HOCKEN AND HUNKEN

A Tale of Troy

by

Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch ('Q')

CONTENTS. 

BOOK I

CHAPTER

I. CAPTAIN CAI HAULS ASHORE. 

II. THE BARBER'S CHAIR. 

III. TABB'S CHILD. 

IV. VOICES IN THE TWILIGHT. 

V. A TESTIMONIAL. 

VI. RILLA FARM. 

VII. 'BIAS ARRIVES. 

VIII. 'BIAS APPROVES. 

BOOK II

IX. FIRST SUSPICIONS. 

X. REGATTA NIGHT. 

XI. MRS BOSENNA PLAYS A PARLOUR GAME. 

XII. _AMANTIUM IRAE_. 

XIII. FAIR CHALLENGE. 

XIV. THE LETTERS. 

XV. PALMERSTON'S GENIUS. 

XVI. IS IN TWO PARTS. 

XVII. APPARENTLY DIVIDES INTO THREE. 

BOOK III

XVIII. THE PLOUGHING. 

XIX. ROSES AND THREE-PER-CENTS. 

XX. A NEWSPAPER PARAGRAPH. 

XXI. THE AUCTION. 

XXII. THE LAST CHALLENGE. 

XXIII. PASSAGE REGATTA. 

XXIV. FANCY BRINGS NEWS. 

XXV. CAI RENOUNCES. 

XXVI. 'BIAS RENOUNCES. 

XXVII. MRS BOSENNA GIVES THE ROSE. 

XXVIII. JUBILEE. 

BOOK I. 

CHAPTER I. 

CAPTAIN CAI HAULS ASHORE. 

"Well, _that's_ over!"

Captain Caius Hocken, from the stern-sheets of the boat bearing himshoreward, slewed himself half-about for a look back at his vessel, the_Hannah Hoo_ barquentine. This was a ticklish operation, because hewore a tall silk hat and had allowed his hair to grow during the passagehome--St. Michael's to Liverpool with a cargo of oranges, and fromLiverpool around to Troy in charge of a tug. 

"I'm wonderin' what 'twill feel like when it comes to my turn, " musedhis mate Mr Tregaskis, likewise pensively contemplating the _HannahHoo_. "Not to be sure, sir, as I'd compare the two cases; me bein' amarried man, and you--as they say--with the ship for wife all theseyears, and children too. "

"I never liked the life, notwithstandin', " confessed the Captain. "And I'll be fifty come Michaelmas. Isn' that enough?"

"Nobody likes it, sir; not at our age. But all the same I reckon therebe compensations. " Mr Tregaskis, shading his eyes (for the day wassunny), let his gaze travel up the spars and rigging of theBarquentine--up to the truck of her maintopmast, where a gull hadperched itself and stood with tail pointing like a vane. "If the truthwere known, maybe your landsman on an average don't do as he chooses anymore than we mariners. "

"Tut, man!" The Captain, who held the tiller, had ceased to look aft. His eyes were on the quay and the small town climbing the hillside aboveit in tier upon tier of huddled grey houses. "Why, damme!Your landsman chooses to live ashore, to begin with. What's more, hecan walk where he has a mind to, no matter where the wind sits. "

Mr Tregaskis shook his head. Having no hat, he was able to do this, andit gave him some dialectical advantage over his skipper. 

"In practice, sir, you'd find it depend on who's left to mind the shop. "

"Home's home, all the same, " said Captain Cai positively, thrusting overthe tiller to round in for the landing-stairs. "I was born and rearedin Troy, d'ye see? and as the sayin' goes--Steady on!"

A small schooner, the _Pure Gem_ of Padstow, had warped out from thequay overnight after discharging her ballast with the usual disregard ofthe Harbour Commissioners' bye-laws; and a number of ponderable stones, now barely covered by the tide, encumbered the foot of the landing. On one of these the boat caught her heel, with a jerk that flung the twooarsmen sprawling and toppled Captain Hocken's tall hat over his nose. Mr Tregaskis thrust out a hand to catch it, but in too great a haste. The impact of his finger-tips on the edge of the crown sent the hatspinning forward over the thwart whereon sprawled Ben Price, the strokeoar, and into the lap of Nathaniel Berry, bowman. 

Nathaniel Berry, recovering his balance, rescued the headgear from thegrip of his knees, gave it a polite brush the wrong way of the nap, andpassed it aft to Ben Price. Ben--a bald-headed but able seaman--eyed ita moment, rubbed it the right way dubiously with his elbow, and handedit on to the mate; who in turn smoothed it with the palm of his hand, which--being an alert obliging man--he had dexterously wetted oversidebefore the Captain could stop him. 

"That's no method to improve a hat, " said Captain Hocken shortly, snatching it and wiping it with his handkerchief. He peered into it andpushed out a dent with his thumb. "The way this harbour's allowed toshoal is nothing short of a national disgrace!"

He improved on this condemnation as, having pushed clear and brought hisboat safely alongside, he climbed the steps and met the Quaymaster, whoadvanced to greet him with an ingratiating smile. 

"--A scandal to the civilised world! _There's_ a way to stack ballast, now! Look at it, sproiled about the quay-edge like a skittle-alley in acyclone! But that has been your fashion, Peter Bussa, ever since Iknowed 'ee, and 'Nigh enough' your motto. "

"You've no idea, Cap'n Cai, the hard I work to keep this blessed quaytidy. "

"Work? Ay--like a pig's tail, I believe: goin' all day, and still in atwist come night. "

"Chide away--chide away, now! But you're welcome home for all that, Cap'n Cai, --welcome as a man's heart to his body. "

Captain Cai relaxed his frown. After all, 'twas good to return and findthe little town running on just as he left it, even down to QuaymasterBussa and his dandering ways. Yes, there stood the ancient crane withits broken-cogged winch--his own initials, carved with his firstclasp-knife, would be somewhere on the beam; and the heap of sand besideit differed nothing from the heap on which he and his fellows had peltedone another forty years ago. Certainly the two bollards--the onebroken, the other leaning aslant--were the same over which he and theyhad played leap-frog. Yes, and yonder, in the arcade supporting thefront of the "King of Prussia, " was Long Mitchell leaning against hisusual pillar; and there, on the bench before the Working Men'sInstitute, sat the trio of septuagenarians--Un' Barnicoat, Roper Vine, Old Cap'n Tom--and sunned themselves; inseparables, who seldom exchangeda remark, and never but in terms and tones of inveterate contempt. Facing them in his doorway lounged the town barber, under his stripedpole and sign-board--"_Simeon Toy, Hairdresser_, " with the s's stilltwiddling the wrong way; and beyond, outside the corner-shop, Mr Rogers, ship-broker and ship-chandler--half paralytic but cunning yet, --sathunched in his invalid chair, blinking; for all the world like a wickedold spider on the watch for flies. 

"Ahoy, there!" Captain Cai hailed, and made across at once for theinvalid chair: for Mr Rogers was his man of business. "Lost no time inreportin' myself, you see. "

Mr Rogers managed to lift his hand a little way to meet Captain Cai'sgrasp. "Eh? Eh? I've been moored here since breakfast on the look-outfor 'ee. " He spoke indistinctly by reason of his paralysis. "They brought word early that the _Hannah Hoo_ was in, and I gave ordersstraight away for a biled leg o' mutton--_with_ capers--_an'_ springcabbage. Twelve-thirty we sit down to it, it that suits?"

"Thank 'ee, I should just say it _did_ suit! . . . You got my lastletter, posted from the Azores?"

"To be sure I did. I've taken the two houses for 'ee, what's more, an'the leases be drawn ready to sign. . . . But where's your friend?He'll be welcome too--that is, if you don't hold three too many for aleg o' mutton?"

"'Bias Hunken? . . . You didn't reckon I was bringing him along with me, did you?"

"I reckoned nothin' at all, not knowin' the man. "

"Well, he's at West Indy Docks, London, --or was, a week ago. I saw iton 'The Shipping Gazette' two days before we left the Mersey: the _I'llAway_, from New Orleans; barquentine, and for shape in tonnage might beown sister to the _Hannah Hoo_; but soft wood and Salcombe built. I was half fearing 'Bias might get down to Troy ahead of me. "

"He hasn't reported himself to _me_, anyway. . . . But we'll talk abouthim and other things later on. "

Mr Rogers dismissed the subject as the Quaymaster came sidling up tojoin them. Mild gossip was a passion with the Quaymaster, andeavesdropping his infirmity. 

"Well, Cap'n Cai, and so you've hauled ashore--and for good, if I heartrue?"

"For good it is, please God, " answered Captain Cai, lifting his hat atthe word. He was a simple man and a pious. 

"And a householder you've become already, by all accounts. I don't setmuch store by Town Quay talk as a rule--"

"That's right, " interrupted Mr Rogers. "There's no man ought to knowits worth better than you, that sets most of it goin'. "

"They _do_ say as you've started by leasin' the two cottages in HarbourTerrace. "

"Do they?" Captain Cai glanced at the ship-chandler for confirmation. "Well, then, I hope it is true. "

"'Tis nothing of the sort, " snapped Mr Rogers. Seeing how Captain Cai'sface fell, he added, "I may be wrong, o' course, but I reckon there was_two_ tenants, and they wanted a cottage apiece. "

"Ah, to be sure!" agreed the honest captain, visibly relieved. 

But the Quaymaster persisted. "Yes, yes; there was talk of a friend o'yours, an' that you two were for settin' up house alongside one another. Hunken was the name, if I remember?"

Again Captain Cai glanced at the ship-chandler. He was plainly puzzled, as the ship-chandler was plainly nettled. But he answered simply--

"That's it--'Bias Hunken. "

"Have I met the man, by any chance?"

"No, " said Captain Cai firmly, "you haven't, or you wouldn't ask thequestion. He's the best man ever wore shoe-leather, and you can trusthim to the end o' the earth. "

"I can't say as I know a Hunken answerin' that description, " Mr Bussaconfessed dubiously. 

"You've heard the description, anyway, " suggested Mr Rogers, losingpatience. "And now, Peter Bussa, what d'ye say to running off andannoying somebody else?"

The Quaymaster fawned, and was backing away. But at this point up cameBarber Toy, who for some minutes had been fretting to attract CaptainCai's notice, and could wait no longer. 

"Hulloa, there! Is it Cap'n Cai?--an' still carryin' his gaff-tops'l, I see" (this in pleasant allusion to the tall hat). "Well, home you be, it seems, an' welcome as flowers in May!"

"Thank 'ee, Toy. " Captain Cai shook hands. 

"We was talkin' business, " said the ship-chandler pointedly. 

"Then you might ha' waited for a better occasion, " Mr Toy retorted. "Twasn' mannerly of ye, to say the least. "

"Better be unmannerly than troublesome, I've heard. "

"Better be both than unfeelin'. What! Leave Cap'n Cai, here, pass mydoor, an' never a home-comin' word?"

"I was meanin' to pay you a visit straight away; indeed I was, " saidCaptain Cai contritely. "Troy streets be narrow and full o' friends;and when a man's accustomed to sea-room--" He broke off and drew a longbreath. "But O, friends, if you knew the good it is!"

"Ay, Cap'n: East or West, home is best. "

"And too far East is West, as every sailor man knows. . . . There, now, take me along and think' that out while you're giving me a clip; for thelonger you stand scratching your head the longer my hair's growing. "He turned to Mr Rogers. "So long, soce! I'll be punctual attwelve-thirty--what's left of me. "

CHAPTER II. 

THE BARBER'S CHAIR. 

"This _is_ home!" Captain Cai settled himself down in the barber's chairwith a sigh of luxurious content. "I've heard married men call itbetter, " said Mr Toy, fetching forth a clean wrapper. 

"Very likely. " The Captain sighed again contentedly. "I take no truckin marriage, for my part. A friend's company enough for me. "

"What's his name, Cap'n? The whole town's dyin' to know. "

"He's called Hunken--Tobias Hunken. "

The barber paused, snapping his scissors and nodding. "Bussa was rightthen, or Bussa and Philp between 'em. "

"Hey?"

"'Tis wonderful how news gets abroad in Troy. . . . 'Hunken, ' now?And where might he be one of? I don't seem to fit the name in my mem'ryat all. "

"You wouldn't. He comes from t'other side of the Duchy--a Padstow-bornman, and he've never set eyes on Troy in his life. "

"Yet he takes a house an' settles here? That's queer, as you mightsay. "

"I see nothing queer about it. He's my friend--that's why. And what'smore, the Lord never put bowels into a better man. "

"He'll be a pleasure to shave, then, " opined Mr Toy. 

"No, he won't; he wears his hair all over his face. Talkin' of thatreminds me--when you've done croppin' me I want a clean shave. "

"Chin-beard an' all, Cap'n?"

"Take it off--take it off! 'Twas recommended to me against sore throat;but I never liked the thing nor the look of it. "

"Then there's one point, it seems, on which you an' your friend don'tagree, sir?"

