The Further Adventures of Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks
by
Charles Felton Pidgin
Part 1 out of 6
Produced by Charles Franks
[Illustration: "HE LOOKED UP, SUDDENLY, AND SAW A PRETTY GIRL,
DRESSED IN PICTURESQUE ITALIAN COSTUME."]
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF QUINCY ADAMS SAWYER AND MASON'S CORNER
FOLKS
A Novel By Charles Felton Pidgin Author of "Quincy Adams Sawyer,"
"Blennerhassett," "Stephen Holton," etc.
Illustrated by Henry Roth [Illustration]
1909
To My Daughter Dora
Preface
Eight years ago, "Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks" was
published, being heralded, truthfully, as the work of an "unknown
author." It met with favour from reviewers and the reading public. My
pleasantest souvenirs are hundreds of letters, from personally
unknown correspondents, wishing to know more about "Quincy" and the
other characters in my first story.
I know that few, if any, "sequels" are considered as interesting as
the original work, and an author, to a certain extent, tempts fate in
writing one. But if we visit friends and have a pleasant time there
seems to be no reason why another invitation should not be accepted.
So, if a book pleases its readers, and the characters therein become
their friends, why should not these readers be invited to renew their
acquaintance?
They may not enjoy themselves as much as at their first visit, but
that is the unavoidable result of repetition. The human mind craves
novelty, and, perhaps, the reader will find it, after all, within
these pages.
C. F. P.
WIDEVIEW FARM, BELMONT, MASS. August, 1908.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
I. THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH
II. A DAY WITH THE GOVERNOR
III. A VACATION AT FERNBOROUGH
IV. THE HAWKINS HOUSE
V. 'ZEKE PETTINGILL'S FARM
VI. "JUST LIKE OLD TIMES"
VII. STROUT AND MAXWELL'S GROCERY
VIII. UNCLE IKE AND OTHERS
IX. A "STORY" SERMON
X. THE RAISED CHECK
XL. THE WRECK OF THE _ALTONIA_
XII. FERNBOROUGH HALL
XIII. "HORNABY HOOK"
XIV. AN AMERICAN HEIRESS
XV. AN ELOPEMENT
XVI. YOUNG QUINCY
XVII. HIS FATHER'S FRIENDS
XVIII. AN OLD STRIFE RENEWED
XIX. BOYHOOD TO MANHOOD
XX. MARY DANA
XXI. AT HARVARD
XXII. ALICE'S DREAM
XXIII. "BY THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE"
XXIV. "WE THREE"
XXV. A PERIOD OF TWENTY-THREE YEARS
XXVI. "CATESSA"
XXVII. O. STROUT. FINE GROCIERIES
XXVIII. THE HOME COMING
XXIX. THE FINAL CONFLICT
XXX. TOM, JACK AND NED
XXXI. THE GREAT ISBURN RUBY
XXXII. "IT WAS SO SUDDEN"
The Further Adventures of Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner
Folks
CHAPTER I
THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH
When the applause had subsided, Governor Sawyer began to speak.
"My Friends and Fellow Citizens: When I stood before the
representatives chosen by the people, and an audience composed of the
most eminent men and women in the State, and took the oath to support
the constitution of my native State and that of my country, my heart
was filled with what I deemed an honest pride. My fellow citizens had
chosen me to fill the most exalted position in their power to bestow,
and when the Secretary of the Commonwealth uttered the well-known
words which your toastmaster has just repeated--God save the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts--I felt in every fibre of my body that
I would be true to my oath and to the people who had shown their
confidence in me.
"But the satisfaction I felt on that occasion was no greater than
that which I experience to-night. I came among you entirely unknown.
I have heard that some wondered whether I was a city swell, what my
business was, what led me to choose your town for a vacation, and how
long that vacation was to be, especially as I came in the winter when
country life is popularly, but erroneously, supposed to be dull.
"By some I was welcomed,--others--I don't blame them--refused to
extend to me the hand of fellowship. But, I liked some of your people
so well--and one in particular"--all eyes were turned towards his
wife, who bore the scrutiny bravely--"that I determined to stay--and
I did."
Hiram Maxwell could not forget past events in which he had figured
prominently and cried, "Three cheers for Quincy Adams Sawyer," which
were given with a will, and accompanied by many expressions of
approval in the shape of clapping of hands, pounding of canes, and
stamping of thick-soled boots. The Governor continued his remarks.
"I staid so long that I might have become a voter. I did not, but
besides my native city of Boston, I shall always render my allegiance
to this town, which turned the current of my life into such happy
channels.
"I will not weary you with a long speech."
Cries of "Go on," "We can stand it," came from all parts of the hall,
and Mrs. Hawkins said to Olive Green, "He's a beautiful speaker. I
could listen to him all night if it wa'n't for gettin' breakfast for
my boarders. My bread didn't ris worth a cent, and I've got to git up
airly and make biscuits."
His Excellency went on, "I want you to make Fernborough, the Mason's
Corner of five years ago, a beautiful town--more beautiful than it is
now." Make good, wide roads, don't call them streets, and have wide
tires on your wagons to preserve them. Plant trees both for grateful
shade and natural beauty. Support your Village Improvement Society by
suggestions and contributions. Attend town meeting regularly, be
economical but not stingy in your appropriations, pay good salaries
and wages for honest service. Be partisans if you wish, in State and
National elections, but in choosing your town servants, get the best
men regardless of politics.
"Support and constantly aim to elevate the standard of education in
your schools, and remember that the mother and the teacher are the
makers of those who are to rule in the future.
"Do these things, and you will make Fernborough a worthy member of
that galaxy of communities which represents the civic virtues and
possibilities in the highest degree--our New England towns, in which
the government is by the people, of the people, and for the people,
and may God grant that these bulwarks of our freedom may ever be
preserved."
It was decided by the committee to have a reception in the
Selectmen's room. It was conveniently arranged for such a purpose,
having a door at either end, besides the double one near the middle.
At the request of Selectman and Toastmaster Strout, the Governor and
his wife and the Countess of Sussex, formerly Lindy Putnam, stood in
line to greet the citizens of Fernborough.
First came Benoni Hill, who had increased in rotundity since selling
his grocery store and giving up an active life.
"How much is flour a barrel?" asked Quincy as he shook hands with
him.
"When I kept the store myself everything I wanted I got at wholesale,
but now your partners charge me full price."
"That's right," said Quincy. "You got a good price for the store, and
now we're trying to get some of it back," and he laughed heartily as
he extended his hand to young Samuel Hill. His wife, the former Miss
Tilly James, was with him.
"I am pleased to meet a lion-tamer," said Tilly.
"I never saw a live one," said Quincy, somewhat puzzled by the
remark.
"Oh, yes, you have. Our local lion, Obadiah Strout, is as tame as a
dove, and we owe it to you."
"If I remember aright, a certain Miss Tilly James aided me when I
gave the first lesson."
"Oh! you mean the time you whistled 'Listen to the Mocking Bird.' I
wish you had repeated it to-night."
Cobb's Twins, William and James, with their wives, were next in line.
"How's farming?" asked Quincy.
"Bill and I," said James, "spend most of our time on our own places,
but we help 'Zeke and Hiram out on their hayin' an' potato diggin'."
"Samantha," said Quincy, addressing Mrs. James Cobb, "do you remember
the first time I came to see Miss Putnam?"
"Oh, yes, I'd heard about you goin' round with Huldy Mason. Didn't I
laugh when I showed you into Aunt Heppy's room? She did the hearin'
for both of 'em, for you remember her husband, Silas, was as deaf as
a stone post."
"Mrs. Putnam found out all about me before I got away. I shall never
forget what she told me about her husband sitting on the ridge pole
of the barn, blowing his horn, and waiting for Gabriel to come for
him."
As Robert Wood came up, Quincy stepped from the line to greet him.
"Your hand ain't quite as hard as it was five years ago," said
Robert.
"No, I'm out of practice. You could handle me now."
"It cost me two dollars to get my watch fixed," said Robert,
irrelevantly.
"I was on time in that affair," said Quincy, conscious, when too
late, that he had wasted a pun on an obtuse individual. "Are you
still carpentering?"
"Yes. Lots of new houses going up, and Ben Bates and me have all we
can handle. Here, Ben, come here. The Governor's askin' 'bout you."
Benjamin Bates was rather diffident, and had been holding back, but
at Bob's invitation came forward.
"How d'ye do, Governor?" was his salutation. Diffidence when forced
to action often verges on forwardness.
"Glad to meet you again," said Quincy. "Robert says they keep you
busy."
"Yes, we don't have so many resting spells now they use donkey
engines as we did when Pat or Mike had to climb the ladder."
"The march of improvement forces us all into line," said Quincy as he
greeted Miss Seraphina Cotton.
"Teaching school, now, Miss Cotton?"
"No, your Excellency, I am fortunately relieved from what became,
near the end of my long years of service, an intolerable drudgery.
Teaching American children to talk English is one thing, but teaching
French Canadians, Poles, Germans, Russians, Italians, and Greeks was
quite a different proposition."
