor, all der tsaloons buying my bier must shut up at 'leven o'glock und Sundays, but der oders keep open. If I own der Mayor, I make der same against dot oder brewery. Now I am pooty sick off dot ways off bitsness und fighting all times. Also," Mr. Farbach added, with magnificent calmness, "my trade iss larchly owitside off Canaan, und it iss bedder dot here der laws shoult be enforced der same fer all. Litsen, Choe; all us here beliefs der same wa

side of what is called the saloon element-do you

Mr. Farbach returned, peacef

tself the most respectable section?" He rose to his feet, standing straight and

, with mildness, "we got some p

in Mr. Sheehan, g

Joe leaned forward and touch

. Farbach. "All of u

f confirmation from the oth

nce which will be against me, and more against me now, I should tell you, than ever before? That influence, I mean, which is striving

where he begins to git what's comin' to him! What d'ye stand there pickin' straws fer? What's the matter with ye?" he demanded, angrily, his violence tenfold increased by the

think you underestima

ever had-and his tracks covered up in the dark wherever he set his ugly foot down. These men know it, and you know some, but not the worst

him off, "and of all who take their opi

wed the deed he didn't dare to git recorded! Waugh!" He shouted again, with bitter laughter. "Ye do! In the eyes o' them as follow Martin Pike ye stand fer th

rply. "If they could wipe the Be

ehan, while the others, open-mouthed

to tell you th

and descended crashing upon it. "It's a damn l

X

ROSS THE COU

whisper of scandal arose. But not upon them did the glances of the members of the bar and the journalists with tender frequency linger; nor were the younger members of these two professions all who gazed that way. Joe had fought out the selection of the jury with the prosecutor at great length and with infinite pains; it was not a young jury,

ive line; you would have thought no one could willingly coop himself in this hot room for three hours, twice a day, while lawyers wrangled, often unintell

d, faced "an array of legal talent such as seldom indeed had hollered at this bar"; faced it good-naturedly, an eyebrow crooked up and his head on one side, most of the time, yet faced it indomitably. He had a certain careless and disarming smile when he lost a point, which carried off the defeat as of only humorous account and not at all part of the serious business in hand; and in his treatment of witnesses, he was plausible, kindly, knowing that in this case he had no intending perjurer to entrap; brought into play the rare and delicate art of which he was a master, employing in his questi

rding her replies with fervent protestations (too quick to be prevented) that she "never meant to bring no trouble to Mr. Fear" and that she "did hate to have gen'lemen starting things on her account." When the defence took this perturbed witness, her interpolations became less frequent, and she described straightforwardly how she had found the pistol on the floor near the prostrate figure of Cory, and hidden it in her own dress. The attorneys for the State listened with a somewhat cynical amusement to this portion of her testimony, believing it of no account, uncorroborated, and that if necessary the State could impeach the witness on the ground that it had been indispensable to produce her. She came down weeping from the stand; and, the next witness not being immed

uainted with the dead man, and there began to be an uneasy comprehension of what Joe had accomplished during that prolonged absence of his which had so nearly cost the life of the little mongrel, who was at present (most blissful Respectability!) a lively convalescent in Ariel's back yard. The second witness also identified the revolver, te

He would first attempt, so he had declared, to incite an attack upon himself by playing upon the jealousy of his victim, having already made a tentative effort in that direction. Failing in this, he would fall back upon one of a dozen schemes (for he was ready in such matters, he bragged), the most likely of which would be to play the peacemaker; he would talk of his good intentions toward his enemy, speaking publicly of him in friendly and gentle ways; then, getting at him secretly, destroy him in such a fashi

ly. The indignant Judge fixed the Colonel, Peter Bradbury, and Squire Buckalew with his glittering eye, yet the hammering continued unabated; and the offenders surely would have been conducted forth in ignominy, had not gallantry prevailed, even in that formal place. The Judge,

s he and his friends feared, the verdict might possibly be neither in accordance with the law, the

it was strongly exerted against Happy Fear. The Tocsin had always been a powerful agent; Judge Pike had increased its strength with a staff which was thoroughly efficient, alert, and always able to strike centre with the paper's readers; and in town and country it had absorbed t

ighteousness and wisdom in the world. Consequently, stirred by the outbursts of the paper, they came into Canaan in great numbers, and though the pressure from the town itself was so