The barber meant this facetiously, but Captain Cai considered it in allseriousness. 

"You're mistaken, " he answered. "Between friends there's agive-an'-take, and until you understand that you don't understandfriendship. 'Bias Hunken likes me to do as I choose, and I like 'Biasto do as _he_ chooses: by consekence o' which the more we goes our ownways the more we goes one another's. That clear, I hope. "

"Moderately, " the barber assented. 

"I'll put it t'other way--about an' make it still clearer. Most marriedfolks, as I notice, start t'other way about. For argyment's sake we'llcall 'em Jack an' Joan. Jack starts by thinkin' Joan pretty nearperfection; but he wants her quite perfect and all to his mind--_his_mind, d'ye see? Now if you follow that up, as you followed it between'Bias and me--"

"I don't want my missus to wear a beard, if that's what you mean. "

"'Twasn't a good illustration, I admit. But the p'int is, I like 'Biasbecause he's 'Bias, an' 'Bias likes me because I'm Cai Hocken. That bein' so, don't it follow we're goin' to be better friends thanever, now we've hauled ashore to do as likes us?"

The barber shook his head. "You're determined to have off yourchin-beard?"

"_To_ be sure. I'm ashore now, aren't I?--and free to wear what face Ichoose. "

"You won't find it so, Cap'n. "

"T'ch't! You landsmen be so fed with liberty you don't know yourprivileges. If you don't like your habits, what hinders you fromchangin' 'em? But _do_ you? Here I come back: here's th' old Town Quaysame as ever it was; and here likewise you all be, runnin' on as I left'ee, like a clockwork--a bit slower with age maybe--that's all. Whereby I conclude your ways content ye. "

"You're wrong, Cap'n Cai--you're wrong. We bide by our habits--an', more by token, here comes Mr Philp. 'Morning, Mr Philp. " The barber, without turning, nodded towards the newcomer as he entered--a short man, aged about sixty, with a square-cut grey beard, sanguine complexion, andblue eyes that twinkled with a deceptive appearance of humour. "Here's Cap'n Cai Hocken, home from sea. "

"Eh? I am very glad to see you, Cap'n Hocken, " said Mr Philp politely. "There's a post-card waitin' for you, up at the Office. "

Captain Cai sat bolt upright of a sudden, narrowly missing a wound fromthe scissors. "That will be from 'Bias! To think I hadn' sense enoughto go straight to the Post Office and inquire!"

"'Tis from your friend, sure enough, " announced Mr Philp. "He paid offhis crew last Toosday, an' took his discharge an' the train down toPlymouth. He've bought a wardrobe there--real wornut--an' 'tis comin'round by sea. There's a plate-chest, too, he thinks you may fancy--price thirty-five shillin secondhand: an' he hopes to reach Troy the dayafter next, which by the post-mark is to-morra. "

"Mr Philp, " explained the barber, "calls in at the Office every mornin'to read all the post-cards. 'Tis one of his habits. "

"Recent bereavement?" asked Mr Philp, before Captain Cai could welldigest this. 

"Eh?"

"Recent bereavement?" Mr Philp was examining the tall hat, which he hadpicked up to make room for his own person on the customers' bench. 

"That's another of his aptitoods, " the barber interpolated. "He attends all the funerals in the parish. "

"In the midst o' life we are in death, " observed Mr Philp. "That's acert, Cap'n Hocken, an' your hat put me in mind of it. "

"Oh, 'tis my hat you're meanin'? What's wrong with it?"

"Did I say there was anything wrong? No, I didn't--God forbid! An' nodoubt, " concluded Mr Philp cheerfully, "the fashions'll work round to itagain. "

"I'll change it for another. "

"You won't find that too easy, will you?" The barber paused in hissnipping, and turned about for a thoughtful look at the hat. 

"I mean I'll buy another, of a different shape. First the beard, thenthe headgear--as I was tellin' Toy, a man ashore can reggilate his waysas he chooses, an here's to prove it. "

"They _do_ say a clean shave is worth two virtuous resolutions, "answered the barber, shaking his head Again. "And you're makin' a bravestart, I don't deny. But wait till you pick up with a few real habits. "

"What sort o' habits?"

"The sort that come to man first-along in the shape o' duties--likechurch-goin'. Look here, Cap'n, I'll lay a wager with 'ee. . . . Soon as you begin to walk about this town a bit, you'll notice aterrible lot o' things that want improvin'--"

"I don't need to walk off the Town Quay for _that_. "

"Ah, an' I daresay it came into your head that if you had the orderin'of Bussa you wouldn' be long about it? The town'll think it, anyway. We're a small popilation in Troy, all tied up in neighbourly feelin'san' hangin' together till--as the sayin' is--you can't touch a cobwebwithout hurtin' a rafter. What the town's cryin' out for is a newbroom--a man with ideas, eh, Mr Philp?--above all, a man who'sindependent. So first of all they'll flatter ye up into standin' forthe Parish Council, and put ye head o' the poll--"

"Tut, man!" interrupted Captain Cai, flushing a little. "What do I knowabout such things? Not o' course that I shan't take an interest--as aratepayer--"

"_To_ be sure. I heard a man say, only last Saturday, sittin' in thatvery chair, as there was never a ship's captain hauled ashore but inthree weeks he'd be ready to teach the Chancellor of th' Exchequer hisbusiness an' inclined to wonder how soon he'd be offered the job. "

"A ship's captain needn't be altogether a born fool. "

"No: an' next you'll be bent on larnin' to speak in public; and takin'occasions to practise, secondin' votes o' thanks an' such like. After that you'll be marryin' a wife--"

"I don't want to marry a wife, I tell 'ee!"

"Who said you did? Well, then, you'll get married--they dotes on apublic man as a rule; and for tanglin' a man up in habits there's nosnare like wedlock, not in the whole world. I've known scores o' menget married o' purpose to break clear o' their habits an' take a freshstart; but ne'er a man that didn't tie himself up thereby in twenty newhabits for e'er a one he'd let drop. "

"Go on with your folly, if it amuses you. "

"Then, again, you've taken a house. "

"So Rogers tells me. I don't even know the rent, at this moment. "

"Twenty-five pound p'r annum, " put in Mr Philp. Captain Cai--releasedjust then from his wrapper--turned and stared at him. 

"I had it from the Postmistress, " Mr Philp's tone was matter-of-fact, his gaze unabashed. "Bein' paralytic, Rogers did your business with thewidow by letter; he keeps a type-writin' machine an' pays Tabb's girlthree shillin' a-week to work it. The paper's thin, as I've had a mindto warn 'er more than once. "

"'Twould be a Christian act, " suggested Mr Toy. "If there's truth inhalf what folks say, some of old Johnny Rogers' correspondence 'd makepretty readin' for the devil. "

"But look here, " interposed Captain Cai, "what's this about doin'business with a widow? _Whose_ widow?"

"Why, your landlady, to be sure--the Widow Bosenna, up to Rilla Farm. "

"No--stop a minute--take that blessed latherin'-brush out o' my mouth!You don't tell me old Bosenna's dead, up there?"

"It didn' altogether surprise most of us when it happened, " said thebarber philosophically. "A man risin' sixty-five, with _his_ habits! . . . But it all came about by the County Council's widenin' the roadup at Four Turnin's. . . . You see, o' late years th' old man 'd ridehome on Saturdays so full he _had_ to drop off somewhere 'pon the road;an' his mare gettin' to find this out, as dumb animals do, had picked upa comfortable way of canterin' hard by Four Turnin's and stoppin' short, slap in the middle of her stride, close by th' hedge, so 's her master'd roll over it into the plantation there, where the ditch is full ofoak-leaves. There he'd lie, peaceful as a suckin' child; and there, every Sabbath mornin' in the small hours, one o' the farm hands 'd besent to gather 'em in wi' the new-laid eggs. So it went on till one daythe County Council, busy as usual, takes a notion to widen th' road justthere; an' not only pulls down th' hedge, but piles up a great heap o'stones, ready to build a new one. Whereby either the mare hadn' noticedthe improvement or it escaped her memory. Anyway--the night bein'dark--she shoots old Bosenna neck-an'-crop 'pon the stones. It caused alot o' feelin' at the time, an' the coroner's jury spoke their mindspretty free about it. They brought it in that he'd met his death by thevisitation o' God brought about by a mistake o' the mare's an' helped onby the over-zealous behaviour of the County Surveyor. Leastways that'show they put it at first; but on the Coroner's advice they struck outthe County Surveyor an' altered him to a certain party or partiesunknown. "

"I mind Mrs Bosenna well, " said Captain Cai, rising as the barberunwrapped him; "a smallish well-featured body, with eyes like bullaceplums. "

"Ay, an' young enough to ha' been old Bosenna's daughter--a pennilessmaid from Holsworthy in Devon, as I've heard; an' now she's left there, up to Rilla, happy as a mouse in cheese. Come to think, Cap'n Cai, youmight do worse than cock your hat in that quarter. "

But Captain Cai did not hear for the moment. He was peering into thelooking-glass and thinking less of Mrs Bosenna than of hisshaven-altered appearance. 

"'Twould be a nice change for her, too, " pursued Mr Toy in a rallyingtone; "an adaptable man like you, Cap'n. "

"Eh? What's that you were sayin' about my hat?" asked Captain Cai; andjust then, letting his gaze wander to the depths of the glass, he wasaware of Mr Philp shamelessly trying on that same hat before anothermirror at the back of the shop. 

"Hullo, there!"

Mr Philp faced about solidly, composedly. 

"I was thinkin', " said he, "as I'd bid you three-an'-six for this, ifyou've done with it. I've long been wantin' something o' the sort, forinterments. "

"Done with you!" said Captain Cai, reaching for it and clapping it onhis head. "Only you must send round for it to-morrow, when I've foundmyself something more up-to-date. " Again he contemplated his shavenimage in the mirror. "Lord! A man do look younger without achin-beard!"

"Ay, Cap'n. " Barber Toy, knuckles on hips, regarded and approved hishandiwork. "The world's afore 'ee. Go in and win!"

As he stepped out upon the Quay, Captain Cai lifted his gaze towards thetower of the Parish Church, visible above an alley-way that led betweena gable-end of the Town Hall and the bulging plank of the "King ofPrussia. " Aloft there the clock began to chime out the eight notes ithad chimed, at noon and at midnight, through his boyhood, and had beenchiming faithfully ever since. 

Yes, it was good to be home! Captain Cai would have been astonished tolearn that his thirty-five years at sea had left any corner forsentiment. Yet a sudden mist gathered between him and the face of theold clock. Nor had it cleared when, almost punctually on the laststroke, a throng of children came pouring from school through the narrowalley-ways. They ran by him with no more than a glance, notinterrupting their shouts. In a moment the Quay was theirs; they wereat leap-frog over the bollards; they were storming the sand-heap, pelting a king of the castle, who pelted back with handfuls. Captain Cai felt an absurd sense of being left out in the cold. Not achild had recognised him. 

All very well . . . But to think that these thirty-odd years had madenot a scrap of difference--that the Quay lay as it had lain, neglected, untidy as ever! Thirty-odd years ago it had been bad enough. But whatconscience was there in standing still and making no effort to move withthe times? As Barber Toy said, it was scandalous. 

CHAPTER III. 

TABB'S CHILD. 

"Three hundred pounds a-year . . . " mused Captain Cai between two puffsof tobacco smoke. He repeated the words, rolling them in his mouth, asthough they tasted well. "You're pretty sure 'twill come to that?"

"Sure, " answered Mr Rogers. The pair had dined, and were now promotingdigestion with pipes and grog in Mr Rogers' bow-window overlooking theharbour. "You might put your money to an annuity, o' course, an' livelike a lord: but I'm reckonin' it in safe ord'nary investments, averagin' (let's say) four per cent. An' that's leavin' out yourthirty-odd shares in the _Hannah Hoo_, when she's for sale. Ship-auctions be chancey things in these days, an' private purchasershard to find. "

"I never knew 'em when they weren't, " said Captain Cai. 

"When d'ye pay off, by the way?"

"Not till Saturday. There's no hurry. When a man drops hook on hislast cruise I allow 'tis his duty to tidy up an' leave all ship-shape;in justice to hisself, you understand. There's Tregaskis an' the crew, too, --old shipmates every one--"

The chandler nodded. 