"And yet it is a most important work," said Quincy--"making good
citizens from these various nationalities. America, to-day, is like a
large garden, with a great variety of flowers from foreign stalks."
Miss Cotton smiled somewhat satirically. "I'm afraid, your
Excellency, if you'd ever been a school teacher, you'd have found
many weeds in the garden."
"But how did you gain your freedom?" asked Quincy. "Did they pension
you?"
"Oh, no. An uncle died out West and left me enough with which to buy
an annuity. I board with the Reverend Mr. Howe. You remember him?"
"Why, certainly, I do. And here's his son, Emmanuel--have I got the
name right?"
"Yes, Governor, just right as to sound. I spell it with an 'E' and
two M's," said young Mr. Howe, as Miss Cotton moved on to tell of her
good fortune to Alice and Linda.
"How's your father, now? Does he preach every Sunday?"
"Reg'lar as clock work. Of course I couldn't tell everybody, but I
reckon he's using some old sermons that he wrote forty years ago, but
the young ones never heard them, and the old ones have forgotten."
Quincy laughed. Ministers' sons are seldom appalled by worldly ways
and, quite often, adopt them.
"This is Arthur Scates," said Mr. Strout, as he presented a young man
with sunken cheeks, hollow eyes, and an emaciated body. "He ain't
enjoyin' the best of health."
"Ah, I remember," said Quincy. "You are the young man who was to sing
at the concert when I first came here. I took your place, and that
act turned out to be the most important one in my life. I owe much of
my present happiness to you. What is your trouble?"
"My lungs are affected. I have lost my voice and cannot sing. I had
counted on becoming an opera singer."
"Why do you not go to one of the out-door hospitals for treatment?"
The young man's face flushed, and he remained silent.
"Pardon me," said Quincy. "I understand. Come to Boston next week, to
the State House, and I will see that you have the best of treatment."
"Wall, Mr. Sawyer, it does one's eyes good to set 'em on you again.
This is Olive Green,--you remember her sister Betsey worked for me
when you was one of my boarders." The woman's voice was loud and
strident, and filled the room.
"Mrs. Hawkins, I shall never forget you and Miss Betsey Green, and
how you both tried to make my stay with you a pleasant one."
"You've put on consid'rable flesh since I saw yer last. Guess you've
been taking your meals reg'lar, which you never did when you lived
with me. But your market's made now, and that makes the difference.
They say folks in love have poor appetites." She laughed loudly, and
stopped only when Olive put a restraining hand on her arm. "I hope
Alice is a good cook, but she never had much chance to learn."
Quincy thought it was time to change the subject. "How's Mr.
Hawkins?"
"I tell him he's just as lazy as ever. He's kalkerlatin' on getting
three good broods of chickens. He's gone on chickens. He wanted to
come tonight, but we've lots of boarders, and they're allus wantin'
ice water or somethin' else, and so I told him he'd got to stay to
home. You'll have plenty of time to see him to-morrer."
Many others greeted the Governor and his right hand felt the effect
of so many hearty grips, some of them of the horny-handed variety.
The Cottonton Brass Band was now stationed in the hall, and a short
concert closed the evening's entertainment, which was allowed, by
all, to be the most high-toned affair ever given in the town.
As Quincy laid his head upon his pillow that night, his mind reverted
to his first arrival at Mason's Corner, and the events that had taken
place since.
"Alice, five years ago, could your wildest imagination have conjured
up such an evening as this?"
"No, Quincy. What has taken place in our lives is truly wonderful. My
daily prayer is that these happy days may last."
CHAPTER II
A DAY WITH THE GOVERNOR
Governor Sawyer sat in the Executive Chamber at the State House. It
was eleven o'clock on the morning following the festivities at
Fernborough. Quincy and Alice had staid over night at the Hawkins'
House, and Ezekiel in the morning urged them strongly to wait a day
and see what great improvements he had made on the old farm which had
been so neglected during the last years of Mrs. Putnam's life. But
Quincy said his presence in Boston was imperative, that certain
matters required his attention, and so the earliest train brought him
and his wife to the city. Quincy left the carriage under the arch at
the State House.
Alice was driven to the well-known house on Mount Vernon Street, in
which Aunt Ella had lived so long, but which had lost much of its
cheerfulness, and all of its Bohemianism since that lady had gone to
England and become Lady Fernborough.
The Executive Chamber was a large room, and simply furnished with a
flat top desk of wine-red mahogany, a bookcase, and a few chairs. A
door to the left led to the office of the private secretary; the one
to the right to a short and narrow corridor across which was the door
of the Council Chamber--a room occupied by that last link between
democratic and aristocratic government. It must not be inferred that
the members of the Council are aristocrats--far from it, but with the
lieutenant-governor they form a "house of lords" which may or may not
agree with the policies of the chief magistrate. They can aid him
greatly, or they can "clip his wings" and materially curb his freedom
of action. The Council is a relic of the old provincial and colonial
days, its inherited aristocratic body clothed in democratic garments.
As its duties could be performed by the Senate without loss of
dignity, and with pecuniary saving, its retention as a part of the
body politic is due to the "let well enough alone" policy of the
American citizen which has supplanted the militant, progressive
democracy of his forefathers.
At the end of the short corridor was the office of the Executive
Secretary and his stenographer from which, through an opening hung
with portieres, one passed into the general reception room where the
faithful messenger stood guard, authorized to learn the business of
each new-comer.
The private secretary had opened the mail and had assorted it as
"ordinary," "important," and "most important." For an hour the
Governor dictated steadily, and it would take several hours' clicking
of the typewriter before the letters and documents were ready for his
signature.
The waiting-room was now filled with persons desiring audience with
his Excellency. A well-known city lawyer and ward politician was the
first to enter.
"Good-morning, Guv'nor."
The Governor arose, came forward, and extended his hand. "Good-
morning, Mr. Nutting."
"Are you going to send in the names of the Industrial Expansion
Committee to-day?"
"I have intended to do so."
"Well, I want to say a good word for Mr. Collingwood. He is promoting
a company to develop water power on the Upper Connecticut above
Holyoke. He is a client of mine, and I can vouch for his business
ability and his desire to improve and increase our manufacturing
facilities."
The Governor was silent for a time. He was busily thinking. No doubt
this Mr. Collingwood was concerned financially, indirectly if not
directly, in the proposed company he was promoting, and perhaps Mr.
Nutting himself would profit far beyond his normal legal fee if Mr.
Collingwood was named on the commission. Mr. Nutting noticed the
delay of his Excellency in replying.
"It will be all right if you send his name in. There will be no doubt
of his confirmation."
Again the Governor thought. The four wheels of the executive coach
were in good order, but, apparently, the fifth wheel had been put in
condition for use, if it became necessary.
"Here are Mr. Collingwood's endorsements," said Mr. Nutting, as he
placed a large packet of papers on the governor's desk.
"Thank you, Mr. Nutting. I will give them consideration."
Mr. Nutting withdrew, and the lieutenant-governor, who had arrived
late, was given precedence over the others in the reception room.
After the customary salutations, the lieutenant-governor seated
himself in the governor's chair, which Quincy had temporarily
vacated, and lighted a cigar.
"Are you going to send in Venton's name?"
"He is inexperienced."
"I know it, but he'll learn. If, following precedent, I become your
successor, he will be of great help to me in certain lines."
There was a slight frown on the governor's face. "Mr. Williams, the
present head of the department, has held it for many years, is a most
efficient man, and I have heard no complaints." "I know that," said
his Honour, David Evans, "but he's getting old, and rotation in
office is one of the principles of our Bill of Rights."
"I am well aware of that," said the governor, "but retention in
office for good and efficient service is one of the principles of our
civil service law."
Mr. Evans arose and flicked the ashes from his cigar upon the rich
carpet which covered the floor.
"Am I to understand then that you will renominate Williams? Let me
say now that there is strong opposition to him in the Council and he
may fail of confirmation. Will you send Venton's name in then?"
"I think I should send Mr. Williams' name in again."
"But, suppose he is turned down the second time?" asked Mr. Evans.
"I think I should continue sending in his name until good and
sufficient reasons were given for his rejection. This is not a voting
contest between two nominees. I am convinced Mr. Williams is the best
man for the place. Such being my opinion, to withdraw his name, would
be a self-stultification, and, to speak plainly,"--and his jaw was
firmly set,--"an acknowledgment that the Council is a stronger arm of
the government than the Chief Executive."
Mr. Evans was evidently indignant. "Well, Mr. Venton is backed by men
who contribute heartily for campaign expenses. If you can get along
without their aid this fall have your man Williams," and Mr. Evans
strode from the room with a curt "Good-morning."
The private secretary laid some papers on the governor's desk. The
first one that he examined conferred certain valuable privileges, in
perpetuity, upon a corporation without requiring any compensation for
the franchise. The property thus alienated from public use had been
paid for by the people's money. In response to a vigorous push on an
electric button, the private secretary appeared.
"Send for Senator Downing. I must see him immediately."