the Tocsin as the law and the prophets. There were even a few who dared to wonder in their hearts if there had not been a mistake about Joe Louden; and although Mrs. Flitcroft weakened not, the relatives of Squire Buckalew and of Peter Bradbury began to hold up their heads a little, after having made home horrible for those gentlemen and reproached them with their conversion as the last word of senile shame. In addition, the Colonel's grandson and Mr. Bra

erks; one of the latter being a pimply faced young man (lately from the doctor's hands), who limped, and would limp for the rest of his

he possession of supreme capacity in wit, strength, dexterity, and amours; the dirty handkerchief under the collar; the short black coat always double-breasted; the eyelids sooty; one cheek always bulged; the forehead speckled; the lips cracked; horrible teeth; and the affectation of possessing secret information upon all matters of the universe; above all, the instinct of finding the shortest way to any scene of official interest to the policeman, fireman, or ambulance surgeon,-a singular being, not professional

r dinner, a large crowd followed and surrounded them, until they reached the doors of the hotel. "Don't let Lawyer Louden bamboozle you!" "Hang him!" "Tar and feathers fer ye ef ye don't hang him!" These were the mildest threats, and Joe Louden, watching from an upper window of the Court-house, observed with

ss in which he now stood, his loyalty to Joe and his resentment of whatever tampered with Claudine's straightness. He was submissive to the consequences: he was still loyal. And now Joe asked him to tell "just what happened," and Happy obeyed with crystal clearness. Throughout the long, tricky cross-examination he continued to tell "just what happened" with a plaintive truthfulness not to be imitated, and throughout it Joe guarded him from pitfalls (for lawyers in their search after truth are compelled by the exigencies of their profession to make pitfalls even for the honest), and gave him, by vario

, "I don't mean that exactly. I've got an old u

it," returned the other, smilin

ed to the yard,-and the visitor, looking down upon

pers at a desk inside the bar. This took him perhaps five minutes, and when he had finished there were only three people left in the room: a clerk, a negro janitor with a broom, and the darky friend who always hopefully accompanie

ampaign open up good. Dey all goin' vote yo' way, down on the levee bank, but dey

e floor below, a loud burst of angry shouting, outside the building, caused him to hasten toward the big front doors which faced Main Street.

l, the crowd centring upon an agitated whirlpool of men which moved slowly toward a door in the high wall that enclosed the building; and Joe saw that Happy Fear's guards, conducting the prisoner back to his cell, were being j

were outside-baffled, ugly, and stirred wit

e stood alone at the top of the steps, and

toward the street, and he was somewhat fixedly watching Mr. Ladew extricate Ariel (and her aged and indignant escorts) from an overfl

" he screame

turned toward the steps. "Tar and feather him!" "Take him

ffect. Joe walked quietly down the steps and toward the advancing mob with his head cocked to o

e of papers in his hands, and then-while the non-partisan spectators hel

steps. The man next behind him followed his lead, with the same shout, strategy, and haste; then the others of this advance attack, finding themselves confronting the quiet man, who kept his even pace and showed no intention of turning aside for them, turned suddenly aside for HIM, and, taking the cue from

aused to marvel no less at the disconcerting advance of the lawyer than at the spectacle presented by the intrepid dare-devils upon the steps; a kind of lane actually opening before the young man as he walked steadily on. And when Mr.

AD HIM OFF!" which was to become a catch-word on the streets, a taunt more stinging than any devised by deliberate invention, an insult bitterer than the ancestral doubt, a fighting-word,

X

E KEEPS AN

approach the house. He was a thin young fellow, very well dressed in dark gray, his hair prematurely somewhat silvered, his face prematu

he Judge had hastened to meet him. Not, however, with any fulsomely hospitable intent; his hand and arm were raised t

mly at the big figur

his voice which caused the uplifted hand to drop limply; while the look of apprehension which of late had g

to set foot upon my p

ed Joe. "That

ss have you

he open door-"and that is to talk about it here-for your own sake and because I think Miss

own, glancing about him nervously as though he feared that his wife or Mamie might hear. "My ac