"Ay, you're to be envied, Cap'n. There's others--masters of oil-tanks, f'r instance--as makes their pile faster; some of em' in ways thatneedn't be mentioned atween you an' me. But slow an' honest has beenyour motto; an' here you be--What's your age? Fifty? Say fifty at theoutside. --Here you be at fifty with a tidy little income and a cleanconscience to sit with in your pew o' Sundays; nothing to do o'week-days but look after a few steady-goin' investments an' draw yourlittle dividends. "

"That'd be more business than I've a mind for, Rogers, " answered CaptainCai; "at any rate, while you live. I've a-left my affairs to you thesetwelve year, an' mean to continue, please God--you knowin' my ways. "

The chandler blinked. "That's very han'some o' ye, Cap'n, " he saidafter a long pause. "But--"

"There's no 'but' about it, " interrupted Captain Cai shortly, lookingaway and resting his gaze on the _Hannah Hoo_ out in the harbour, whereshe lay on the edge of the deep-water channel among a small crowd ofwind-bounders. Her crew had already made some progress in unbendingsails, and her stripped spars shone as gold against the westeringsunlight. "No 'but' about it, Rogers--unless o' course you'reunwillin'. "

"What's willin' or unwillin' to a man broken in health as I be?That's the p'int, Cap'n--here, set opposite to 'ee, staring 'ee in theface--a hulk, shall we say?--rudder gone, ridin' to a thread o' life--""You'll ride to it a many years yet, please God again. "

"I take 'e to witness this is not my askin'. "

Captain Cai stared. "'Tis my askin', Rogers. I put it as a favour. "

"What about your friend? I was thinkin' as maybe _he'd_ take over thejob. "

"'Bias?" Captain Cai shook his head. "He've no gift in money matters;let be that I don't believe in mixin' friendship in business. "

Mr Rogers pondered this for some while in silence. Then he struck ahand-bell beside him, and his summons was answered by a smallshort-skirted handmaiden who had waited table. 

"Pipe's out, my dear, " he announced. "An' while you're about it you maymix us another glassful apiece. "

"Not for me, thank 'ee, " said Captain Cai. 

"An' not for him, neither, " said the girl. She was but a child, yet shespoke positively, and yet again without disrespect in her manner. "'Tis poison for 'ee, " she added, knocking out the ash from her master'schurchwarden pipe and refilling it from the tobacco-jar. "You know whatthe doctor said?"

"Ugh!--a pair o' tyrants, you an' the doctor! Just a thimbleful now--ifthe Cap'n here will join me. "

"You heard him? He don't want another glass. "

Her solemn eyes rested on Captain Cai, and he repeated that he wouldtake no more grog. 

She struck a match and held it to the pipe while the chandler drew a fewpuffs. Then she was gone as noiselessly as she had entered. 

"That's a question now, " observed Captain Cai after a pause. 

"What's a question?"

"Servants. I've talked it over with 'Bias, and he allows we shouldadvertise for a single housekeeper; a staid honest woman to look afterthe pair of us--with maybe a trifle of extra help. That gel, forinstance, as waited table--"

"Tabb's child?"

"Is that her name?"

"She was christened Fancy--Fancy Tabb--her parents being a brace o'fools. Ay, she's a nonesuch, is Tabb's child. "

"With a manageable woman to give her orders--What's amiss with ye, Rogers?"

Captain Cai put the question in some alarm, for the heaving of theship-chandler's waistcoat and a strangling noise in his throat togethersuggested a sudden gastric disturbance. 

But it appeared they were but symptoms of mirth. Mr Rogers lifted hispracticable hand, and with a red bandanna handkerchief wiped the rheumfrom his eyes. 

"Ho, dear!--you'll excuse me, Cap'n; but 'with a manageable woman, ' yousaid? I'd pity her startin' to manage the like of Fancy Tabb. "

"Why, what's wrong wi' the child?"

"Nothin'--let be I can't keep a grown woman in the house unless she's ahalf-wit. I have to get 'em from Tregarrick, out o' the Home for theFeeble-Minded. But it don't work so badly. They're cheap, youunderstand; an' Fancy teaches 'em to cook. If they don't show nopromise after a fortni't's trial, she sends 'em back. I hope, " addedthe chandler, perceiving Captain Cai to frown, "you're not feelin' noafterthoughts about that leg o' mutton. Maybe I ought to have warned'ee that 'twas cooked by a person of weak intellect. "

"Don't mention it, " said Captain Cai politely. "What the eye don't seethe heart don't grieve, as they say; an' the jint was boiled to a turn. . . . I was only wonderin' how you picked up such a maid!"

The chandler struck again upon the small hand-bell. "I got her from abad debt. "

"Seems an odd way--" began Captain Cai, after pondering for a moment, but broke off, for the hand-maiden stood already on the threshold. 

"Fancy Tabb, " commanded the chandler, "step fore, here, into thelight. "

The child obeyed. 

"You see this gentleman?"

"Yes, master. " Her eyes, as she turned them upon Captain Cai, were frankenough, or frank as eyes could be that guarded a soul behind glooms ofreserve. They were straight, at any rate, and unflinching, and veryserious. 

"You know his business?"

"I think so, master. . . . Has he come to sign the lease? I'll fetch itfrom your desk, if you'll give me the keys. "

"Bide a bit, missy, " said Captain Cai. "That'd be buying a pig in apoke, when I ha'n't even seen the house yet--not, " he added, with aglance at Mr Rogers, "that I make any doubt of its suiting. But business is business. "

The child turned to her master, as much as to ask, "What, then, is yourneed of me?"

"Cap'n Hocken wants a servant, " said Mr Rogers, answering the look. 

She appeared to ponder this. "Before seein' the house?" she asked, after a moment or two. 

"She had us there, Rogers!" chuckled Captain Cai; but the child wasperfectly serious. 

"You would like me to show you the house? Master has the key. "

"That's an idea, now!" He was still amused. 

"When?"

"This moment--that's to say, if your master'll spare you?" He glancedat Mr Rogers, who nodded. 

"Couldn't do better, " he agreed. "You've a good two hours afore dusk, an' she's a proper dictionary on taps an' drainage. "

"Please you to come along, sir. " The child waited respectfully whileCaptain Cai arose, picked up his hat, and bade his host "So long!"He followed her downstairs. 

Their way to the street lay through the shop, and by the rearward doorof it she paused to reach down her hat and small jacket. The shop waslong, dark, intricate; its main window overshadowed by the bulk of theTown Hall, across the narrow alley-way; its end window, which gave onthe Quay, blocked high with cheeses, biscuit-tins, boxes of soap, anddried Newfoundland cod. Into this gloom the child flung her voice, andCaptain Cai was aware of the upper half of a man's body dimlysilhouetted there against the panes. 

"Daddy, I'm going out. "

"Yes, dear, " answered the man's voice dully. "For an hour, very likely. This gentleman wants to see his new house, and I'm to show it to him. "

"Yes, dear. "

"You'll be careful, won't you now? Mrs M--fus'll be coming round, certain, for half-a-pound of bacon; And that P--fus girl for candles, ifnot for sugar. You've to serve neither, mind, until you see theirmoney. "

"Yes, dear. What excuse shall I make?" The man's voice was weary butpatient. The tone of it set a chord humming faintly somewhere inCaptain Cai's memory: but his mind worked slowly and (as he would haveput it) wanted sea-room, to come about. 

They had taken but a few steps, however, when in the narrow street, known as Dolphin Row, he pulled up with all sail shaking. 

"That there party as we passed in the shop--"

"He's my father, " said the child quickly. 

"And you're Tabb's child. . . . You don't tell me that was Lijah Tabb, as used to be master o' the _Uncle an' Aunt?_"

"I don't tell you anything, " said the child, and added, "he's adifferent man altogether. "

"That's curious now. " Captain Cai walked on a pace or two and haltedagain. "But you're Tabb's child, " he insisted. "And, by the trick ofhis voice, if that wasn't Lijah--"

"His name _is_ Elijah. "

"Eh?" queried Captain Cai, rubbing his ear. "But I heard tell, " he wenton in a puzzled way, searching his memory, "as Lijah Tabb an' Rogers hadquarrelled desp'rate an' burnt the papers, so to speak. "

"'Twas worse than that. " She did not answer his look, but kept her eyesfixed ahead. 

"Yet here I find the man keepin' shop for Rogers: and as for you--ifyou're his daughter--"

"I'm in service with Mr Rogers, " said Fancy, who as if in a moment hadrecovered her composure. "If you want to know why, sir, and won't chatabout it, I don't mind tellin' you. "

"You make me curious, little maid: that I'll own. "

"'Tis simple enough, too, " said she. "He's had a stroke, an' he's gointo hell. "

"Eh? . . . I don't see--"

"He's goin' to hell, " she repeated with a nod as over a matter thatadmitted no dispute. 

"Well, but dang it all!" protested Captain Cai after a pause, "we'll allow as he's goin' there, for the sake of argyment. Is that whyyou're tendin' on him so careful?"

"You mustn't think, " answered the child, "that I'm doin' it out o' pityaltogether. There's something terrible fascinatin' about a man in thatposition. "

CHAPTER IV. 

VOICES IN THE TWILIGHT. 

"I don't see anything immodest in it, " said Mrs Bosenna looking up. She was on her knees and had just finished pressing the earth about theroots of a small rose-bush. "The house is mine, and naturally I amcurious to know something about my tenant. "

Dinah, her middle-aged maid, who had been holding the bush upright andsteady, answered this challenge with a short sniff. "He don't seem overcurious, for his part, about _you_. " She, too, glanced upward andtoward the house, the upper storey alone of which, from where theystood, was visible above the spikes of a green palisade. A roadwaydivided the house from the garden, which descended to the harbour-cliffin a series of tiny terraces. "They've been pokin' around indoors thishour and more. "

"You don't suppose he caught sight of us?"

"Maybe not; but Tabb's child did. That girl 've a-got eyes likeniddles. If he don't come down to pay his respects, you may bet 'tisbecause he don't want to. " Dinah, being vexed, spoke viciously. Her speech implied that her mistress's conduct had been not onlyindelicate but clumsy. 

"You are a horrid woman, " Mrs Bosenna accused her; "and I can't thinkwhat put such nasty-minded thoughts into your head. "

"No more can I, unless you suggested 'em, " Dinah retorted. 

"You were willing enough to come, when--when--"

"When you proposed it, " Dinah relentlessly concluded the sentence. "Of course. Why not?"

"And you were excited enough--you can't deny it"--her mistress insisted, "when you brought the news this morning, that his ship had arrived. But now, and only because you happen to be put out--"

"Who said I was put out?"

"As if I couldn't tell by your tone! Now, just because you happen to beput out, I'm indelicate all of a sudden. "

"I never said so, " Dinah protested sullenly. 

"_Said_ so?" Mrs Bosenna, rising, faced her with withering scorn. "I hope you've a better sense of your position than to _say_ such athing. Oh, you content yourself with hinting! . . . But who owns thishouse and garden, I should like to know?"

Dinah, though remorseful, showed fight yet. "Then why couldn' ye takethe bull by the horns an' march in by the front door?"

"Why? Because you agreed with me that to plant a two or three roses forhim would be a nice attention! . . . You can't start planting roses inthe dusk, at the end of an afternoon call; and, as it is, we've onlyjust finished before twilight. "

Dinah was minded to retort that, as it was, the planting had taken along time. But she contented herself with glancing again at the houseand saying evasively that the new tenant appeared to take more interestin fixtures than in flowers. 

"I own, " sighed Mrs Bosenna, "I thought he'd have been eager to takestock of the garden before it grew dark. Such a beautiful garden, as itis, in a small way!"

"When a man has passed his whole life at sea--"

"True, " her mistress agreed. "Yet how it must enlarge the mind!So different from farming!"

"It must be ekally dependent on the weather, " Dinah opined. "At least. More so, takin' one thing with another. Oh, decidedly. It stands toreason. "

"I'm romantic perhaps, " confessed Mrs Bosenna; "but I can never think ofany ship's captain as being quite an ordinary man. The dangers he mustgo through--and the foreign countries he visits--and up night afternight in all weathers, staring into the darkness in an oilskin suit!"

"'Tisn' the sort o' man I should ever choose for a husband, if I wantedone, " maintained Dinah. 

"Who was talking of husbands, you silly woman?"

"I don't see how else the men-folk consarn us, mistress. "

"You're coarse, Dinah. "

"I'm practical, anyway. If they choose to toss up an' down 'pon the seathey're welcome, for me. But, for my part, when I lay me down at night, I like to be sure o' gettin' up in the same position next mornin'; andI'd to feel the same about a husband, supposin' I cared for the man. "

"I often think, " mused Mrs Bosenna, "that we're not half grateful enoughto sailors, considering the risks they run and the things they bring ushome: tea and coffee, raisins, currants, with all kinds of spices andcordial drinks. "

"Oranges an' lemons, say the bells o' St Clemen's. Oranges--"

"I wasn't thinking of this Captain Hocken in particular, " interruptedthe widow hastily. "Take a Christmas pudding, for instance. Flour andsuet, and there's an end if you depend on the farmer; just an ordinarydumpling. Whereas the sailor brings the figs, the currants, the candiedpeel, the chopped almonds, the brandy--all the ingredients that make itChristmassy. "

"And then the farmer takes an' eats it. Aw, believe me, mistress, Stay-at-home fares best in this world!"