His Excellency thought, "How can the people's so-called
representatives give away the property of the people so
indiscriminately? It would not do to mention it, without proof, but I
am convinced that all such public robberies are for private gain. Ah,
good-morning, Senator."
Senator Downing was a short, heavily-built man, with dark hair, black
eyes, and a jaw and chin indicative of bull-dog pertinacity.
"In your bill, Senate 513, I notice that the railroad Company is not
called upon to pay for the great privilege conferred."
"Why should they? It simply gives them a quick connection with tide-
water, and reduced transportation charges means lower prices."
"How will prices be regulated?" was the Governor's query.
"As they always have been," replied the Senator brusquely. "Supply
and demand--"
"And by combinations called trusts," added the Governor. "Cannot some
provision be made by which the Company will pay a yearly rental? It
will reduce the burden of taxation just so much."
"Perhaps if you recommend it, some attention will be given it, but I
should not care to prejudice my political standing by endorsing such
an amendment."
"I will consider the question carefully," said Quincy, wearily, as he
laid down the bill, and Senator Downing departed.
The next bill was what was called "a labour measure." It gave members
of trade unions a right demanded by them, called "peaceful
picketing;" in other words, during a strike, the right to use
argument, persuasion, in fact any rightful inducement to keep a non-
union man from working for the "struck" firm or corporation. The bill
had been passed by a majority of 48 in the House, and by the narrow
margin of one vote in the Senate. A tie had been expected when the
President of the Senate, who was a prominent manufacturer was counted
upon to kill the bill. If the Governor vetoed it, the Senate would
probably sustain the veto, throwing the greater responsibility upon
him, each member voting against the bill sheltering himself behind
the veto. Thus do partisans play politics with the head of their
party. While he was reading the bill the lieutenant-governor was
ushered in again.
"Downing has been talking with me about his bill. He says you are
going to veto it."
"I did not say so. I asked him his reasons for turning over public
property for private use and gain, and he did not seem well-prepared
to answer me."
Mr. Evans replied, "The best reason, to my mind is, that the heaviest
tax payers, members of our party, are all in favour of the bill."
"Are they numerous enough to elect a governor who will do their
bidding?"
"Perhaps not, but their money is powerful enough to do it"--he
paused--"if it becomes necessary."
The Governor arose, and Mr. Evans, influenced by the action, did the
same. The two men faced each other.
"Mr. Evans," and the Governor seemed to increase in stature, "I fully
understand your last remark--if it becomes necessary. You shall have
an open field. I prize the great honour that has been conferred upon
me by placing me here, but I must confess I dislike the duties,
circumscribed as they are by personal and political influences. I can
understand, now, why a ruler wishes to be an autocrat. It is the only
way in which he can make his personality a part of his body. I shall
not be a candidate for re-election this autumn. I wish my personal
freedom of action, and I prize it more than fame or power."
"May I mention your decision to the leaders of the party?"
"If you so desire. From this moment I am to be untrammelled except by
my official oath."
Mr. Evans took his leave, evidently pleased with a part of what he
had heard, and in a short time was closeted with some leading
politicians in a private room of a prominent hotel.
The Governor resumed his reading of the labour bill, but was aroused
from his contemplation of its provisions by the entrance of Mr. Amos
Acton. Mr. Acton was secretary of a manufacturer's association. He
was tall and spare. His hair was sandy in hue, and his mouth twitched
nervously.
"Your Excellency, I came to see you about that picketing bill. If it
becomes a law our manufacturers will be driven from the State. They
are now seriously handicapped by the vigorous provisions of existing
laws. I trust your Excellency will not add to our present burdens."
"I have read the bill, Mr. Acton. It seems conservative, with full
provision for the protection of life and property."
"That's not the question. When Union men strike we must have the Non-
Union men to fill their places; but this bill says the Non-Union man
shan't work."
"It says the Union man may persuade him, peacefully, not to work."
"We all know what that means. If he does work, he will be called a
'scab' and his family will be ostracized in every possible way."
"It is hard to draw the line," said the governor. "You say, or imply,
that every man has a right to work for whoever will employ him.
Granted. But do you always give him work when he wants it? Do you pay
him what he asks, or do you not fix the rate of wage? You must
realize the fact that collective bargaining has superseded dealing
with the individual."
"Some of us do not allow that," said Mr. Acton.
"I know it, and that causes the difficulty. Your relations with your
employees should be based upon trade agreements, legalized and
strongly adhered to by both sides."
"I have just come from a meeting of leading manufacturers," said Mr.
Acton, "and they wished me to express to you their urgent request, I
may say solicitation, that you will veto this bill."
After Mr. Acton's departure, Quincy rang for his secretary, to whom
he delivered the papers containing his official decisions.
Mr. Williams was renominated for the position that he had so long and
so ably filled.
As members of "The Industrial Expansion Commission" nine
manufacturers were named, one for each of the leading industries of
the State, chosen independent of known or presumed political
affiliations; Mr. Collingwood's name was not among them.
A vigorous veto of the bill giving a private corporation control of
public property was sent to the Senate.
The "peaceful picketing" bill was signed.
The door opened, and a pretty face looked in.
"Come in, Maude--I've just finished." As the secretary withdrew,
keeping his eyes fixed on the governor's youngest sister, she
advanced slowly into the room. The door closed automatically and
Maude tip-toed to her brother's side, returning his welcoming kiss.
"What's his name?" she asked, pointing towards the self-closing door.
"My secretary? Harry Merry," said Quincy, "but the press boys all
call him Sober Harry."
"I think he's just splendid," said the impulsive Maude--"such
beautiful eyes! But that isn't what I came for. I went up to your
house and just brought Alice down to ours, and she told me all about
the fine time you had and your speech. Will it be printed?"
"Mr. Sylvester Chisholm, editor of the Fernborough Gazette was there
and a faithful transcript of my feeble remarks will, no doubt, appear
in his paper."
"Feeble!" said Maude contemptuously. "Have you been doing feeble
things since you came back?"
"No, Maude, I have done some very strenuous things, and I shall be
glad to get home to my family."
Maude repeated, seriously,
"To make a happy fireside clime
For weans and wife
Is the true pathos, and sublime,
Of human life.
"But you are not going home," she continued,--"you are invited to
dinner with your respected pa and ma and your two young--"
"And beautiful sisters," added Quincy with a laugh. "I'll come, but
you must play the latest popular songs for me, and Alice will sing
'Sweet, Sweet Home,' and perhaps I can forget the cares of State--
until to-morrow, anyway."
Maude flounced out of the door tossing a kiss from the tips of her
fingers, to the astonishment of Sober Harry who had just entered, and
who wished, from the bottom of his heart, that the flying salutation
had been for him.
CHAPTER III
A VACATION AT FERNBOROUGH
The Hon. Nathaniel Adams Sawyer did not dine at home that evening.
Quincy's mother said that he had gone to Salem but would return
later. After dinner the little company of five repaired to the
parlour. Maude sang negro melodies despite the protests of her
mother, and her sister Florence's assertion that they were only sung
at cheap variety shows.
"How do you know that?" cried Maude. "Did Reginald tell you?"
"Who is Reginald?" asked Quincy.
"Oh," said Maude, tossing her head, "he's Florence's latest. She met
him night before last--"
"Maude!" Her sister's voice was full of angry protest. "Don't say
another word."
"Such matters," said her mother mildly, "are not suitable subjects
for general conversation. There is a privacy about them which should
be respected."
"We'll leave Florence out of it, then," said Maude. "I met him at
Mrs. Dulton's reception. His name is Capt. Reginald Hornaby, and he's
the fourth son of Sir Wilfred Hornaby, of Hornaby Hook, Hornaby,
England--don't you know," and she winked spitefully at Florence.
"He told me all that himself," she continued, "so I know it must be
so. Won't it be nice to have a place in England where we can make
ourselves at home?"
"Aunt Ella will be glad to see you at any time," remarked Quincy.
"Why don't you go back with her? She'd be delighted."
"I would but for one thing," replied Maude. "I'm afraid I might fall
in love with an Englishman, and one title in the family is enough."
Alice interposed: "Aunt Ella has an English husband with a title."
"Yes," said Maude, "but he _has_ his title, while Reggie is four
blocks away from the fire."
"You're as big a tease as ever," and Quincy drew his favourite sister
towards him. "Don't plague Flossie any more. Think of your possible
fate. You may marry a Jap."
"I know a lovely little Jap, now. His name is Hioshato Konuka. Oh,
Alice, won't you stay all night? When are you going on your vacation,
Quincy?"
"In about ten days, if the legislature is prorogued by that time."
"Where are you going?" asked his mother.
"Alice wishes to go to Fernborough for a week or two, and then we
shall go to Nantucket."
"Will the Earl and Sir Stuart pay us a visit?" was the next question.
"I invited them in your name, mother, but Linda and Aunt Ella were
anxious to get back to their yacht at Nantucket. They will sail from
there to New York and take the steamer home next week."
"Is the Countess of Sussex' sister-in-law, the Lady Elfrida, married
yet?" asked Florence.