"No. You must be the

he broke out. "You slanderer, do you suppose I haven't heard how you're going about traducing me, und

roperty worse than the Beach; I know that you own half of the worst dens in the town: profitable investments, too. You bought them very gradually and craftily, only showing the deeds to those in charge-as you did to Mike Sheehan, and not recording them. Sh

h, oddly enough, there was a kind of haggard hopefulness. "And out of such stories," h

pieces I've mentioned are about all you have not mortgaged. You couldn't do that without exposure, and you've kept a controlling interest in the Tocs

ed from Pike's face during this speech, but he asked

f the law. You were the custodian of that stock for Roger Tabor; it was transferred in blank; though I think you meant to be 'legal' at that time, and that was merely for convenience in case Roger had wished you to sell it for him. But just after his death you found yourself saddled with distillery stock, which was going bad on your hands. Other speculations of yours were failing at the same time; you had to have money-you filed your report as administrator, crediting Miss Tabor with your own stock which you knew was going to the wall, and transferred hers to yourself. Then you sold it because

twenty thousand dollars out of the goodness of your heart? Do you think SHE believed you? It was the very proof to her that you had robbed her. For she knew you! Do you want to hear more now? Do yo

nd uncertainly and dropped it, while a thick dew gathered on

l come?"

at that the other turned quickly from

rden. Ladew was with her, though upon the point of taking his leave, and Joe marked (with

t, and it was even finer in one way than it was plucky. It somehow straightened things out with

was," s

acted as if they thought so! And I hope

dew's word of farewell had covered a deep look at Ariel, which was not to be mistaken by Joseph Louden for anything other than what it was: the clergyman's s

he said more to me

probable," Joe sm

anything so fine as your coming down those steps. Ah, he was right! But it was harder for me to watch you, I think, than

pressed her hand c

lowly. "You mean y

and Mr. Buckalew, too-we were hemmed in together when Mr. Ladew found us-and, oh, Joe, when that cowardly rush started toward you, those

they wer

veness! All three begged my pardon after

eg Mr. Lade

he told me that Judge Pike has been against him from the start. It seems that Mr. Ladew is too liberal in his views. And he told me that if it were not for Judge

to stay,

houghtfully, "I want you to do something for me.

ar Mr.

dn't ask exc

nsented, with aver

smile she gave him. "It will

ken from his pocket. "Will you listen to these memorand

ent, and turf, with sunshine smeared over all, flickered upon the retinas of his eyes; but the brain did not accept the picture from the optic nerve. Martin Pike was busy with

s and Canaan. At least, that is what the Judge had told himself at the time, though it may be that some lurking whisperer in his soul had hinted that it might be well to preserve the great amount of cash in hand, and Roger's stock was practically that. Then came the evil days. Laboriously, he had built up a name for conservatism which most of the town accepted, but secretly he had always been a gambler: Wall Street was his goal; to adventure there, as one of the great single-eyed Cyclopean

it! But Martin Pike had not dreamed that; had dreamed nothing. When failure confronted him his mind refused to consider anything but his vital need at the time, and he had supplied that need. And now he grew busy with the future: he saw first the civil suit for restitution, pressed with the ferocity and cunning of one who intended to satisfy a grudge of years; then, perhaps, a criminal prosecution.... But he would fight it! Did they think that such a man was to be overthrown by a breath of air? By a girl, a bank-clerk, and a

ter all these years? And yet ... curious, indeed, the eyes! ... a zebra.... Who ever heard of a deer with stripes? The big hand rose from the eyes a

an would not have missed the chance of looking in to bow-with proper deference, too! Did he know? He could not know THIS! It must be the Beaver Beach scandal.

with her upon various household matters; then entered the library, which was his workroom. He locked the door; tried it, and shook the handle. After satisfying himself of its security, he pulled down the window-shades carefully, and, lighting a gas drop-lamp upon his desk, began to fumble with various documents, which he took from a small safe near by. But his hands were not st

it's supp

: "Yes, I know. You and Mamie go ahead. I'm

upon him as he answered his wife they would have seen a strange thing; he sat, apparently steady and collected, his expression cool, his body

htn't to work so hard

cheerfully. "You can leave some

mantel-piece had tinkled once. It was half-past seven. He took a sheet of note-paper from a box before him and began to write, but when he had finished the words, "My dear wife and Mamie," his fingers s

Then he took the weapon in both hands, the handle against his fingers, one thumb against the trigger, and, shaking with nausea, lifted it to the level o