"I don't know, Dinah, " sighed Mrs Bosenna. "Haven't you ever in yourlife wished for a pair o' wings?"

"To wear in my hat? Why, o' course I have. "

"No, no; I mean, for the wings of a dove, to fly away and be--well, notat rest exactly--"

"No, I haven't, mistress. But 'tis the way with you discontented richfolks. Like Hocken's ducks, all of 'ee--never happy unless you be whereyou baint. . . . I wonder if that Hocken was any relation--S-sh! now!Talk of the devil!"

Captain Cai and Fancy had spent a good hour-and-a-half in overhaulingthe two cottages. Their accommodation was narrow enough, but CaptainCai, after half a lifetime on shipboard, found them little short ofpalatial. The child could scarcely drag him away from the tinybath-rooms with their hot and cold water taps. 

"Lord, " said he, gazing down into the newly painted bath in No. 1. "To think of 'Bias in the likes o' this!"

"You may, if you care to, " said Fancy. 

"'Tis a knack of mine, " he apologised. "We'll suppose him safely out ofit, an' what happens next? Why, he'll step across to the linen-cupboardhere, wi' the hot pipes behind it, an' there's a clean shirt dried an'warmed to his skin. He gets into that--the day bein' Sunday, as we'llsuppose--an' finishes his dressin', danderin' forth an' back from oneroom to t'other; breakfast gettin' ready downstairs an' no hurry forit--all his time his own, clean away to sundown. Up above the lowerwindow-sash here with the Prodigal Son in stained glass, and verythoughtful of the architect, too--"

"It isn't stained glass, " the child corrected; "it's what they call atransparency. "

"I hope you're mistaken. . . . I must try it from the outside before Ilet 'Bias undress here. As I was sayin', through the upper pane he'llsee his cabbages comin' on at the back; an' in the front, under hiswindow, there's the bread-cart--"

"But you said 'twas Sunday. "

"So I did. . . . Well, there's the milk-cart anyway, an' a boy janglin'the cans. You can't think how pretty these shore-noises be to asailor-man. An' down in the town the church bell goin' for earlyCommunion, but he'll attend mornin' service later on. An', across theroad, there's the garden, full o' flowers, an' smellin'--an' a blessedsense as he can pick an' choose an' take his time with it all. "Captain Cai had wandered to the front window. He let fall these lastwords slowly, in a kind of reverie, as he gazed out on the garden overwhich the twilight was fast gathering. 

"With all this time on your hands, I reckon you won't be takin' a lookround the garden?" hazarded Fancy. 

"Certainly. Why not?"

"Well, 'tis drawin' in dusk. But there! I wouldn' disappoint MrsBosenna, if I was you. "

"Eh?"

"She's been down in the garden this hour and more, waitin' for you totake her by surprise. "

"Oh--come now, I say!"

Fancy nodded her head. "I don't know as I blame her, " she saidjudicially. "She's curious to know what you look like, that's all; orelse she's curious for you to know what she looks like. Anyway, she'sdown there, if you've a mind to be polite. "

Seeing that he hesitated, the child led the way. Captain Cai followedher in something of a tremor. Across the road they went and through thegarden-gate; and the sound of their footsteps on the flagged pathwaygave Mrs Bosenna warning. By the time they reached the second terraceshe was down on her knees again, packing the soil about the rose-bush, which Dinah obediently held upright for her. 

"Losh, here's visitors!" exclaimed Dinah. 

Mrs Bosenna turned with the prettiest start of surprise, and sprang toher feet. If there was a suspicion--a shade--of overacting, thetwilight concealed it. She had a charming figure, very supple andmaidenly: she bought her corsets in London. The kneeling posture andthe swift rise from it were alike noticeably graceful, even in the dusk. 

"Visitors?" she echoed. "And me in this state to receive 'em, earthedup to the wrists!" She plucked off her gardening-gloves, handed them toDinah, and stooped to snatch up one of a pair of white cuffs--badges ofher widowhood--that she had laid aside on the turf before starting towork. While slipping it over her wrist she found time to glance up atCaptain Cai, who fumbled confusedly with the rim of his tall hat. 

"Excuse me, madam--no wish to intrude. We'll take ourselves off thisminute, eh?" He turned to the child, who, however, did not budge. 

"Please, don't go. You are--?"

"Caius Hocken, ma'am--of the _Hannah Hoo_--at your service. "

"Dear me, what a very pleasant surprise!" (Oh, Mrs Bosenna!) She heldout a hand. "I am glad to make your acquaintance, Captain Hocken. "

"I hope I see you well, ma'am?" Captain Cai took the hand and dropped itnervously. 

"Quite well, I thank God. . . . They told me your ship had arrived, sir;but I could not count--could I?--on your coming to inspect the house sosoon. "

"If I've been over hasty, ma'am--"

"Not at all, " she interrupted. "There now! I put things so clumsily attimes! I meant to excuse _myself_; for, you see, the house has beenyours since Lady-day--that's to say, if you sign the lease, --andLady-day's more than a week past. So 'tis _I_ that am the intruder. . . . But passing the garden yesterday, I'd a notion that half a dozendwarf roses would improve it, without your knowledge. You're notoffended, I hope, now that you've caught me? I dote on roses, for mypart. "

"I--I take it very kindly, ma'am. "

"'Tis a funny time o' the year to be plantin' roses, isn't it?" askedFancy. 

"Eh?" In the dusk Mrs Bosenna treated her to a disapproving stare. "Is that Elijah Tabb's child? . . . You've grown such a lot lately, Ihardly recognised you. "

"I noticed that, " said the child with composure, "though I didn't guessthe reason. But 'tis a funny time to be plantin' roses, all the same. "

"And pray, child, what do you know about roses?"

"Nothing, " answered Fancy, "'cept that 'tis a funny time to be plantin''em. "

"When you grow a little older, " said Mrs Bosenna icily, "you'll knowthat anything can be done with roses in these days--with properprecautions. Why"--she turned to Captain Cai--"I've planted out rosesin July month--in pots, of course. You break the pots in the Octoberfollowing. But there must be precautions. "

"Meanin' manure?"

"Cow, " interposed Dinah tersely, "it's the best. Pig comes next, forvarious reasons. "

"We need not go into details, " said Mrs Bosenna. "I sent down acartload this morning and had it well dug in. Provided you dig it deepenough, and don't let it touch the young roots--"

"I thank you kindly, ma'am, " said Captain Cai, "and so will my friend'Bias Hunken when he hears of it. "

"Ah, my other tenant?--or tenant in prospect, I ought to say. He hasnot arrived yet, I understand. "

"He's due to-morrow, ma'am, by th' afternoon train. "

"You must bring him over to Rilla Farm, to call on me, " said Mrs Bosennagraciously. 

Captain Cai rubbed his chin. He was taken at unawares; and not findingthe familiar beard under his fingers, grew strangely helpless. "As forthat, ma'am, " he stammered, "I ought to warn you that 'Bias isn' easilycaught. "

"God defend me!" answered the widow, who had a free way of speaking attimes. "Who wants to catch him?"

"You don't take my meanin', ma'am, if you'll excuse me, " flounderedCaptain Cai in a sweat. "I ought to ha' said that 'Bias, though one ina thousand, is terrible shy with females--or ladies, as I should say. "

"He'll be all the more welcome for that, " said Mrs Bosenna relentlessly. "You must certainly bring him, Captain Hocken. "

Before he could protest further, she had shaken hands, gathered uptrowel and kneeling-pad, given them into Dinah's keeping, unpinned andshaken down the skirt of her black gown, and was gone--gone up thetwilit path, her handmaiden following, --gone with a fleeting smile that, while ignoring Fancy Tabb, left Captain Cai strangely perturbed, sonicely it struck a balance between understanding and aloofness. 

He rubbed his chin, then his ear, then the back of his neck. 

"Lord!" he groaned suddenly, "where was my manners?"

"Eh?"

"I never said a word about her affliction. "

"What might _that_ be, in your opinion?"

"Her first husband, o' course--or, as I _should_ say, the loss of him. Shockin' thing to forget. . . . I've almost a mind now to follow her an'make my excuses. "

"Do, " said Fancy; "I'd like to hear you start 'pon 'em. "

"Well, you can if you will. Come over with me to Rilla to-morrowforenoon. I'll get leave for you. "

"That'd spoil the fun, " said Fancy, not one risible muscle twitching;"but go you'll have to. Mrs Bosenna has left one of her cuffs behind. "

She pointed to a white object on the turf. Captain Cai stooped, pickedit up, and held it gingerly in his hand. 

"She didn' seem a careless sort, neither, " he mused. 

"Not altogether, " the child agreed with him. 

"Dinah, " said Mrs Bosenna, halting suddenly as they walked homeward inthe dusk, "I've left one of my cuffs behind!"

"Yes, mistress. "

"'Yes, mistress, '" Mrs Bosenna mimicked her. "If 'twas anythingbelonging to you, you'd be upset enough. "

"I'd have more reason, " said Dinah stolidly. "Do 'ee want me to runback an' fetch it?"

"No--o. " Her mistress seemed to hesitate. "'Tisn't worth while; andten chances to one somebody will find it. "

"That's what I was thinkin', " agreed Dinah. 

CHAPTER V. 

A TESTIMONIAL. 

Captain Cai's sea-chest had been conveyed to the Ship Inn, TrafalgarSquare (so called--as the landlord, Mr Oke, will inform you--after thefamous battle of that name), and there he designed to lodge while hisfriend and he furnished their new quarters. 

His bed, a four-poster, was luxurious indeed after his old bunk in the_Hannah Hoo_, and he betook himself to it early. Yet he did not sleepwell. For some while sleep was forbidden by a confusion of voices inthe bar-parlour downstairs; then, after a brief lull, the same voicesstarted exchanging good-nights in the square without; and finally, whenthe rest had dispersed, two belated townsmen lingered in privateconversation, now walking a few paces to and fro on the cobbles, butever returning to anchorage under a street lamp beneath his window. By-and-by the town lamplighter came along, turned off the gas-jet andwished the two gossips good-night, adding that the weather wasextraordinary for the time of year; but still they lingered. Captain Cai, worried by the murmur of their voices, climbed out of bedto close the window. His hand was outstretched to do so when, throughthe open sash, he caught a few articulate words--a fragment of asentence. 

Said one--speaking low but earnestly--"If I should survive my wife, _asI hope to do_--"

Unwilling to play the eavesdropper, or to startle them by shutting thewindow, Captain Cai very delicately withdrew, climbed back into bed, anddrew the edge of the bedclothes over his ear. Soon he was asleep; but, even as he dropped off, the absurd phrase wove itself into the midnightchime from the church tower and passed on to weave itself into hisdreams and vex them. "If I should survive my wife--" In his dreams hewas back in Troy, indeed, and yet among foreigners. They spoke inEnglish, too; but they conversed with one another, not with him, asthough he might overhear but could not be expected to understand. One dream--merely ludicrous when he awoke and recalled it--gave him realdistress while it lasted. In it he saw half a dozen townsmen--BarberToy, Landlord Oke, the Quaymaster, and Mr Philp among them--gatheredaround the mound of sand on the Quay, solemnly playing a child's gamewith his tall hat. Mr Philp took it from the Quaymaster's head, transferred it to his own, and, lifting it by the brim, said reverently, "If I should survive my wife, " &c. , to pass it on to the barber, whorecited the same formula to the same ritual. In the middle of thesandheap was a pit, which appeared to be somebody's grave; and somewherein the background, on the far side of the pit, stood Mrs Bosenna andTabb's girl together, the one watching with a queer smile, while theother kept repeating, "He's going to hell. He couldn't change hishabits, and it's high time the Quay was improved. "

From this dream Captain Cai awoke in a sweat, and though the rest of thenight yielded none so terrifying, his sleep was fitful and unrefreshing. The return of day brought with it a sense of oppression, of a load onhis mind, of a task to be performed. 

Ah, yes!--he must pay a call on Mrs Bosenna. She had as good as engagedhim by a promise, and, moreover, there was her cuff to be returned. . . . Well, the visit must be paid this morning. 'Bias would bearriving by the afternoon train; and, apart from that, when you've adaunting job that cannot be escaped, the wise course is to play the manand get it over. 

Still, he could not well present himself at Rilla Farm before eleveno'clock--say half-past eleven--or noon even. No, that would be toolate; might suggest a hint of staying to dinner--which God forbid!He resolved upon eleven. 

He grudged to lose the latter half of the morning; for the gardens--hisand Hunken's--had yet to be explored, and the rainwater cisterns in rearof the houses, and the back premises generally, and the patches wherethe cabbages grew. Also (confound the woman!) he could well have spentan hour or two about the streets and the Quay, renewing oldacquaintance. The whole town had heard of his return, and there werescores of folk to remember him and bid him welcome. They would chaseaway this feeling of forlornness, of being an alien. . . . Strange that, wide awake though he was, it should continue to haunt him!