"I understand she is engaged," Quincy replied.
Maude was incorrigible. "Reggie told me she was practising deep
breathing, owing to the length of the Episcopal marriage service."
"Maude," said her mother sharply, "if you were not of age I should
send you to bed."
"I'm going. Alice, while Quincy runs up to the house to say that you
are not coming home, you come to my room. I've some pretty things to
show you."
As Quincy walked up Walnut Street, he saw a bright light in Dr.
Culver's window. He rang the bell, and the doctor himself came to the
door.
"Is that you, Quincy? Come in."
"Paul, how are you?"
"Fine as silk. Business is good, but I'm doing my best to keep the
undertakers out of a job. Have you read the evening papers?"
"I seldom do. I prefer to wait until morning." "The papers are
rapping you hard for signing that picketing bill, but the labour men
are delighted. You'll run ahead of your ticket sure next fall."
"I'm not going to run. One year is enough."
"Will Evans get the nomination? I won't vote for him. How are your
wife's eyes?"
"All right. She has better vision, now, than I have. We owe you a
great debt of gratitude for sending us to Dr. Tillotson."
"He's a wonder. He told me the other day that he is going to cure
what is called split retina, which has never been done."
Quincy bethought himself of the message he had to deliver and made a
hurried departure, first inviting the Doctor to dine with him the
next day. On his return to the Beacon Street house, he found his
father at home reading an evening paper.
"Quincy, I see that you vetoed that railroad bill."
"Yes, I did. I saw no reason why public property should be given to a
private corporation without compensation."
"The public would be compensated indirectly. I am a large stockholder
in the railroad, and, to speak plainly, I drew that bill myself. I
met Senator Downing and he says the bill will be passed over your
veto."
"I cannot help that, father. I did my duty as I saw it. If the bill
becomes a law without my signature, I cannot be blamed for future
developments."
The Hon. Nathaniel dropped the subject. "Quincy, I have purchased a
house in the country and shall go there in a few days. Won't you and
your wife pay us a short visit?"
"Certainly, we will. We are going to Fernborough for a few days and
then will drop in on you, before we go to Nantucket."
By the look on his father's face Quincy knew that he was
disappointed. The Hon. Nathaniel never liked "to play second fiddle."
Quincy hastened to rectify his mistake. "We can put it the other way
round, just as well. We'll come and see you before we go to
Fernborough."
"That will please me better, but, of course, you must not do it if
your wife objects."
"She will not object. She is upstairs, now, with Maude. Of course,
the girls are going."
"Yes, and I have invited Captain Hornaby, a very fine young man. But,
I must retire. I have a case in court to-morrow."
Quincy found both commendation and criticism in the morning papers.
His face wore its usual genial expression as he entered the elevator,
and Robert's "good morning" was particularly cheerful.
The Governor's first caller was Mr. Acton.
"You see," he began, "that your approval of the picketing bill is
receiving universal condemnation."
"Hardly," was the reply. "Two papers and the Governor sustain it and
the labour press and unions are yet to be heard from."
"We shall endeavour to secure a repeal of the bill next year. In the
meantime, we shall carry the matter to the courts."
"May the cause of truth and justice prevail in the end" was Quincy's
comment, and Mr. Acton took his departure in an uncomfortable state
of mind.
The day wore away. At three o'clock a vote was taken in the Senate
and the so-called Downing bill was passed over the veto. Not so, in
the House, for one newspaper, read by nearly all the working men, had
so strongly pointed out the nature of the "grab" proposed by the
bill, that the State House was besieged by its opponents, and the
veto was sustained by a narrow margin.
About five o'clock, Mr. Evans and Senator Downing were dining in a
private room at a hotel. "So, the Governor won't run again," said the
Senator.
"He so informed me yesterday. He may change his mind."
"You're not satisfied with things as they are," remarked the Senator.
"No," replied the lieutenant-governor, "I'm disgusted with the
Williams matter. When I'm governor, I'll request his resignation."
"And when you're governor, we'll put my bill through. Do you know the
Governor's father is one of our heaviest stockholders? We'll have our
way yet."
Within a week the legislature was prorogued. The House had a mock
session, during which partisanship, and private victories and defeats
were forgotten, for the time at least, and the fun was jolly and
hearty.
Ben Ropes, the funny man of the House, but a member of the minority,
convulsed all by announcing his candidacy for the governorship, with
the understanding that no money was to be spent, no speakers engaged,
the question to be settled by joint debates between the opposing
candidates. Every member of the House arose, and amid wild cheers,
pledged him their support.
The Hon. Nathaniel Adams Sawyer's estate at Redford comprised some
eighty acres. Within five minutes' walk of the house was a sheet of
water covering fully fifty acres known as Simmons' Pond. On the
farther side of the pond were a few cottages and near them a tent
indicating the presence of a camping party.
"Next year," said the Hon. Nathaniel to Quincy as they stood on the
shore of the pond, "I am going to buy some twenty acres on the other
side of the pond. Then I shall own all the land surrounding it, and
my estate will be worthy of the name which I have given it--Wideview--
for nobody's else property will obstruct my view in any direction. I
shall name this," and he pointed to the pond, "Florence Lake after my
eldest daughter. What do you think of Captain Hornaby?"
Quincy hesitated--"He's a typical Englishman--healthy, hearty, but
with that English conceit that always grates on my nerves."
"Are we Americans free from it?" his father asked. "To my mind,
conceit is often but the indication of self-conscious power. Its
possessors never acknowledge defeat I have always had that feeling in
my law practice."
Quincy changed the subject, "What have you in the boat house?"
"Canoes--three canoes. I have ordered a large row-boat but it is not
ready yet. When I own the 'lake' and the land beyond, my residence
will stand in the centre of my estate. I shall retire from practice
in a few years, and spend my last days here. We all have to go back
to the soil and I am going to make my progress gradual."
"Won't you find it rather dull here after so long an active life in
the city?"
"Not dull, but quiet," was the dignified response. "I shall pass my
time surveying the beauties of Nature to which, to my discredit, I
have been so long oblivious; then, I shall commune with the great
minds in literature, and read the latest law reports."
Quincy wondered whether Nature, literature, or law would be his
father's most appreciated relaxation, but inclined to the latter.
The next morning Maude exclaimed: "Let's have some fun. What shall we
do?"
"There are three canoes in the boat house," said Quincy, "why not a
row on the pond?"
"Fine!" cried Maude. "Quincy, you are a man of ideas."
Captain Hornaby had asked Florence to go with him and she had
willingly consented. This emboldened Harry Merry, who had come down
from the State House with the Governor's correspondence, and he,
rather bashfully, requested Maude's company in the third canoe.
"Can you swim?" she asked.
"I learned when a boy," said Harry.
"All right. I don't believe the style has changed much since then. I
wouldn't go with you unless you could swim. It would be too great a
responsibility."
Harry thought to himself that he would be willing to swim ashore with
such a "responsibility" in his arms.
Maude turned to the Captain: "Can you swim, Captain Hornaby?"
"Of course, Miss Maude. We Englishmen are all sea dogs, don't you
know?"
"But Englishmen are drowned sometimes," said Maude. "How about
Admiral Kempenfelt and the Royal George? See Fourth Class Reader for
full particulars in verse."
The three couples were soon afloat--Quincy and Alice, Captain Hornaby
and Florence, Harry and Maude.
"Let's have a race," cried Maude. "To that big white rock down
there," and she pointed to the farther end of the pond. Harry took
the lead with short, swift strokes, but the long, steady paddling of
Captain Hornaby gained on him steadily, and to Maude's disgust the
Captain reached the rock first, Harry being a close second, and
Quincy a late third.
Maude was excited. "Let's race back to the boat house. A prize for
the first one who reaches it."
"What will be the prize?" asked the Captain.
Maude saw that Harry needed encouragement.
"I haven't anything with me but kisses and only one of them to
spare."
Harry shut his teeth with a snap. He was going to win that race.
As they were nearing the boat house Harry was in the lead, the
Captain close behind, with Quincy following leisurely. This was a
young people's race--married men barred. For some unexplainable
reason Captain Hornaby tried to cross Harry's bow. The project was
ill-timed and unsuccessful. Harry had just made a spurt and his canoe
went forward so fast that the Captain's boat, instead of clearing
his, struck it full in the side and Harry and Maude were thrown into
the water. Florence, who really loved her sister despite their many
quarrels, gave a loud scream and stood up in the boat. Her action was
fatal to its equilibrium, and the Captain and she were soon in the
water's embrace.
The accident occurred about two hundred feet from the shore where the
water was deep. Captain Hornaby grasped Florence and struck out for
the boat house float. She had fainted and did not impede him by
struggling.
Harry had essayed to bear Maude ashore, but she broke away from him
and swam vigorously towards land, Harry in pursuit.
"Don't worry, Alice," said Quincy. "They are not in danger."
"But, Quincy, suppose it had been our boat." "If it had been," said
he, "you would be as safe in my arms as Florence is in those of the
Captain, providing you did not struggle."