-door. He walked shamblingly, when he reached the street, keeping close to the fences

e he had never failed to keep a business engagement precisely upon the appointed time, and the

alt. Big as he was, his clothes hung upon him loosely, like coverlets upon a collapsed bed; and he seemed but a distorted image of himself, as if (save for the dull and reddened eyes) he had been made of yellowish wax and had been left too lo

rokenly, "what are

everal moments. Then he rose and came forward. "Sit

X

URY C

the passing of Eskew, and, her rheumatism having improved so that she could leave her chair, she had become a sort of walking serial; Norbert and his grandfather being well assured that, whenever they left the house, the same story was to be cont

lifted her first spoonful of oatm

ded Norbert, who was almo

better read it!" she

aid the Colonel, pr

Buckalew and old Peter don't go and hold that Happy Fear's hand durin' the trial! And as for Joe Louden, his step-mother's own sister, Jane, says to me only yesterday afternoon, 'Why,

inquired the Colonel, in a manner which indicated t

admitted Mrs. Flitcroft, "but that was the sense of 'em! Y

we

d like to know what Judge Pike thinks of you and Norbert! I sh

id Norbert, coldly, "ever since

et!" returned his grandmot

Norbert wagged his head. "You may be a l

n half the town acts like it's gone crazy. People PRAISIN' that fellow, that nobody in their sober minds and senses never in their lives had a good word for before! Why, there was more talk yesterd

it saying it?" asked t

he community to be despised. You let me have that paper a minute," she pursued, vehemently; "you just l

rt, suddenly handing he

ngle glance the two gentlemen

ehavior of a Would-Be Mob. Louden's-'" She paused, removed her spectacles, examined them dubiously, restored them to place

id the Colo

en I see it? Ha, ha!" She laughed with great heartiness. "I reckon I WILL go

nted order, and the bottom has fallen out of the case for the State, while a verdict of Not Guilty, it is now conceded, is the general wish of those who have attended and followed the trial. But the most interesting event of the day t

he Colonel. "There'

suggested Norbert. "There'

sion is good for the soul. The Tocsin has changed its mind in regard to certain matters, and means to say so freely and frankly. After yesterday's events in connection with the murder trial before our public, the evidence being now all presented, for we understand that neither side has more to offer, it is generally conceded that all good citizens are hopeful of a verdict of acquittal; and the Tocsin is a good citizen. No good citizen would willingly see an innocent man punished, and that our city is not to

el began, "that the Tocsin doesn

ce lighting up with cruelty. "Let's see-where were you? Oh yes

ior of an aged man and his grandson left alone

though not better) men than the Colonel. Mr. Farbach and his lieutenants smiled, yet stared, amazed, wonder

part of the Jud

under the lamp in Roger's old studio, while Martin Pike listened with his head in his hands, "make up what Miss Tabor is wil

litcroft," said Pike

urt,' and even if he were disposed to harass you, he could hardly hope

t word. "Yes-yes, I know; b

lved, but far from stripped; in time you may be as sound as ever. And if Norbert tells, there's nothing for you to do but to

oe might find her fan upon the porch, and as he departed, whispered hurriedly: "Judge Pike,

ered. "You mean about L

I have take

l that chang

ly. "From this inst

is eyes wearily with big thumbs. "I'm through fighting. I'm d

briskly, "we'll go over the list of th

f the Judge which he had not dared to mortgage. Joe had somehow explained their n

ou see?" she cried to Joe, eagerly. "It's my work!" She resolutely set aside every ot

confidential, nor seem so secure of understanding beforehand what their verdict would be that they felt an instinctive desire to fool him. He talked colloquially but clearly, without appeal to the pathetic and without garnitures, not mentioning sunsets, birds, oce

effort, but he always succeeded. The sight of the pale and worshipping face of Happy Fear from the corner of his eye was enough to insure that. And people wh

erity, the jury listening eagerly, stopped for a moment to take a swallow of water. A voice rose over the low hum of the crowd in a delirious chuckle: "Why don't somebody 'HEAD HIM OFF!'" The room instantly

looked pathetically at the foreman and then at the face of his lawyer and began to shake violently, but not with fright. He had gone to the jail on Joe's word, as a good dog goes where his master bi

e man was

it in words, for he had "broken down" with sheer gratitude. "Why, damn ME, Joe," he sobbed, "if ever I-if ever you-well, by God! if you ever-"

he had followed Happy, and so had Ariel and Ladew, both, necessarily, rather hurriedly. But in the corridors he found, when he came out of the anteroom, clients, acquaintanc

owed him sence he was that high! SMART little

nal House" clerk, proving his prophetic vision

there were as many people in the yard as there had been when he stood in the same place and watched the mob rushing his client's guards. But to-day their temper was different, and as he paused a mo

ies, and the anxious inquirer was informed by four or five

increased, and with good reason, for he stepped quickly back within the doors;

crowd, he had to stop and shake hands with every third person he me

offered his hand. They shook, briefly. "Well,

t, father

d with th

to please if I wer

rd again. "I was there,"

trial, y

ore, and again they shook. "Well,

you.