But Troy, on all save market mornings, is a slug-a-bed town; and even atnine o'clock, when he issued forth after an impatient breakfast, thestreets wore an unkempt, unready, unsociable air. Housewives were stillbeating mats, shopboys washing down windows; ash-buckets stood in thegutter-ways, by door and ope, awaiting the scavenger. 

"These people want a Daylight Saving Bill, " thought Captain Cai, andsomewhat disconsolately wheeled about, setting his face for the RopeWalk. Here his spirits sensibly revived. There had been rain in thenight, but the wind had flown to the northward, and the sun was alreadyscattering the clouds with promise of a fine day. Cleansing airs playedbetween the houses, the line of ash-buckets grew sparser, and thebuckets--for he had encountered the scavenger's cart on the slope of thehill--were empty now, albeit their owners showed no hurry to fetch themindoors. 

A row of houses--all erected since his young days--still blocked theview of the harbour. But just beyond them, where a roadway led down tothe ferry, the exquisite scene broke upon him--the harbour entrance, with the antique castles pretending to guard it; the vessels (his ownamongst them) in the land-locked anchorage; the open sea beyond, violetblue to the morning under a steady off-shore breeze; white gullsflashing aloft, and, in the offing, a pair of gannets hunting above thewaters. 

Captain Cai took no truck (as he would have said) in the beauties ofnature; but here was a scene he understood, and he began to feel at homeagain. He halted, rested his elbows on a low wall and watched thegannets at their evolutions--the poise, the terrific dive, the splashclearly visible at more than a mile's distance. The wall on which heleaned overhung a trim garden, gay with scentless flowers such as tulipsand late daffodils, and yet odorous--for early April has a few daysduring which the uncurling leaf has all the fragrance of blossom: andthis was such a day, lustrous from a bath of rain. To our uninstructedseaman the scent seemed to exhale from the tulips; it recalled hisattention from the gannets, and he drew in deep breaths of it, ponderingthe parterres of Kaiserskroon and Duchesse de Parme--bold scarletsplashed with yellow--of golden Chrysoloras, of rosy white CottageMaids. Unknowing it, he had a sense of beauty, and he decided thathorticulture, for a leisured man, was well worth a trial. 

"That's the best of living ashore, " he told himself. "A man can choosewhat hobby he will and, if he don't like it, pick up another. "

He climbed the hill briskly, to view his own garden and take stock ofits possibilities. . . . The roses planted by Mrs Bosenna had scarcelyflagged at all, thanks to the night's rain. Around them and to rightand left along the border under the walls of the two first terraces, green shoots were pushing up from the soil--sword-like spikes of iris, red noses of peonies, green fingers of lupins. Into what flowers thesevarious shootlets would expand Captain Cai knew no more than Adam, firstof gardeners. He would consult some knowledgeable person--no, not MrsBosenna--and label them 'as per instructions': or, stay! 'Bias Hunkenhad a weakness for small wagers. Here was material for a long summergame, more deliberate even than draughts; to buy a botanical book andwith its help back one's fancy, flower or colour. A capital game: nodoubt (thought Captain Cai) quite commonly played among landsmenpossessing gardens. 

At this point he made a discovery he had missed in the dusk overnight. His eyes fell on a flat-topped felt-covered roof, almost level with hisfeet and half-hidden between two bushes (the one a myrtle, the other amock-orange; but he knew no such distinctions). There was yet a thirdterrace, then; and on this third terrace--yes, by the Lord, asummer-house fit for a king! Glass-fronted, with sliding sashes;match-boarded within, fitted with racks and shelves for garden tools;with ample room for chairs and a table at which two could sup and squaretheir elbows. Such a view, moreover! It swept the whole harbour. . . . 

Captain Cai's first impulse was to search around for a rack whereon tostow a telescope: his next, to run to the party-wall and hoist himselfhigh enough to scan his friend's garden. 

Yes! 'Bias, too, had a summer-house; not precisely similar in shape, however. Its roof was a lean-to, and its frontage narrower; but of thisCaptain Cai could not be sure. He was short of stature, and with toesdigging into the crevices of the wall and hands clutching at its copinghe could take no very accurate survey. He dropped back upon _terrafirma_ and hurried up the flights of steps to the roadway, in haste todescend from it into 'Bias's garden and resolve his doubts. 

For you must understand that the two cottages comprised by the name ofHarbour Terrace were (according to Mr Rogers) "as like as two peas, evendown to their water-taps, " and even by name distinguished only asNumber 1 and Number 2: and that, taking this similarity on trust, Captain Cai had chosen Number 2, Because--well, simply because it _was_Number 2. If inadvertently he, being first in the field, had collaredthe better summer-house!--The very thought of it set him perspiring. 

At the head of the garden, to his annoyance, he found Mr Philp leaningover the gate. 

"Ah, Good morning!" said Mr Philp. "You was expectin' me, o' course. "

"Good morning, " returned Captain Cai. "Expectin' you? No, I wasn't. Why?"

"About that hat. I've brought you the three-an'-six. " He held out thecoins in his palm. 

"You can't have it just now. I'm in a hurry. "

"So I see, " said Mr Philp deliberately, not budging from the gate. "It don't improve a hat as a rule. "

"What d'ye mean?"

"Perspiration works through the linin'. I've seen hats ruined thatway. "

"Very well, then: we'll call the bargain off. The fact is, I'd forgotabout it; and you can't very well have the hat now. 'Tis my only one, an'--well the fact is, I'm due to pay a call. "

"Where?"

"I don't see as 'tis any business o' yours, " answered Captain Cai withvexation; "but, if you want to know, I've to call on my landlady, Mrs Bosenna. "

"Is that where you're hurryin' just now?"

"Well, no: not at this moment, " Captain Cai had to confess. 

"Where, then?"

"Oh, look here--"

"You needn't tell, if you don't want to. But _I'm_ goin' to a funeralat eleven o'clock, " said Mr Philp. "Eleven A. M. , " he added pointedly. "Not that I hold with mornin' funerals in a general way: but the corpseis old Mrs Wedlake, and I wasn't consulted. "

"Relative?" asked Captain Cai. 

"No relation at all; though I don't see as it matters. " Mr Philp wascheerful but obdurate. "A bargain's a bargain, as I take it. "

"That fact is--"

"_And_ a man's word ought to be good as his bond. Leastways that's howI look at it. "

"Here, take the darned thing!" exclaimed Captain Cai. His action, however, was less impulsive than his speech: he removed the hatcarefully, lowering his head and clutching the brim between both hands. A small parcel lay inside. 

"What's that?" asked Mr Philp. 

"It's--it's a cuff, " Captain Cai admitted. 

"Belongs to the Widow Bosenna, I shouldn't wonder?" Mr Philp hazardedwith massive gravity. "It's the sort o' thing a woman wears now-a-dayswhen she've lost her husband. I follows the fashions in my distantway. " He paused and corrected himself carefully--"_Them sort. _"

"I thought--it occurred to me--as it might be the handiest way ofreturnin' the thing. "

"It seems early days to be carryin' that sort of article around in thecrown o' your hat. Dangerous, too, if you use hair-oil. But you don't. I took notice that you said 'no' yesterday when Toy offered to rubsomething into your hair. Now that's always a temptation with me, there bein' no extra charge. . . . Did she give it to you?"

"Who? . . . Mrs Bosenna? No, she left it behind here. "

"When?"

"Yesterday evening. "

"What was she doin' here, yesterday evenin', to want to take off hercuffs?"

"If you must know, she was planting roses. "

"What? In April? . . . You mustn't think I'm curious. "

"Not at all, " Captain Cai agreed grimly. 

"Nice little place you've pitched on here, I must say. " Mr Philpchanged his tone to one of extreme affability. "There's not a prettierlittle nest in all Troy than these two cottages. And which of the pairmight be _your_ choice?"

"It's not quite decided. "

"Well, you can't do wrong with either. But"--Mr Philp glanced backacross the roadway and lowered his voice--"I'd like to warn you o' onething. I don't know no unhandier houses for gettin' out a corpse. There's a turn at the foot o' the stairs; most awk'ard. "

"I reckon, " said Captain Cai cheerfully, "'Bias an' me'll leave that tothem as it concerns. But, man! what a turn you've a-got for funerals!"

"They be the breath o' life to me, " Mr Philp confessed, and paused for amoment's thought. "Tell 'ee what we'll do: you shall come with me downto Fore Street an' buy yourself a new hat at Shake Benny's: 'tis on yourway to Rilla Farm. There in the shop you can hand me over the oneyou're wearin', and Shake can send mine home in a bandbox. " He twinkledcunningly. "I shall be wantin' a bandbox, an' that gets me onecost-free. "

The man was inexorable. Captain Cai gave up resistance, and the pairdescended the hill together towards Mr Benny's shop. 

Young Mr Benny, "S. Benny, Gents' Outfitter, " had suffered themisfortune to be christened Shakespeare without inheriting any of theliterary aspirations to which that name bore witness. It was, in anyevent, a difficult name to live up to, and so incongruous with thisyouth in particular that, as he grew up, his acquaintances abbreviatedit by consent to Shake; and, again, when, after serving anapprenticeship with a pushing firm in Exeter, he returned to open ahaberdashery shop in his native town, it had been reduced, for businesspurposes, to a bare initial. 

But it is hard to escape heredity. Albeit to young Mr Benny pureliterature made no appeal, and had even been summarised by him as"footle, " in the business of advertising he developed a curious literarytwist. He could not exhibit a new line of goods without inventing anarresting set of labels for it; and upon these labels (executed with hisown hands in water-colour upon cardboard) he let play a fancy almostAsiatic. Not content with mere description, such as "_Neck-wear inUp-to-date Helios_" or "_Braces, Indispensable_, " he assailed the coypurchaser with appeals frankly personal, such as "_You passed usYesterday, but We Hit you this time_, " or (of pyjamas) "_What! Youdon't Tell us You Go to Bed like your Grandfather_, " or (of a collar)"_If you Admire Lord Rosebery, Now is Your Time_. "

Captain Cai wanted a hat. "I be just returned from foreign, " heexplained; "and this here head-gear o' mine--"

Young Mr Benny smiled with a smile that deprecated his being drawn intocriticism. "We keep ahead of the Germans yet, sir, --in some respects. Is it Captain Hocken I have the pleasure of addressin'?"

"Now, how did he know that?" Captain Cai murmured. 

"Why, by your hat, " answered Mr Philp with readiness. 

"You'll be wanting something more nautical, Captain? Something yachty, if I may suggest. . . . I've a neat thing here in yachting caps. "Mr Benny selected and displayed one, turning it briskly in his hands. "The _Commodore_. There's a something about that cap, sir, --a whatshall I say?--a distinction. Or, if you prefer a straight up-and-downpeak, what about the _Squadron_ here? A little fuller in the crown, you'll observe; but that"--with a flattering glance--"would suit you. You'd carry it off. "

"Better have it full in the crown, " suggested Mr Philp; "by reason it'shandier to carry things. "

"None of your seafarin' gear, I'll thank you, " said Captain Cai hastily. "I've hauled ashore. "

"And mean to settle among us, I hope, sir? . . . Well, then, with thesummer already upon us--so to speak--what do we say to a real Panamastraw? The _Boulter's Lock_ here, f'r instance, --extra brim--at fiveand sixpence? How these foreigners do it for the money is a mystery tome. "

"I see they puts 'Smith Brothers, Birmingham, ' in the lining, " saidCaptain Cai. 

"Importers' mark, sir, --to insure genuineness. . . . Let me see, whatsize were you saying? H'm, six-seven-eighths, as I should judge. "Young Mr Benny pulled out a drawer with briskness, ran his hand througha number of genuine Panamas of identical pattern, selected one, andpoised it on the tips of his fingers, giving it the while a seductivetwist. "If you will stand _so_, Captain, while I tilt the glass atrifle?"

Captain Cai gazed hardily at his reflection in the mirror. "It don'tseem altogether too happy wi' the rest of the togs, " he hazarded, andconsulted Mr Philp. "What do _you_ think?"

"I ain't makin' no bid for your tail-coat, if that's what you mean, "answered Mr Philp with sudden moroseness, pulling out his watch. "I got one. "

"Our leading townsmen, sir, " said young Mr Benny, "favour an alpacalounge coat with this particular line. We stock them in all sizes. Alpacas are seldom made to measure, --'free-and-easy' being their motto, if I may so express it. "

"It's mine, anyway. "

"And useful for gardening, too. In an alpaca you can--" Young Mr Benny, without finishing the sentence, indued one and went through briskmotions indicative of digging, hoeing, taking cuttings and transplantingthem. 

The end of it was that Captain Cai purchased an alpaca coat as well as aPanama hat, and having bidden "so long" to Mr Philp, and pocketed histhree-and-sixpence, steered up the street in the direction of RillaFarm, nervously stealing glimpses of himself in the shop windows as hewent. As he hove in sight of the Custom House, however, thisbashfulness gave way of a sudden to bewilderment. For there, at thefoot of the steps leading up to its old-fashioned doorway lounged hismate, Mr Tregaskis, sucking a pipe. 