Harry exerted his full strength and skill to overtake Maude, but she,
flushed with the excitement, her thin costume clinging close to her
form, reached the bank some twenty feet ahead of him.
"I had to do it," she cried, "and I suppose I must deliver the prize
by kissing myself."
Then her exuberant nature gave way, and she sank helpless to the
ground. Harry did not envy the Captain who was carrying Florence in
his arms, for was not Maude in his?
In the evening as they sat upon the veranda watching the dying
glories of the sun, Quincy said to Maude, "Why didn't you let Harry
bring you ashore?"
"The idea of it," she exclaimed. "And be under obligations to him--
not on your life. Think of poor Florence. If that Captain asks her to
marry him she must accept because he saved her life."
Later, when the sun had set, and the moonbeams silvered the surface
of the pond, Harry mustered up courage to ask Maude what she meant
when she said it was too great a responsibility to go out canoeing
with a man who couldn't swim.
"Why, I meant if you couldn't swim it might be a great job for me to
get you ashore. I knew I could take care of myself all right."
At the other end of the veranda the Hon. Nathaniel and Captain
Hornaby were engaged in conversation. The Captain was not asking the
Hon. Nathaniel for the hand of his daughter Florence but, instead,
for a loan, giving as his reason that when he threw off his coat his
letters of credit to the value of five hundred pounds went to the
bottom of the pond.
"I shall have to write home to my brother, the Earl, for other
letters, and it will take some time for them to reach me."
[Illustration: "'IF YOU WILL GIVE ME YOUR NOTE AT THIRTY DAYS I WILL
LET YOU HAVE THE FIVE HUNDRED.'"]
"You are at liberty to remain here until you receive word," said the
cautious Hon. Nathaniel.
"I appreciate your great kindness," said the Captain, "but I must
visit New York and Chicago at an early day."
"How much will supply your present need?" asked the lawyer.
"I had expected my trip would cost me at least five hundred dollars."
"If you will give me your note at thirty days I will let you have the
five hundred. I will bring it down to-morrow night."
On the second day following, the Captain took an apparently very
reluctant departure.
A week later Quincy and Alice were in Boston making preparations for
their trip to Fernborough.
"I am going to buy the tickets this morning, Alice--we must have
seats in a parlour car. How shall we go--to Cottonton or Eastborough
Centre?"
"To Eastborough surely," said Alice. "We will drive over the old
road. Do you remember the day that you took me to see Aunt Heppy
Putnam after her husband died?"
"Alice, every day I passed at Mason's Corner near you was like Heaven
to me, and, now, for a week or more I mean to live in Paradise again.
What a joy it will be to see the old scenes and faces, hear the
familiar voices, and remember the happy days we have had there."
"I'm afraid, Quincy, some of the charm has departed. Things have
changed, and, in spite of our resolves, we change with them."
When they alighted at Eastborough Centre, Ellis Smith stood there
with his carriage.
"How do you do, Ellis, and how's your brother Abbott? Will you take
us to the Hawkins House?" said Quincy. Turning to his wife, he added,
"Mrs. Rawkins is a good cook--her rooms are large and clean. We can
go a visiting during the day and have quiet times by ourselves when
we wish." His wife nodded her acquiescence with the plan proposed.
"Ellis, can you handle those two big trunks alone?"
"Yes, Guv'nor. I'm a leetle bit heavier built than Abbott."
Quincy drew Alice's attention to the Eagle Hotel.
"There's where we hatched the plot that downed Mr. Obadiah Strout,
when he was an enemy of mine. Say, Ellis, drive up by the Poor House,
through the Willows, and then back down the Centre Road to Mason
Street. That will carry us by some of the old landmarks."
As they passed the Poor House they saw "pussy" Mr. Waters, sitting on
the piazza and Sam standing in the barn doorway.
"There's where my Uncle James died," said Quincy. "Did I ever tell
you, Alice, that he left some money and it went to found the Sawyer
Public Library? He made me promise not to tell that he left any, and
it has always troubled me to receive a credit that really was not my
due."
"But you could have kept the money, couldn't you?"
"Oh, yes. He gave it to me outright."
"Then I think you are entitled to full credit for the good use you
made of it."
"Looking at it that way, perhaps you are right, Alice. Here are the
Willows."
"What a lonely place."
"You didn't think so, Alice, when we used to drive through here."
"I was blind then and couldn't see except with your eyes. You didn't
say it was lonesome."
"How could I say so, when I was with you?"
Alice squeezed his hand lovingly.
As they turned into Mason Street, Quincy exclaimed: "There's where
Uncle Ike's chicken coop stood until he set it on fire."
"Did he set it on fire?" cried Alice.
"Now I've let out another promised secret. Can you see 'Zeke's house
ahead?"
"Yes, how inviting the old place looks. I'm glad Hiram Maxwell has
it, for we can sit in the old parlour and sing duets as we used to."
"Now we're going up Obed's Hill," said Quincy. "Deacon Mason's house
looks as neat as ever."
"Do you remember when Huldah Mason broke her arm, Quincy?"
"Do not remind me of that, Alice. I was never in love with her, but
no one could help liking her. There's the grocery store in which I am
a silent partner"--he paused a moment--"and here we are at the
Hawkins House."
As Ellis Smith reined up, the front door was opened and Mrs. Hawkins
came out to meet her guests. "I got your letter, an' I know'd it was
you. How be ye both? Seems like old times. Come right in the parlour.
I've got the curtains down so as to keep it cool," and the delighted
woman led the way into the house. In the hallway, she screamed,
"Jonas! Jonas! Hurry up and pick those chickens. Guv'nor Sawyer and
Alice are here."
CHAPTER IV
THE HAWKINS HOUSE
The converting of Mrs. Hawkins' boarding house into a hotel had been
due to two causes: First, the thrift and economy of the lady herself,
which had enabled her to put by a good sum in the bank. This she
expended in building an ell with extra sleeping rooms, painting the
structure cream colour with brown trimmings, and replacing old
furniture with that of modern make. This latter, she confessed within
a year, was a great mistake, for the new chairs became rickety, the
castors would not hold in the bed posts, the bureau drawers became
unmanageable, and the rooms, as she expressed it, had a "second-hand"
appearance. Then it was that the old mahogany furniture, that had
been relegated to the attic, was brought down, furbished up, and
restored to its original place. When Quincy entered the room which he
had formerly occupied, it did not seem possible that five years had
elapsed.
The second cause that had led Mrs. Hawkins to change the small and
modest sign--"Rooms and Board"--which had been in the front window
for years, for a large swinging sign over the front door--"Hawkins
House"--having large gold letters on a blue ground--was the rapid
growth of the town. Many new mills had been erected in the
neighbouring city of Cottonton. The operatives being unable to obtain
suitable accommodations in the city, had come to Fernborough to live,
where they could have gardens, fresh air, and playgrounds for their
children. Fernborough became to Cottonton what Methuen is to
Lawrence. Mrs. Hawkins was democratic, but shirt-sleeves and Prince
Albert coats did not look well together, so she had turned what had
been her sitting room into a private dining room, and it was here
that what she called her "star boarders" were served.
By the time Quincy and Alice had opened their trunks, and distributed
the contents in the capacious closet and deep, roomy bureau drawers,
the cheerful tones of the dinner bell were heard, and they descended
to the private room.
They were its only occupants.
"I thought as how you might be hungry after so long a ride an' so I
just hurried Jonas up so you could begin afore the crowd came in. I
don't introduce folks now I run a hotel. If they gets acquainted it's
their lookout not mine," and Mrs. Hawkins and Olive brought in the
fare from the adjoining kitchen.
Such a meal for hungry people! Lamb broth, roast chicken, yeast
biscuit, potatoes, string beans, cucumbers, lettuce, berry pie,
blackberries, currants, frosted cake, with tea, coffee, or cocoa.
"What does she charge?" asked Alice in a whisper when they were
alone.
"A dollar a day for room and board--three square meals for board."
After dinner they went into the parlour, where Mrs. Hawkins joined
them.
"I jest told Jonas he must help Olive wash the dishes to-day, for I
hain't seen ye for so long I'm just dyin' to have a talk with yer,
'cause I s'pose you'll eat and run while yer here, you know so many
folks."
"We haven't much to tell about ourselves," said Quincy. "What we want
to know is how Fernborough folks are getting along."
"Wall, I s'pos'd you'd like to hear what's goin' on 'round here, an'
p'raps I can tell yer some things that other folks mightn't mention,
'cause they'd forgot it, or p'raps wouldn't want to tell. Is that
cheer comfortable, Alice? I s'pose I ought to say Misses Guv'nor
Sawyer, but it don't come nat'ral, I've known yer so long."
"I shall always be Alice to my good friend Mrs. Hawkins and her
daughter Mandy."
"Speakin' o' Mandy, you know she's got two little boys--twins, one
named after Deacon Mason, and t'other after your husband's friend
Obadiah Strout, ther perfesser--and she's got a little girl, nigh on
ter two years old named Marthy after me--but they don't call her
Marthy--it's allus Mattie. These new-fangled names fuss me all up. If
Mary and Marthy were good enough for the Lord's friends, I don't know
what he'd think to hear 'em called Mamie and Mattie.