Mr. Louden, "

day, f

Far up the street he saw two figures, one a lady's, in white, with a wide white hat; the

oe; but in all his life he never s

X

NT OF

night whence they had come, and returned to the imperceptible, leaving their shadows in his heart. Slowly he rose, stumbled into the outer room, and released the fluttering sh

r of far, green thickets and the twinkle of silver-slippered creeks shimmered in the longing vision of their minds' eyes; even so, they were merry. But Joseph Louden,

y active consciousness, or care, of where he went. He had fallen into a profound reverie, so deep that when he had crossed the bridge and turned into a dusty road which ran along the river-bank, he stopped

ks burned, as he recalled why he had not understood the clear voice that had haunted him. But that shame had fallen from him; she had changed all that, as she had changed so

changed the whole world for Joseph Louden-at his first sight of her! And now

he should stay in Canaan could happen to him. He was sure that she was but for the

gentle protection, and then saw them lifted to bear the angel beyond his sight. For it was incredible that the gods so

so many

on that thought he got to his feet, uttering an exclamation of bitter self-reproach, asking himself angrily what he was doing. He knew how much she gave him, what full measure of her

the street with his head up, smiling, and his shoulders

s of the beautiful day he made his own. She had not worn it since, and he was far distant when he caught the first flickering glimpse of her through the lower branches of the maples,

the sun-flecked pavement, the maples swishing above them, heavier branches crooning in the strong breeze, under a sky like a Della Robbia background

ad sunshine beyond Upper Main Street, there was the faint

said, "I'm

urned, heartily. "I th

at Mr. Arp could have lived to see

aid Joe. "I can he

en have been so l

urned; "loya

up; they haven't met on the National House corner since he d

Eskew in his old chair. I went there last night to commune with him. I couldn't sleep, and I got up,

with him?

ou

sked, plainl

ed, cheerfully, "or a friendly word, perhaps

t wa

pretend not to be as full of meanness as I reall

happy last

t," he said, quickly

he broke into a little laugh of

ht with her again; that is, I think it will be. Eugene is coming home. And," she added, thoughtfully, "it will be best for

appeared. "And has com

aring for. She has always thought that his leaving the Tocsin in the way he did

there ever to come a time when either he or Mamie would understand what things had determined the departure of Eugene Bantry; though Mamie never question

d groups, bound churchward; and the rumble of the organ, playing the people into their pews, shook on the air. And Joe

sual cheerfulness, but it would do nothing fo

im quickly, and

es

ch for the first time in two years!" He managed to laugh, though with some ruefulness, a

asked, a little c

Lad

aight ahead. "That is one reason why

l you-" He broke off for a second. "You rememb

I reme

troubled you because it-it sound

. "You didn't understand. You'd been in my mind, you see, all those years, so much

o!" he

the same feeling for you that I always had-always! I had never cared so much for any one else, and it seemed to me the most necessary thing in my life to come back to that old companionship-

e gasped,

ou forg

the dear kindness of you isn't thrown away on me; I want you to know what I began to say: that it's

ve

air to me, if you trust me. You

ess. After having said this, she finished truthfully: "If h

you're not

d in her voice since that long-ago winter day when she struck Eugene Bantry with

ing vision of her love, fell the burden of him who had made h

whisperings; but Joe was not conscious of that, as he took his place in Ariel's pew bes

ose to

, Who sittest, t

ees are bent,

st the wide worl

life since Eden

friends of Eskew Arp; and beyond was the silver hair of Martin Pike, who knel

re stood angels and saints in gentle colors, and the face of the you

e to do that if, when they come at you, you do not turn one inch aside, but with an assured heart, with good nature, not noisily, and with steadfastness, you ke

ctions had furnished the underlying theme of a sermon, and he had recognized himself without difficulty: to-day he had not the shadow of a

his hands, looking down upon them, his thin cheeks a little flushed. And at that, and not knowing the glory that was in his soul, something forl

gloves, Joe,"