"Hullo! What are you doin' here?" asked Captain Cai. 

"What the devil's that to you?" retorted Mr Tregaskis. But a momentlater he gasped and all but dropped the pipe from his mouth. "Good Lord!"

"Took me for a stranger, hey?"

The mate stared, slowly passing a hand across his chin as though to makesure of his own beard. "What indooced 'ee?"

"When you're in Rome, " said Captain Cai, with a somewhat forcednonchalance, "you do as the Romans do. "

"Do they?" asked Mr Tregaskis vaguely. "Besides, we ain't, " he objectedafter a moment. 

"Crew all right?"

"Upstairs, "--this with a jerk of the thumb. 

"Hey? . . . But why? We don't pay off till Saturday, as you ought toknow, for I told 'ee plain enough, an' also that the men could have anymoney advanced, in reason. "

"Come along and see, " said the mate mysteriously. "I've been waitin'here on the look-out for 'ee. " He led the way up the steps, along atwisting corridor and into the Collector's office, where, sure enough, the crew of the _Hannah Hoo_ were gathered. 

"Here's the Cap'n, boys!" he announced. "An' don't call me a liar, buttake your time. "

The men--they were standing uneasily, with doffed hats, around a tablein the centre of the room--gazed and drew a long breath. They continuedto breathe hard while the Collector bustled forward from his desk andcongratulated Captain Cai on a prosperous passage. 

"There's one thing about it, " said Ben Price the bald-headed, at lengthbreaking through the mortuary silence that reigned around the table;"it _do_ make partin' easier. "

"But what's here?" demanded Captain Cai, as his gaze fell upon a curiousobject that occupied the centre of the table. It was oblong: it wascovered with a large red handkerchief: and, with the men groupedrespectfully around, it suggested a miniature coffin draped and readyfor committal to the deep. 

"Well, sir, " answered Nat Berry, who was generally reckoned the wag ofthe ship, "it might pass, by its look, for a concealment o' birth. But it ain't. It's a testimonial. "

"A what?"

But here the mate--who had been standing for some moments on one leg--suddenly cleared his throat. 

"Cap'n Hocken, " said he in a strained unnatural voice, "we theundersigned, bein' mate and crew of the _Hannah Hoo_ barquentine--"

"Be this an affidavit?"

"No it isn': 'tis a Musical Box. . . . As I was sayin', We theundersigned, bein' mate an' crew of the _Hannah Hoo_ barquentine, whichwe hear that you're givin' up command of the same, Do hereby beg leaveto express our mingled feelin's at the same in the shape of this hereaccompanyin' Musical Box. And our united hope as you may have live longto enjoy the noise it kicks up, which"--here Mr Tregaskis dropped to aconfidential tone--"it plays 'Home, Sweet Home, ' with other fashionabletunes, an' can be turned off at any time by means of a back-handedswitch marked 'Stop' in plain letters. IT IS therefore--" here thespeaker resumed his oratorical manner--"our united wish, sir, as youwill accept the forthcoming Musical Box from the above-mentionedundersigned as a mark of respect in all weathers, and that you may liveto marry an' pass it down to your offspring--"

"Hear, hear!" interjected Mr Nat Berry, and was told to shut his head. 

"--to your offspring, or, in other words, progenitors, " peroratedMr Tregaskis. "And if you don't like it, the man at the shop'll changeit for something of equal value. " Here with a sweep of the hand hewithdrew the handkerchief and disclosed the gift. "I forget the chap'sname for the moment, but he's a watchmaker, and lives off the Town Quayas you turn up west-an'-by-north to the Post Office. The round mark onthe lid--as p'r'aps I ought to mention--was caused by a Challenge Cup ofsome sort standin' upon it all last summer in the eye of the sun, whichdon't affect the music, an' might be covered over with a brass plate incase of emergency; but time didn't permit. " Thus Mr Tregaskisconcluded, and stood wiping his brow. 

Captain Cai stared at the gift and around at the men's faces mistily. "Friends"--he managed to say. "Friends, " he began again after a painfulpause, and then, "It's all very well, William Tregaskis, but you mightha' given a man warnin'--after all these years!"

"It don't want no acknowledgment: but take your time, " said the matehandsomely, conscious, for his part, of having performed with credit. 

At this suggestion Captain Cai with a vague gesture pulled out hiswatch, and amid the whirl of his brain was aware of the hour--10. 45. 

"I've--I've an appointment, friends, as it happens, " he stammered. "And I thank you kindly, but--" On a sudden happy inspiration he fixedan eye upon the mate. "All sails unbent aboard?" he asked sternly. 

"There's the mizzen, sir--"

"I thought so. We'll have discipline, lads, to the end--if you please. We'll meet here on Saturday: and when you've done your unbendin' maybeI'll start doin' mine. "

He took up the musical box, tucked it under his arm, and marched out. 

CHAPTER VI. 

RILLA FARM. 

The way was long, the sun was hot, the minstrel (as surely he may becalled who carries a musical box) was more than once in two minds aboutturning back. He perspired under his absurdly superfluous burden. 

To be sure he might--for Troy is always neighbourly--have knocked in atsome cottage on his way through the tail-end of the town and depositedthe box, promising to return for it. But he was flurried, pressed fortime, disgracefully behind time, in fact; and, moreover, thanks to hisattire and changed appearance, no friendly face had smiled recognitionthough he had recognised some half a dozen. There was no time to stop, renew old acquaintance, ask a small favour with explanations. . . . All this was natural enough: yet he felt an increasing sense of humanselfishness, human ingratitude--he, toiling along with this token ofhuman gratitude under his arm!

At the extreme end of the town his way led him through the entrance of awooded valley, or coombe, down which a highroad, a rushing stream, and arailway line descend into Troy Harbour, more or less in parallels, fromthe outside world. A creek runs some little way up the vale. In olddays--in Captain Cai's young days--it ran up for half a mile or more toan embanked mill-pool and a mill-wheel lazily turning: and Rilla Farmhad in those days been Rilla Mill, with a farmstead attached as themiller's _parergon_. 

But the railway had swept away mill-pool and wheel: and Rilla was nowRilla Farm. The railway, too, cutting sheer through the slope overwhich the farmstead stood, had transformed shelving turf to rocky cliffand farmstead to eyrie. You approached Rilla now by a footbridgecrossing the line, and thereafter by a winding pathway climbing thecliff, with here and there a few steps hewn in the living rock. Naturein some twenty odd years had draped the cliff with fern--the _Polypodiumvulgare_--and Mrs Bosenna in her early married days had planted thecrevices with arabis, alyssum, and aubrietia, which had taken root andspread, and now, overflowing their ledges, ran down in cascades ofbloom--white, yellow, and purple. The ascent, in short, was very prettyand romantic, and you might easily imagine it the approach to someforeign hill-castle or monastery: for the farmhouse on the summit hiditself behind out-buildings the walls of which crowned the escarpmentand presented a blank face, fortress-like, overlooking the vale. The path (as you have gathered) was for pedestrians only. Mrs Bosenna'sfarm-carts and milk-carts--her dairy trade was considerable--had tofetch a circuit by the road-bridge, half a mile inland. 

The air in the valley was heavy, even on this April day. Captain Caireached the footpath-gate in a bath of perspiration, despite his alpacacoat and notwithstanding that the last half mile of his way had lainunder the light shade of budding trees. He gazed up at the ascent, andbethought him that the musical box was an intolerable burden for such aclimb. It would involve him in explanations, too, being so unusual anaccessory to a morning call. He searched about, therefore, for ahiding-place in which to bestow it, and found one at length in a clumpof alder intermixed with brambles, that overhung the stream a few pacesbeyond the gate, almost within the shadow of the footbridge. 

Having made sure that the bed on which it rested was firm and moderatelydry, he covered the box with a strewing of last year's leaves, cunninglytrailed a bramble or two over it, and pursued his way more lightsomely, albeit still under some oppression: for the house stood formidably high, and he feared all converse with women. For lack of practice he had nopresence of mind in their company, Moreover, his recent fiasco inspeech-making had dashed his spirits. 

He reached the last turn of the path. It brought him in sight of agarden-gate some ten yards ahead, on his left hand. The gate was white, and some one inside was even at this moment engaged in repainting it;for as he halted to draw breath he caught sight of a paint-brush--orrather the point of one--briskly waggling between the rails. 

The gate opened and Mrs Bosenna peeped out. "Ah, I _thought_ I heardfootsteps!" said she. She wore a widow's cap--a very small and nattyone; and a large white apron covered the front of her widow's gown frombosom to ankles. 

"I--I'm sorry to call so late, ma'am. "

"Late? Why, it can't be past noon, scarcely. . . . We don't have dinnertill one o'clock. You'll excuse my not shaking hands, but I never_could_ paint without messing my fingers. "

"But I hadn't an idea, ma'am--"

"Eh?"

"Nothing was farther from my thoughts than--than--"

"Staying to dinner? Oh, but it's understood! There's roastsucking-pig, " said Mrs Bosenna tranquilly, as if this disposed of allargument. She added, "I didn't recognise you for the moment. You're wearing a different hat. "

"Actin' under advice, ma'am. "

"I don't know that it's an improvement. " Her eyes rested on him in coolscrutiny, and he flinched under it. "There's always a--a sort ofdistinction about a top hat. Of course, it was very thoughtful of youto change it for something more free-and-easy. But different stylessuit different persons, and--as I'm always telling Dinah--the secret ofdressing is to find out the style that suits you, and stick to it. "

"Bein' free-an'-easy, ma'am, was the last thing in my mind, " stammeredCaptain Cai. 

"There, didn't I guess? . . . Well, you shall wear your top hat nexttime, and I'll take back my first impressions if I find 'em wrong. "

"But, ma'am, the--the fact is--"

"Of course it was in the dusk, " continued Mrs Bosenna; "but I certainlythought it suited you. One meets with so little of the realold-fashioned politeness among men in these days! Now "--she let hervoice trail off reflectively as her eyes wandered past Captain Cai andrested on the tree-tops in the valley--"if I was asked to name my_bo ideal_ of an English gentleman--and the foreigners can't come nearit, you needn't tell me--'twould be Sir Brampton Goldsworthy, Bart. , ofHalberton Court, Devon. "

"Ma'am?"

"That's close to Holsworthy, where I was brought up. 'Goldsworthy ofHolsworthy' he liked to be known as, dropping the 'Sir': and _he_ alwayswore a top hat, rather flat in the brim. But he'd off with it toanything in woman's shape. . . . And that's what women value. Respect. . . . It isn't a man's _age_--" She broke off and half closedher eyes in reverie. "And so particular, too, about his body-linen!Always a high stock collar . . . And his cuffs!"

"Talkin' about cuffs, now--" Captain Cai dived a hand into ahip-pocket and drew forth a circlet of white lawn, much flattened. "I found this in the garden last night--by the rose-bushes. "

"Thank you--yes, it is mine, of course. I missed it on the way home. "Mrs Bosenna reached out her hand for it. "You must have set me down fora very careless person? But with all my responsibilities just now--"She concluded the sentence with a sigh, and held open the gate, warninghim to beware of the wet paint. "You see, there is so much to be lookedafter on a farm. One can never trust to servants--or at any rate not tothe men kind. Dinah is different; but even with Dinah--" Mrs Bosennalet fall another, slightly fainter, sigh. 

"That reminds me, " said Captain Cai hardily entering, and for all hislack of observation falling at once under the spell of the little frontgarden--so scrupulously tidy it was, so trim and kempt, with a pathwayof white pebbles leading up between clumps of daffodils and tulips to aneatly thatched porch: so homely too, with but a low fence of euonymusshutting off all that could offend in the court before the cow-byres; sofragrant already with scent of the just sprouting lemon verbena; soobviously the abode of cleanly health, with every window along thewhite-washed house front open to the April air. "That reminds me, Inever mentioned the--the deceased--your late husband, I mean, ma'am--norhow sorry I was to hear of it. "

"Did you know him?" asked Mrs Bosenna, scarcely glancing up as shepinched the fragrance out of an infant bud of the lemon verbena. 

"Very slightly, ma'am. Indeed, I don't remember meetin' him but once, and that was at Summercourt Fair, of all places; me bein' home just thenfrom a trip, an' takin' a day off, as you might say, just to see howthings was gettin' on ashore. As fate would have it I happened into aboxin' booth, which was twopence, and there, as I was watchin' a bout, some one says at my elbow, ''Tis a noble art, deny it who can!'An' that was your late husband. We'd never met afore to my knowledge, an' we never met again; but his words have come back to me more'n once, an' the free manly way he spoke 'em. "

"I feel sure, " said Mrs Bosenna, "you and he would have found manythings in common, had he been spared. . . Now, I dare say, you'd like tolook around the place a bit before dinner. Where shall we begin?With the live stock?"