"Speakin' o' names, there's my Jonas, which is same as Jonah I
s'pose. Anyway it fits him to a T, for he's a reg'lar Jonah if there
ever was one, which our minister, Mr. Gay, you'll meet him at dinner-
time to-morrow, says he's doubtful about.
"If a whale swallowed my Jonas it couldn't keep him down, for he's
just _satirated_ with tobacco smoke--he says he has to puff it on the
hens and chickens to kill the varmints, and I should think it would.
Do you smoke, Mr. Sawyer?"
"Cigars, occasionally. I am not an habitual smoker."
"Well, old Mr. Trask told me as how pipe smoke wouldn't colour lace
curtains same as cigars do. Now you jes' smoke all you want to up in
your room an' I'll see if it washes out."
"Alice dislikes smoke, and I never use tobacco in her presence--so
your lace curtains won't suffer."
"Wall, I'm kinder sorry for I wanted to see if Doctor Trask knew what
he was talkin' about. When I'm rich I'll have three doctors and two
on 'em will have to agree afore I'll take any of their pizen. I jes'
remembered that the new minister, Mr. Gay, smokes. I'll put some lace
curtains up in his room. You ain't seen him yet. He parts his hair in
the middle. The gals are all crazy 'bout him. I like his preachin'
putty well, but he don't use near as much brimstone as old Mr. Howe
does."
"Is Mr. Howe's son going to be a clergyman?" Alice asked.
Mrs. Hawkins laughed raucously.
"The Lord save us, I guess not! Why Emmanuel has gone and married a
play actress--and isn't she some? She rides a hoss just like a man
does, and the way she jumps fences and rides hur-rah-ti-cut down the
street would jes' make your hair stand on end. She's away now--I wish
you could see her. Of course you're goin' over to the store."
"Why, certainly," said Quincy. "I'm a special partner, you know. I
shall call on Mrs. Strout. You remember the party at Deacon Mason's,
Alice--I danced with Miss Bessie Chisholm--"
Mrs. Hawkins couldn't wait, "Yes, an' she made the perfesser just the
kind of wife he needed. She bosses the house... for I heard her tell
him one day that if he didn't like her cookin' he might have his
meals at the store--an' she goes to dances with her brother
Sylvester. Some folks think she's a high-flyer--but I don't blame her
seein' as how she has that old blowhard for a husband--which is true,
if he is your pardner."
Alice asked if the Strouts had any children.
"Yes, they've got a little boy, an' he's a chip of the old block. His
father brought him here one day and he pulled the cloth of'n that
table there and broke a chiny vase that I paid fifty cents for, and
his father never said a word about buyin' me another."
"I hope that Mr. Strout and Hiram get along together well," said
Quincy.
"Hiram's a good feller. Mandy did well when she got him, but she has
you to thank for it, Mr. Sawyer. If you hadn't set him up in that
grocery store I'm afraid he'd be chorin' now. You remember Mrs.
Crowley? She jes' loves them children, but Mandy's afeerd she's going
to lose her. She's got a beau--a feller named Dan Sweeney, and his
hair is so red you could light a match by techin' it. He works for
your brother 'Zeke. He's a good enuf feller, but he and Strout don't
hitch horses. You see he was in the same regiment with the Perfesser
an' he knows all about him, same as you found out, and Strout don't
talk big afore him. The fact is, the Perfesser hain't many friends.
There was Abner Stiles. They two used to be as thick as molasses, but
since Strout wouldn't give him the job in the grocery that he'd
promised him, Abner's gone back on him."
"Does Uncle Ike board with Mandy now?" Alice knew that he did, but
wished Mrs. Hawkins' view of the strange doings of her uncle.
"Yes, he's there--goin' on eighty-two and chipper as a squirrel. He's
got religion Mandy says, and so many kinds that she don't know which
one he's got the most of."
Quincy looked at his watch. "Mrs. Hawkins, we're going up to
Ezekiel's house. We shall stay to supper, but will get back before
you lock up--ten o'clock, isn't it?"
"No such hours in a hotel. We're allus open till twelve, and
sometimes all night--when it pays. It's a hard life, but you know
what's goin' on an' that's considruble for a woman who's tied up in
the house as I am."
CHAPTER V
'ZEKE PETTINGILL'S FARM
Quincy had intended to drive to his brother-in-law's house, but Alice
preferred to walk as the distance was so short. The Hawkins House was
on Mason Street. A short walk brought them to Mason Square. In plain
view were the Town Hall and the Chessman Free Public Library.
"I always thought it was foolishness to name these streets after me,"
said Quincy, as they stood on the corner of Sawyer Street. "There's
Adams Street back of the Town Hall and Quincy Street on the other
side."
"I don't agree with you," said Alice. "I would rather have a street
named after me than a monument erected to my memory."
At Putnam Square they turned to the left into Pettingill Street and
soon reached her brother's house. Huldah saw them coming and ran down
the path to meet them.
"Why, when did you come, and where are your things? You are surely
going to stay with us."
"Our headquarters are at the Hawkins House," said Quincy. "We have
been in town but a few hours and you have the first visit."
"I am so disappointed you aren't to be with us," and Huldah's face
showed the feeling she had expressed.
"You won't be when I give you our reasons," Quincy replied. "Mrs.
Putnam died in this house, and Alice has such a vivid recollection of
her last day on earth--"
"I understand," said Huldah, "but you must come and see us every
day."
"Where's Ezekiel?" asked Alice.
"Getting in his last load of hay--about sixty tons this year. We only
had thirty a year ago."
"Where's my namesake--Quincy Adams Pettingill?"
"He goes every day to see his grandpa and grandma. Abner will be here
with him soon."
When they reached the piazza, Quincy took a good view of the farm.
What a contrast to the condition it had been in, when occupied by the
Putnams! Then everything had been neglected--now garden, field, and
orchard showed a high state of cultivation, and the house and
outbuildings were in good repair and freshly painted. Inside, the
careful attention of a competent housekeeper was apparent. Huldah
Pettingill was a finer looking woman than Huldah Mason had been, but
Quincy had never forgotten how pretty she looked the day she lay in
bed with the plaster cast on her broken arm--the result of the
accident for which he had taken the blame belonging to another.
They had just sat down in the little parlour when cries of "Mamma"
were heard outside and four year old Quincy Adams Pettingill burst
into the room followed closely by Abner Stiles.
"He don't mind me no more'n a woodchuck would," said Abner--then his
eyes fell on Quincy, who rose to greet him.
"Why, if it ain't"--but words failed him as Quincy gave his hand a
hearty grasp.
"This is the first time I ever shook hands with a guv'nor," said
Abner. "I didn't know you was going to shake hands all round the
night of the show an' I went home." He looked at his right hand,
rubbed it softly with his left, and then remarked: "I sha'n't wash
that hand for a couple o' days if I can help it."
His hearers laughed, for his words were accentuated by the old-time
grin that had pleased Obadiah Strout on some occasions, but on others
had raised his ire to an explosive point.
"Are father and mother at home?" asked Huldah.
"Yes, both on 'em. Susie Barker's been helpin' her to-day, and the
Dekin's wife thinks o' keepin' her reg'lar."
"I'll have them come to supper," said Huldah. "Abner, hitch up the
black mare into the low phaeton and bring them up here. Don't tell
them who's here, but tell them that I say they must come."
"Well, I declare!" All looked up and saw Ezekiel standing in the
doorway. He wore overalls and thick boots, his sleeves were rolled
up, showing his brawny arms with muscles like whip-cords. His face
was brown, but his beard was neatly trimmed, and his eyes bright. He
was a picture of robust, healthy manhood, and showed what he was,--a
hard-working, independent New England farmer. Alice sprang into his
arms and received a resounding smack. One hand grasped Quincy's while
the other encircled his dainty wife's waist, and he drew her towards
him.
"You have a fine farm," said Quincy.
"About as good as they make them," 'Zeke replied. "I've a good market
for all I can raise. Strout and Maxwell buy a great deal of garden
truck, and I sell considerable to Mrs. Hawkins direct. What I have
left we eat or give away."
Alice had taken young Quincy on her lap. He became communicative.
"I've got a grandpa and grandma and Uncle Abner."
"Abner isn't your uncle," said Alice. "I'm your Aunt Alice, and that
is your Uncle Quincy."
Ezekiel laughed. "You can't convince him but that Abner's his uncle.
Abner comes after him every afternoon and takes him down to the
Deacon's house and that gives Huldy a good chance to do my mending."
The sound of carriage wheels indicated new arrivals, and Huldah went
to the door to meet her father and mother.
"Have you got callers?" asked Mrs. Mason. "I don't think I'll go in.
I didn't dress up, but came just as I was."
"And I never saw you looking better," said Quincy, stepping into the
entry to meet them.
"I'm glad to see you again, Mr. Sawyer," and the Deacon's grasp was a
firm one. "I didn't get up to the Town Hall that night, for I didn't
feel first-rate and Sophia didn't want to go alone, but Abner told me
what you did and said, and I reckon added a little on his own
account."
Abner appeared in the doorway. "I've put up the mare, Mr. Pettingill.
Want me for anything more, Dekin?"
"You can go home and help Susie," said Mrs. Mason.
When Abner had gone, the Deacon chuckled and said, "Nothing could
please Abner better than to take supper with Susie and pass the
evening in her company. He's more'n forty and she's only twenty, but
such hitch-ups ain't uncommon nowadays."
"That is what they call a December and May marriage," remarked Alice.
"Not quite as bad as that," said the Deacon. "I should say about
October and March."
It was a jolly company that sat down to a well-filled table that
evening. Quincy's first coming to town, and his exciting experiences
during his four months' residence at Mason's Corner, formed the
principal topics of conversation, and Alice appreciated more fully
than ever her husband's persistency, which had shown itself as
strongly in doing good to others as it had in manifesting love for
herself.
When they reached the Hawkins House Mrs. Hawkins was on the watch for
them.
"There's a young man here to see you, Mr. Sawyer. He came on the
train to Cottonton and my man Andrew brought him over. I told him you
wouldn't be home till late and I sent him off to bed. Was that all
right?"
"I can tell better," said Quincy, "when I find out who he is and what
he wants."
"He said his name was Gerry or Ferry or something like that. He's
kind of bashful, I 'magine."
"It's Merry," Quincy exclaimed. "Something has turned up at the State
House, but it will keep till morning."
As they were ascending the stairs, Mrs. Hawkins called out, "Oh, Mr.
Sawyer, there was a letter came for you. It's up in your room."
It was from Maude. "Let us see what that volatile sister of mine has
to say. Something very important or she wouldn't write." As he opened
the note sheet, he turned to his wife. "Shall I read it aloud?"
"I should love to hear it."
Quincy read:
* * * * * * *
"MY ABSENT RELATIVE: You will be delighted to hear that I have found
Captain Hornaby's missing coat and wallet. I was out in the new boat
when I saw something on the bottom of the pond. You know the water is
as clear as glass. It wasn't very deep and I fished the coat up with
an oar. I gave it to father and he examined the wallet with
apparently great interest. Perhaps he thought there was some money in
it, but there wasn't. There were some visiting cards bearing the name
Col. Arthur Spencer, but nary a red. Father is trying to find out who
the Colonel is. I think father loaned the Captain some money--don't
you? Now that we have a real live boat, no more slippery canoes for
me. I hope you and Alice are having a fine time--of course you will
on your old stamping ground.
"I don't find any fault, because I'm so young and of so little
importance, but it seems funny that nobody ever invited me to visit
Fernborough. Please don't consider this a bid for an invite, for I
won't come. Your neglected sister, "MAUDE."
* * * * * * *
"Is it possible?" cried Alice, "that Maude has never been here?"
"It is a lamentable fact."
"She won't come now."
"I'll fetch her,--hand-cuffed, if necessary."
Quincy was up early to learn Merry's errand. A request had come from
the Governor of Colorado for the extradition of a Pole named Ivan
Wolaski, who was accused of being concerned in a dynamite explosion
in a Colorado mine.
"Have you looked into the case, Harry?"
"Somewhat. I think it is part of a political feud."
Quincy made preparation for an immediate departure.
"Mrs. Hawkins, I must go to Boston at once with Mr. Merry. Will you
have Andrew get a team ready for me? I will leave it at the Eagle
Hotel. I know the way home."
"You ought to," said she. "You've druv it times enough."
"What will you do with yourself all day, Alice? I must go to the
State House on business, but I'll be back by six o'clock."
"If I were home I'd have my horse saddled and have a ride out to the
Arboretum or Chestnut Hill."
"They've no saddle horses here, unfortunately. I'll tell you what to
do. After dinner go down to Mandy Maxwell's and see her and the
children, and have a talk with Uncle Ike. I'll be there in time for
supper, tell Mandy."
When Quincy went down stairs he found that Mrs. Hawkins had gone out
to the stable to give Andrew directions about the team.
Quincy said in a low tone: "Mrs. Hawkins, have you some spare stalls
in your stable that I can use while here?"
"You can have the old barn all to yourself. It's a leetle further
from the house, but it's in first-rate order."
As they drove towards Eastborough Centre, Quincy pointed out the
objects of interest to Mr. Merry, who thought Fernborough a beautiful
town.
"Come down next Saturday afternoon, Harry, and stay over Sunday.
Bring down any important letters. Perhaps my sister Maude will come
back with me."
Mr. Merry accepted the invitation with polite outward thanks, but
with an inward sense of intense gratification. Love is blind. If he
had reflected, he would have come to the conclusion that the daughter
of the Hon. Nathaniel Adams Sawyer, the millionaire, was not for him,
an unfledged lawyer with a mother to support.
When they reached Eastborough Centre, Quincy found he was too late
for the train. He had nearly an hour at his disposal. His first visit
was to the Eagle Hotel, where he put up the horse. Mr. Parsons, the
proprietor, was greatly pleased to meet him.
"You haven't forgotten how we railroaded Strout out of office, have
you?"
"That was long ago," said Quincy. "Strout and I are good friends now.
He's one of my partners in the Fernborough store.'
"So I've been told."
Quincy took Mr. Parsons aside and had an animated conversation with
him.
"I can get you just what you want, Guv'nor. Kind and gentle but some
go in them when needed."
"Send them to the Hawkins House and don't forget the saddles."
They crossed the square to the telegraph office, where Quincy sent
this message.
"Miss MAUDE SAWYER, "Wideview, Redford, Mass. "Meet me at State House
by two o'clock. Leave your trunk at station. Something important.
"QUINCY."
As they were leaving the office Quincy met Tobias Smith, father of
Abbott and Ellis Smith, and Wallace Stackpole.
"Glad to see you, Guv'nor," said 'Bias. "You remember Mr. Stackpole
that we gave Strout's job of tax-collector to--he's held it ever
since. We're mighty glad Strout lives in Fernborough. We don't have
circuses at town meetings now he's gone."
Quincy's next visit was to the office of the _Fernborough Gazette_,
which was published in Eastborough, as the editor and proprietor, Mr.
Sylvester Chisholm, Mr. Strout's brother-in-law, could not get
printers in Fernborough, and, being an Eastborough-born boy, his
paper had a large circulation in that town and in Westvale, its
principal village.
Quincy obtained some copies of the paper containing his speech at the
Town Hall. On looking it over he was astonished to find it reported
_verbatim_.
"How did you manage it, Mr. Chisholm? My address was extemporaneous."
Sylvester smiled. "Well, the fact is, Mr. Sawyer, while I was working
on the _Eastborough Express_, when you were here five years ago, I
studied short-hand, and it came in handy that night."
The train was express to Boston and Quincy was in his chair in the
Executive Chamber by half-past eleven. After a careful examination of
the case of Ivan Wolaski, he decided to refuse the request for
extradition, and the Governor of Colorado was so notified in a
communication which from moral, legal, political, and humanitarian
points of view was unanswerable. It was nearly two o'clock when the
last official letter was signed.
The door was opened by the messenger. Quincy expected Maude to enter,
but it was Mr. Acton, the energetic opponent of the "peaceful
picketing" law.
"I heard, Mr. Governor, that you were here, and I thought it only
fair to inform you that we shall apply for injunctions just the same
as if that bill you signed had not become a law, and, in that way,
test its constitutionality."
"You have a legal right to do that," said the governor, "but I
question your moral right."
"How so?" asked Mr. Acton.
"Supposing I had applied for an injunction to prevent you and a score
of others from trying to influence me to veto the bill?"
"That would have been foolish. No judge would have granted it."
"And why not?" said the governor sternly. "Were not all of you
engaged in 'peaceful picketing'? Why should not the working man have
the same right to persuade his fellows that you exerted to influence
me?"
Mr. Acton had not exhausted his argument: "But the probable
destruction of property and possible loss of life?"
"Matters fully covered by law," the Governor replied. "They are under
the jurisdiction of the police, the sheriff, and, if need be, the
militia."
Mr. Acton, despite the argument advanced, "was of the same opinion
still."
Quincy rang for the messenger, who appeared.
"I am going now. Does any one wish to see me?"
"There's a young lady outside. She's been waiting some time."
Quincy looked at his watch. It was quarter past two.
"Admit her, at once."
Maude began the conversation. "I received your astonishing telegram,
Quincy, and was here _on time_," and she emphasized the final words.
"What does it mean? Is Alice sick?"
Quincy took the cue. "Not exactly sick, but she wants to see you very
much, and I felt so sure you would come to please her, that I ignored
your refusal to accept an invitation from me. Come, we'll have lunch
at Young's, and then a carriage to the station,--is your trunk
there?"
Maude nodded. She felt that Quincy had played a trick on her and she
was in a rebellious mood.
She ate her lunch in silence. Not a word was spoken during the drive
to the station. When the train was under way Quincy remarked,
casually, "I invited Mr. Merry to come down next Saturday and stay
over Sunday."