"As you please, ma'am. "

"Well, as we're to eat sucking-pig, we'll go and have a look at thelitter he was one of; and then we'll take the cows; and then you'll haveto excuse me for a few minutes while I attend to the apple-sauce, aboutwhich I'm very particular. "

They visited the sow and her farrows--a family group which Captain Caipronounced to be "very comfortable-lookin'. "

"But how stupid of me!" exclaimed Mrs Bosenna. "To forget that yousailors are tired to death with pork!"

"Not with this variety, ma'am, " Captain Cai assured her. 

They passed on to the cow-houses, which were empty just then, butnevertheless worth visiting, being brick-floored, well-ventilated, androomy, with straw generously spread in the stalls, fresh and ready forthe cattle's return. There were two houses, one for Jerseys (as MrsBosenna explained), the other for Devons; and she drew his attention totheir drainage system. "If I had my way, every cow in the land shouldbe as cleanly lodged as a cottager. None of your infected milk for me!"

From the cow-houses she conducted him through the mowhay, where thenumber and amplitude of the ricks fairly took his breath away. "Oh, we call Rilla quite a small farm!" said Mrs Bosenna carelessly. "But I could never endure to be short of straw. Clean bedding is acraze with me. " She halted and invited him to admire some details inthe thatching--the work of an old man past seventy, she told him, andsighed. "Thatching's a lost art, almost. Too much education nowadays, and everybody in a hurry--that's what's the matter. . . . In a few yearswe shall all be thatching with corrugated iron. "

"An' by that time every one will be in steam. "

"Eh?"

"Shipping, ma'am. "

"Ah, yes--to be sure. And everybody making butter with a County Councilseparator. 'All very scientific, ' I tell them, 'so long as you don'task me to eat it!' Why, look at this!" Captain Cai looked. She washolding out her hand palm uppermost, and a very pretty, plump hand itwas to be sure. 

"I should be sorry to say how many hundredweights of butter I've madewi' that very hand--or how many hundreds of persons have eaten it. "

Captain Cai dived his own hands into the hip-pockets of his new coat, aimlessly searching for pipe and tobacco-pouch; not that he would haveventured to smoke in her presence!--but it gave his hands something todo. 

"'Glad, ' I think you must mean, ma'am, " said he slowly. 

She laughed. "If you're going to make pretty speeches, it's time for meto run indoors, " and she left him with a warning that dinner would beready in ten minutes, or at one o'clock to the tick. 

This was by the gate of a broad-acred field ("Parc Veor" she had calledit) in which her Jerseys browsed. Captain Cai counted them--they werefive--while still half-consciously searching for pipe and pouch, which, in fact, he had left behind in the shop, in the pockets of his old coat. By-and-by he realised this, and with a curious sense of helplessness--ofhaving lost his bearings. . . . 

Ten minutes later Dinah, coming across the mowhay to invite Captain Caiinto the house, found him leaning against the gate, sunk in a brownstudy, contemplating the kine. 

The smell of roasted sucking-pig dissipated this transient cloud uponhis spirits. Mrs Bosenna (who had discarded her apron, and lookedmighty genteel with a gold locket dependent from her throat) avowed, appealing to his sympathy, that it mightn't be sentimental, but she, forher part, adored the savour of crackling. 

"And as for Robert--my late husband--he doted on it. "

Captain Cai came within an ace of saying fatuously it was a pity thelate Mr Bosenna couldn't be present to partake of this; but checkedhimself. 

"To think that you should have met him! Well, it's a small world. "

"There's a lot of folks attend Summercourt Fair--or used to, " saidCaptain Cai, and added that the world was not so noticeably small, ifyou tried sailing up and down it a bit. 

"Ah!" exclaimed Mrs Bosenna, dropping knife and fork and clasping herhands. "Yes, to be sure, the vastness of it--the great distances! . . . And so you met my late husband in a boxing tent? Sport of all kindsappealed to him. But isn't boxing a-er--more or less degradingexhibition?"

"Nothing of the sort, ma'am. I never went in for it myself--worse luck;never had the time. But my friend 'Bias, now! He's past his prime, o'course; but if only you'd seen him strip--in the old time--"

"Er--you're surely not referring to your friend Captain Hunken?"

"But I am, ma'am. . . . He had a way o' stepping back an' usin' hisreach . . . A trifle slow with the left, always . . . That was hisfailin'. But the length of his arms would delight you--and he had ahug, too, of his own--if you happened to take an interest in suchthings. "

"But I don't, " protested Mrs Bosenna. "And you frighten me! If I'dguessed that my other tenant was a prize-fighter--"

"Prize-fighter, ma'am? What, 'Bias? . . . He's the gentlest you everknew, and the easiest-goin': and for ladies' company--well, I don'tknow, " confessed Captain Cai, "as he ever found himself in such, least-ways not to my knowledge. But I'll be bound he wouldn't be ableto open his mouth. "

"--Unless in defence of a friend, " suggested Mrs Bosenna, laughing. "You must bring him to call on me. "

Captain Cai shook his head. 

"Oh"--she nodded confidently--"I'll make him talk, never fear!If he's half so true a friend to you as you are to him--"

"He's a truer. "

"Then, as a last resource, I have only to run _you_ down. So it'seasy. "

The sucking-pig was followed by a delectable junket with Cornish cream;and the junket--when Dinah had removed the cloth--by a plate ofhome-made biscuits, flanked by decanters of port and sherry. 

"Widow's port is the best, they say. " Mrs Bosenna invited him to fillhis glass without waiting for ceremony. "You smoke?" she asked. 

He confessed that he was without pipe or tobacco. Dinah was summonedagain, left the room after a whispered consultation, and returned with asmall sheaf of clean churchwarden pipes and a cake of tobacco, dark inhue, somewhat dry but (as a quick inspection assured Captain Cai) quitesmokeable. 

"Now you're to make yourself at ease, " said Mrs Bosenna, rising andmoving to the door. Captain Cai, remembering his manners, rose and heldit open for her. "The wine is at your elbow and (oh, believe me, Iunderstand men!) when you've finished your smoke you will find me in therose-garden. That's my _real_ garden, though nothing to boast of atthis time of the year. But April's the month for pruning tea-roses, andthis weather in April is not to be missed. I want to hear more of yourfriend; and when you are ready--you are not to hurry--Dinah will showyou the way. "

Captain Cai, left alone, carved a pipeful of tobacco with hispocket-knife; chose a clay; filled, lit it, and smoked. Two glasses ofwine had sufficed him, for he was an abstemious man: but, for all hishard life, he could enjoy comfort. He found it here; in the good food, the generous liquor, the twinkle on the glass and decanter, theill-executed but solid portraits on the walls, the hearthrug softbeneath his sole, the April combination of sunshine slanting through thewindow and a brisk but not oppressive coal fire on the hearth. 

He smoked. The tobacco (smuggled and purchased at low cost by the lateMr Bosenna) had been excellent in its time, and was palatable yet. 

It stuck in Captain Cai's conscience, however, and pricked it while hesmoked, that he had given Mrs Bosenna a wrong impression of his friend. 

`Bias a mere prize-fighter! `Bias of all people! But that is whatcomes of laying stress on one particular accomplishment of an AdmirableCrichton. 

He ruminated on this: finished his pipe: and having knocked out theashes thoughtfully on the bars of the grate, sought the back gardenwithout the help of Dinah. 

The rose-garden to the uninstructed eye was--now in April--but awilderness of scrubby stunted thorns. In the midst of it he found MrsBosenna, gloved, armed with a pair of secateurs, and engaged in cuttingthe thorns back to a few ugly inches. 

She smiled as he approached. "You don't understand roses?" she asked. "If you don't, you'll be surprised at my hard pruning. If there's realstrength in the root, you can trust for June, no matter what a stick youleave. The secret's under the ground; or, as you may say, under thesurface, as it is with folks. "

"That helps me, ma'am, " said Captain Cai, "to tell you it's like thatwith my friend 'Bias--"

A whistle sounded up the valley. "The three-thirty coming!" said MrsBosenna. "It's at the signal-box outside the tunnel. "

"The three-thirty?" Captain Cai gasped and pulled out his watch. "But that's 'Bias's train--and I was to meet him!"

"You _might_ just do it, " hazarded Mrs Bosenna. "We count it half amile to the station, and by the time they have the luggage out--"

"I _must_ do it, ma'am! To think that--" Captain Cai held out a hand. "I'd no notion--the time has flown so!"

"Dinah! Dinah!" called Mrs Bosenna, and as Dinah appeared at the backdoor with a promptitude almost suspicious, --"Run and fetch CaptainHocken's hat, girl! He has to catch a train. "

Dinah vanished, and in the twinkling of an eye came running with thehat; with a clothes-brush, too. "Confound her!" Captain Cai sworeinwardly as she insisted on brushing his coat, paying special attentionto a dry spot of mud on the right hip-pocket. Feminine attentions maybe overdone, and Mrs Bosenna showed more tactfulness than her maid. 

"Have finished, you silly woman! Cannot you see that Captain Hocken isdying to leave us? . . . But you are to bring your friend, sir, at thefirst opportunity!"

She repeated this, calling it after him as he raced down the path. At the footbridge he remembered the musical box in the bushes. But itwas too late. Mrs Bosenna had followed him to the head of the slope, and stood watching, waving her handkerchief. 

As he glanced back and up at her over his shoulder, his ear caught therumble of a train, not far up the valley. He must run! . . . 

He ran, sticking his elbow to his sides. But soon the rumble of thetrain grew to a roar. It was upon him. . . . It overtook him some threehundred yards from the station, and the carriage windows, as hestaggered down the high road, went past him in a blur. 

CHAPTER VII. 

BIAS ARRIVES. 

Captain Tobias Hunken sat patiently and ponderously upon a woodensea-chest, alone on the platform, but stacked about by such a miscellanyof luggage as gave him no slight resemblance to Crusoe on his raft. Besides parcels, boxes, carpet-bags, canvas-bags, tarpaulin-bags, itincluded a pile of furniture swathed in straw, a parrot-cage coveredwith baize, and a stone jar calculated to hold nine gallons of liquor. 

He was a dark-bearded man, heavy shouldered, of great bulk, and bytemperament apparently phlegmatic; for when Captain Cai arrived, panting, red in the face, stammering contrition, he betrayed neitheremotion nor surprise. 

"'Twas all my thoughtlessness!" cried Captain Cai. 

"What's the matter?" asked Captain Tobias. "No hurry, is there?We've retired. "

"If I'd known I was so late!"

"Five minutes. " Captain Tobias gazed across at the station clock, thenat his friend's face, as if comparing the two. "You've altered yourappearance recently. Which some might say 'twas for the better. "

"Glad you think so, " said Captain Cai, modestly pleased. 

"Others, again, mightn't. But, there!" added Captain Tobias with suddenintensity. "Who cares what folks say? If you chose to go about like aRed Indian, 'twouldn' be no affair o' _theirs_, I should hope?"

"Why, o' course not, " Captain Cai agreed, albeit a trifle dashed. "As you say, we've retired, an' can do as we like. "

"Ah!" Captain Tobias eyed him and drew a long breath. "Got such a thingas a match about ye?" he asked, pulling forth a short clay pipe. 

"No--yes!" Captain Cai, clapping a hand to either hip, was about toadmit that he had come without pipe, tobacco, or matches, when he feltsomething hard and angular within the left pocket, and (to hisconfusion) produced--a silver matchbox. "Good Lord!" he exclaimedstupidly. 

"That's a pretty trifle, " said Captain Tobias, possessing himself of thebox and extracting a match from it. "Where did ye pick it up, now!"

"From a--a lady--a Mrs Bosenna. " Captain Cai recovered the box, pocketedit, and desperately changed the subject. "What's become of all theporters hereabouts?" he demanded. "Leavin' us alone an' all thisluggage, like a wreck ashore!"

"I sent 'em away, " Captain Tobias explained with composure, "knowin' asyou'd turn up sooner or later. Who's Mrs Bosenna?"

"She's our landlady; a widow-woman. She lives up the valley yonder. "Captain Cai jerked a thumb in that direction, and with renewed anxietylooked about for a porter. "Hadn't we better whistle one across?"

"Sells matches, does she?"

"No, "--he knew his friend's persistence, and faced about to make a cleanbreast. "I was callin' there to-day. There's the leases to be fixedup, you see--" He paused. 

Captain Tobias assented with a slow nod. "Premises all satisfactory?"

"_And_ shipshape. That's one load off my mind, anyway, " sighed CaptainCai. "You're bound to like 'em--that is, if you like Troy at all. There's hot and cold water laid on, so's you can have a bath at amoment's notice. "

"I don't _see_ myself, exactly, " said Captain Tobias. "But never mind. "

"Well, as I was sayin', I called there to-day--to break the ice, so tospeak--"

"You didn't mention ice; or, if you did, I missed hearin' it. "

"'Tis a way of speakin'. Well, the widow pressed me to stay to dinner, and there was a suckin' pig; and afterwards--"

"Hold hard. " Captain Tobias removed the pipe from his mouth and staredearnestly at his friend. "Say that agen, " he commanded. 