From that moment until they reached Eastborough Centre, Quincy could
not have desired a more talkative or vivacious companion. As they
stepped upon the platform, Mr. Parsons came up.
"They're there, safe and sound. I went up with them myself, so's to
be sure."
CHAPTER VI
"JUST LIKE OLD TIMES"
Alice had a delightful day at Mandy Maxwell's. The twins, Abraham
Mason and Obadiah Strout, sturdy little fellows of the same age as
Ezekiel's boy, were full of fun and frolic. Swiss, Uncle Ike's dog,
had grown old in the past five years, but the antics of the
youngsters overcame at times both age and its accompanying dignity,
or love of repose, and he was often as frisky as in his younger days.
Mrs. Crowley told Alice, in confidence, that she "was most dead" with
the noise of them, and that, some day, she would be "kilt intirely"
by falling over them.
Alice held the little girl for hours, and, remembering Mrs. Hawkins'
complaint, called her "Martha" instead of "Mattie."
After the death of Capt. Obed Putnam, his companion, Uncle Ike came
down from his attic and had the room that Quincy occupied when he
boarded with Ezekiel Pettingill. He was now eighty-one years of age,
and too feeble to go up and down stairs, so his meals were taken to
his room.
He was greatly pleased to see Alice and to learn that there had been
no return of the trouble with her eyes.
"If we had known as much then as we do now, you wouldn't have needed
any doctor, Alice."
"Why, how's that?" she asked.
"Because the mind governs the body; as we think we are--we are."
"Well, Uncle Ike, why don't you think you are able to go down stairs
and walk back again?"
"I was referring to disease, not the infirmities of old age."
"What's the difference, Uncle?"
"I can't explain it, but there's a mighty sight of difference. I've
been trying to get Mandy to let me live on sour milk, because a great
doctor in Europe says we'll live longer if we do."
"How long would you care to live?"
"As long as I could. I've been reading up on all the religions and
all the substitutes, and it's going to take me some time to decide
which is best--for me, I mean. I don't presume to dictate to others."
"Which do you favour so far?"
"I was brought up on theology--great, big doses of it. I was taught
that God was everything and man was nothing. Now I'm willing to give
the Almighty credit for all his wonderful works, but I can't help
thinking that _man_ deserves some credit for his thousands of years
of labour. There's a man out in Chicago who has got up a religion
that he calls Manology. There's some good points in it, but he goes
too far to suit me. I've read about ghosts and spirits, but I've got
to see one before I take stock in them."
"I understand how you feel, Uncle. You have lost the two anchors
which make this life bearable. They are Faith and Hope. For them you
have substituted Reason--not the reason of others, or of the ages,
but your own personal opinion. Until you are satisfied, every one
else is wrong."
"Perhaps you're right, Alice. I can see now that my life has been
misspent. I should have remained at home and made my wife and
children happy. Instead, I became, virtually, a hermit, and for more
than twenty years I have thought only of myself and done nothing for
humanity, that has done everything for me."
Alice was deeply touched by her Uncle's self-accusation. He had been
good to her, and not unkind to others. But he was drifting in a sea
of doubt, and really wishing to live his life over again. She felt
sorry, but what could she say to give his mind peace? She would begin
on the material plane.
"Uncle, how much money have you?"
"That's what troubles me, Alice. When I left home"--his voice
lingered on the word--"I gave my wife and children two-thirds of what
I had. The rest I put into an annuity, which dies with me. That will
do nothing for those I love and who love me."
To Alice, the case seemed almost hopeless. Here was a man who, owning
his past life had been self-reliant, independent, impatient as
regarded advice and control--was now weaker than a child, for, in
youth, Faith is triumphant.
"You must have a talk with Quincy, Uncle. Perhaps he can help you."
She went down stairs with a sinking heart. She loved her uncle, but
love, powerful as it is, cannot always cast out unbelief.
"Where can your husband be, Alice?" asked Mandy. "Half-past six, and
supper's ready. I remember how I used to call out 'supper's ready'
when you and he were in the parlour singing. I hope you'll sing some
to-night."
Mrs. Crowley rushed into the dining room. "He's coming, but he's got
a woman with him."
"Who can she be?" thought Alice as they followed Mrs. Crowley to the
front door.
"Hello, Alice," cried Maude. "I've brought him back with me."
Quincy told Ambrose, Mandy's boy-of-all-work, to drive the team to
the Hawkins' House and tell Mrs. Hawkins that he wished a room that
night for his sister. Ambrose's hand clutched the half-dollar tightly
as he repeated the message to Quincy's satisfaction. Mrs. Crowley
gazed admiringly at the Governor until he disappeared from view.
Alone, in the kitchen, she gave vent to her feelings.
"The foine gintleman that he is. 'How do you do, Mrs. Crowley.' sez
he, and he shakes me hand as jintly as if I was a born lady. And the
pretty sister that he has, an' the beautiful wife. An' he's the
President of the State, an' sez he, 'Mrs. Crowley, how do you do, an'
it's delighted I am to see you again.'"
Mrs. Crowley wiped her eyes with her apron and resumed her household
duties, occasionally repeating, "'How do you do, Mrs. Crowley.' When
Dan comes to-night I'll tell him what the Governor said."
Hiram soon joined the party, it being his night off. As of old, he
stammered, or stuttered, when excited, and the sight of Quincy and
Alice was enough to entirely disorganize his speaking apparatus.
"Ain't this jolly?" said he. "Just like old times. I heerd you was at
Miss Hawkinses, but I didn't think as how you'd git round here so
quick. But we're mighty glad to see 'em, ain't we, Mandy? I hope
you're all as hungry as I am." He went to the kitchen door and
called, "Mrs. Crowley, we're waiting for the supper."
"How I wish Uncle Ike could be with us," said Alice.
"Why can't you call him?" asked Quincy.
"He's too weak in his legs to come down," said Mandy.
"I'll fetch him," and Quincy bounded up stairs, while Mandy got a
place ready for him.
Quincy soon returned with Uncle Ike in his arms and placed him in a
big arm-chair at the head of the table.
Alice looked up and smiled at her husband.
"Now it is much more like old times," she said, softly.
Maude, who had been an interested listener and spectator, finally
exclaimed, "I'm not surprised that you stayed down here four months,
Quincy, but we used to wonder, until we saw Alice, what the great
attraction was."
Maude's explosive remark caused a general laugh in which Uncle Ike
joined. Alice, feeling that all eyes were fixed upon her, blushed
prettily, "As my husband's residence here brought good to others as
well as to myself, I am glad that a poor, blind girl, such as I was,
proved an attraction strong enough to keep him here."
She stopped, somewhat abashed at making so long a speech, which Maude
might think indicated that she was offended at her sister-in-law's
reference to herself.
"Bravo, Alice," cried Uncle Ike, "so say we all of us."
After supper all adjourned to the parlour. Quincy offered to carry
Uncle Ike.
"No, young man. I'm all right on an even floor. It's these up and
down stairs that tire my loose joints"--and he made his way, without
assistance, to an easy chair in a farther corner. Quincy looked about
the room. Five years had made little change. The old square piano was
in its accustomed place, as well as the music stand. He looked over
the pieces--the same ones that he and Alice had sung together years
ago.
"Let's have some music," said Hiram. "We haven't heard any singers,
except Dan, since you folks went away. Guess that pianner's out of
tune by this time."
It certainly was, but their hearts were in tune, and it mattered
little if some of the keys refused to move, or the sounds emitted
were more discordant than melodious.
"Is this Dan a good singer?" asked Quincy.
"Fine!" exclaimed Hiram. "He's great on Irish songs."
"They are always humourous or pathetic," remarked Alice. "Some of
them remind me of a person trying to laugh with a heart full of
sorrow, and their love songs are so sweet."
"Can't we have him in?" asked Maude.
"I'll go and see if he's come," said Mandy. "He often drops in and
helps Mrs. Crowley clear up after supper."
Maude laughed. "A sure sign he's in love. I hope I'll get such a
helpful husband."
"Your life will be on different lines," remarked Uncle Ike. "You will
not be obliged to do your own housework."
"I don't know about that. I've loafed all my life and I'd really like
to know what work is."
Mandy came back with smiling face. "Yes, he's there, and they're
putting the dishes in the closet. He's coming in, and, of course,
Mrs. Crowley will come too."
"While we are waiting, play something, Maude," said Quincy.
"I only took three quarters," she said roguishly, as she seated
herself and dashed off "Waves of Ocean" in strident style.
"I always liked that," said Hiram.
"So do I, with my bathing-dress on," and Maude acknowledged the
applause that greeted her efforts with a low bow.
The door was opened, and Mrs. Crowley entered followed by Mr. Daniel
Sweeney. Mrs. Crowley with her neat calico dress and white apron, did
not look her forty-five years, and Mr. Sweeney, although five years
her senior, was a young appearing man.
"I haven't the music with me," said Mr. Sweeney to Maude, who offered
to play the accompaniment.
"Give me the key--I guess I can vamp it."
Back to Full Books
|