"There was roast suckin' pig, I tell you. It melted in y'r mouth. Well, after dinner she left me alone with pipes an' tobacco; an' 'twasthen, I suppose, that in my forgetful way I must have slipped the boxinto my pocket. "

"'Twasn' very nice treatment, was it?--after the length she'd gone to putherself out. "

"But 'twas absence o' mind, you understand. "

"I seem to remember, " mused Captain Tobias, "there was a LordSomebody-or-other suffered from the same complaint. I read about it inthe papers, an' only wish I'd cut it out. Any little valu'bles lyin'about he'd slip into his pocket. But I never heard of your bein'afflicted in that way. "

"Of course I'm not!" Captain Cai protested warmly. 

"Then I don't see what excuse you'll put up. . . . But wait till we getall this cargo stowed. Ahoy, there!" Captain Tobias called up theporters, and after consultation it was decided to convert thegoods-shed into a cloak-room for housing the bulk of his luggage, but tosend on his sea-chest and the birdcage by wheelbarrow to his lodgings. 

"What's the address?" he asked, turning to Captain Cai. 

"Ship Inn. "

"What?" Captain Tobias paused in the act of picking up the nine-gallonjar. "Drinks on the premises?"

"Lashin's. "

"What a world o' fuss that arrangement do save! Here!--" to the porterwho stood checking the articles deposited--"this goes into hold wi' therest. Contents, rum, an' don't you forget it, my son; leastways, pr'apsI'd better say, don't you remember it. "

"I'm a total abstainer, sir, " said the porter proudly. 

"You don't tell me? . . . One meets with such cases, about. . . . Well, "--Captain Tobias turned to Captain Cai again, as one averting hisface from a sorrow to which no help can be proffered--"what's thedistance?"

"To the Ship? About half a mile--a nice easy walk, an' the barrow canfollow us. "

They were no sooner outside the station premises, however, than CaptainTobias called halt to the driver of the wheelbarrow, paid him, andinstructed him to proceed ahead. 

"And you may tell the landlord, " he added, "to expect us when he seesus. "

He watched the man out of sight before explaining this manoeuvre. "'Twas clever of you to mistake me, in front of those fellows; but I_meant_, what distance to this here widow's?"

"Eh? You don't mean to say--after your journey, too--"

"We'll get it over, " said Captain Tobias firmly. 

Captain Cai could not but approve. Here was prompt occasion not only torepair and apologise for his small blunder, but to make Mrs Bosennaacquainted with his paragon. She would soon correct that unfortunateimage of him as a coarse prize-fighting fellow. 

To tell the truth, while reproaching himself for having evoked thatimage by his clumsy praise, he had doubted it might be difficult toefface: knowing his friend's shyness of womankind. He had doubted that'Bias, who (to use his own words) "shunned the fair sex in all itsbranches, " might decline even to make the lady's acquaintance. Lo! here was that admirable man setting his face and--sternly, forfriendship's sake--marching upon an introduction. What a friend!

They took their way up the valley, walking side by side. For a longwhile both kept silence. 

"Pretty country!" by-and-by observed Captain Tobias. He paused as if totake stock of it, but his gaze was meditative rather than observant. "Suckin' pigs, too, . . . " he added after a while, and resumed his way. 

"What about 'em?"

"Why, to drop in on a lone woman unexpected, an' find her sittin' downto roast suckin' pig . . . It's--it's like Solomon an' the lilies. "

Captain Cai flushed half-guiltily. "I didn't say I called quiteunexpectedly, did I?"

"To break the ice, was your words. "

"You see, I'd happened to meet Mrs Bosenna the evenin' before, an'--hullo!"

They had come to the bend of the road beneath Rilla Farm, and either hiseyesight had played him a trick or Captain Cai had caught a glimpse--just a glimpse and no more--of a print gown some fifty yards ahead, where the hedge made an angle about a clump of trees. The smallentrance gate and the footbridge lay just beyond this angle. 

"Hullo!" exclaimed Captain Cai. 

"What's up?"

"Nothin'"--for the light apparition had vanished. "Besides, she'd bewearin' black, o' course. "

"I wish you'd talk more coherent, " said Captain Tobias, stopping shortagain and eyeing him. "I put it to you, now. Here I be, tumbled out'pon a terminus platform in a country I've never set eyes on. As ifthat wasn' enough, straightaway things start to happen so that I want tohold my head. And as if _that_ wasn' enough, you work loose on thejawin' tacks till steerage way there's none. I put it to you. "

"I'm sorry, 'Bias, " Cai assured him contritely as they moved on. "Maybe I'm upset by the pleasure o' seein' ye here. Many a time I'vepicter'd it, an'--I don't know if you've noticed, but these littlethings never _do_ fall out just like a man expects. "

"I've noticed it to-day, right enough, " said Tobias with some emphasis. But he was mollified, and indeed seemed on the point of adding a wordwhen of a sudden he came to yet another halt and eyed his friend morereproachfully than ever--no, not reproachfully save by implication: withbewilderment rather, and helpless surmise. 

"_What?_" gasped Captain Tobias. "_Which?_"--and, with that, speechfailed him. 

The pair had come to the footbridge and were in the act of crossing it, when they became aware that the stream beneath them differed from allstreams in their experience. It was not rippling like other streams; itwas not murmuring; it was tinkling out a gay little operatic tune!

To be more precise, it was rendering the waltz-tune in "Faust, " an operaby the late M. Gounod. Captain Hocken and Captain Hunken knew nothingof "Faust" or of its composer. But they could recognise a tune. 

"_Which?_" repeated Tobias gasping, holding by the handrail of thebridge. "You or me? Or both, perhaps?"

"Two glasses o' port wine only, 'Bias . . . And you _saw_ me at thestation. I'd run all the way too. . . . Besides, _you_ hear it. "Relief, of a sudden, broke over Captain Cai's face. "It's the box!" hecried. 

With that he was aware of the sound of a merry laugh behind him--afeminine laugh, too, not less musical than the melody still tinkling athis feet. He turned about and confronted Mrs Bosenna as she steppedforth from her hiding in the bushes, her maid Dinah in attendance closebehind her. 

"Good afternoon again, Captain Hocken! And is this Captain Hunken? . . . It was polite of you--polite indeed--to bring him so soon. "

She held out a hand to Tobias, who, to take it, was forced to relinquishfor a moment his clutch on the rail. 

"Servant, ma'am, " said he in a gruff unnatural voice, and fell back onhis support. 

She laughed again merrily. "And you'll forgive me for making youwelcome with musical honours? That was a sudden notion of Dinah's. She spied you coming up the road, and--Dinah, can you manage to stopthat silly tune?"

"I'll try, mistress. " Dinah stooped, groped amid the grasses, andproduced the musical box from its lair. 

"You can, " stammered Captain Cai, as if repeating a formula, "turn itoff--at any time--by means of a back-handed switch. "

"It's yours, then!" Mrs Bosenna clapped her hands together as she turnedon him. 

"It's mine, " confessed Captain Cai. "The question might occur to you, ma'am--"

"It has. Oh, it _has!_" She rippled with laughter. "You should haveseen Dinah's face when she came upon it!"

"Caius, " said Captain Hunken, interrupting her mirth as with a stroketolled on a bell, "would ye mind pinching me?"

"Not at all, 'Bias--if you'll tell me where. "

"Anywheres. Only rememberin' we're in the presence o' ladies. "

"It's _perfectly_ simple, " said Captain Cai, "if you'll only let meexplain! You see, the thing's what you might call a testimonial. I picked it up, comin' through the town to-day. "

"A testimonial? How interesting!" murmured Mrs Bosenna. 

"From my late crew, ma'am. As I was sayin', on my way through the townto call on you, ma'am, I was taken on the hop, so to speak, an' made therecipient--"

"What for?" demanded 'Bias. He was breathing hard. 

"It don't become me, " said Captain Cai, and, speaking under stress ofdesperation, he found himself of a sudden wondering at his own fluency. "It don't become me to repeat all the--sentiments which, er, emanated. "

"Give me some, " growled Captain Tobias, and was heard to add, understertorous breath--"Testimonial? I'd like to ha' seen _my_ lot try iton _me!_"

"They said, " confessed Captain Cai, "as how it was their united wish--"Here he recalled Mr Tregaskis' allusion to possible offspring, andblushed painfully. 

"Well?"

"That was the words: as how it was their united wish--adding 'in allweathers. '"

"And, the next news, it's playin' tunes in a ditch, " pursued CaptainTobias. 

"I think I can explain, " put in Mrs Bosenna sweetly, hastening to closeup the little breach which, for some reason or other, had suddenlyopened between these two good friends. "Captain Hocken, being cumberedwith the box on his way to pay me a visit, hid it in the bushes here fora time, meaning to recover it on his way back to the station. "

"That's so, ma'am, " Captain Cai corroborated her. 

"But having misjudged the time, and in his hurry to meet you--goodfriend that he is--Oh, Captain Hunken, if you could have heard the wayhe spoke of you! What he led me to expect--not, " she added prettily, "that I admit to being disappointed. "

"Go on, ma'am, " said Captain Tobias sturdily. But in truth it had cometo his turn to look ashamed. 

"Well, you see, in his haste he forgot it. And now he brings you backto fetch it--am I not right?"

"Not exactly, ma'am, " confessed Captain Cai. "The truth is--"

"Well, you shall hear how meantime we happened on it. . . . We are veryparticular about our cream, here at Rilla: and with this warm weathercoming on, Dinah has been telling me it's time we stood the pans out inrunning water. Haven't you, Dinah?"

Dinah smoothed her print gown. It was not for her to admit here thatearly in the day from an upper window she had been watching for CaptainHocken's approach, had witnessed it, had witnessed also the act ofconcealment, and had faithfully reported it to her mistress. 

"So, " continued Mrs Bosenna hardily, "reckoning that the bed of thestream may have been choked by what the winter rains carry down, andthis being our favourite place for the pans, under the cool of thebridge, down happens Dinah--"

"Excuse me, ma'am; but ain't it rather near the high road?"

"It _is_, Captain Hunken: and I have often thought of it at nights. But the folks are honest in these parts--extraordinarily honest. "

She broke off, perceiving that Captain Tobias was looking with suddenearnestness at Captain Cai, and that Captain Cai was somewhat awkwardlyevading the look. 

"Be a man, Caius!" Tobias exhorted his friend. 

"It's--it's this way, ma'am, " said Captain Cai sheepishly, after a longpause, diving in his pocket. "We wasn't exactly bound to fetch the--themusical box--which, Lord forgive me! I'd forgot for the moment--but toreturn _this_. How it came to find its way to my pocket I don't know. "

"And I don't know, either, " mused Mrs Bosenna, as Dinah helped her toundress that night. (This undressing was, in fact, but a well-wornexcuse for mistress and maid to chat and--due difference of positionobserved--exchange confidences before bedtime). "Captain Hocken issimple-minded, as any one can tell; but not absent-minded by nature. At least, I hope not. I hate absent-minded men. "

She glanced at her glass, and turned about sharply. 

"Dinah, you designing woman! I believe you slipped that box into hispocket? Yes, when you pretended that his coat wanted brushing, --I sawyou!"

CHAPTER VIII. 

'BIAS APPROVES. 

As they departed and went their way down the coombe, a constrainedsilence fell between the two friends. Nor did either break it untilthey came again in sight of the railway station. 

"I don't altogether like the air in this valley, " announced 'Bias. 

"It _is_ a trifle close, now you mention it, " Cai agreed. 

"Nor I don't altogether cotton to the valley, neither. Pretty enough, you may say; but it gives you a _feelin'_--like as if you didn't knowwhat was goin' to happen next. "

"Places do have that effect with some, " Cai assented again, but moredejectedly. Horrid apprehension--if 'Bias should extend his dislike toTroy itself!

"I'm feeling better already, " 'Bias continued, answering and allayingthis unspoken fear. "Is that the gasworks yonder?"

"Yes. The _real_ scenery's at the other end o' the town. "

"The smell's healthy, they tell me. " 'Bias halted in the roadway, andcasting back his head took a long stare up at the gasometer. "Youmustn' hurry me, " he said, "I've got to enjoy _everything_. "

"No hurry at all, " said Cai, from whose heart the words lifted a burdenat least as heavy as the musical box under his arm. "Hullo! here's BillTregaskis with his missus! . . . Evenin', William--good evenin', ma'am!"Captain Cai pulled off his hat. "I hope you find your husband none theworse for the voyage?--though, to be sure, 'tisn' fair on him nor on anyseamen, the way some folks reproaches us when we get back home. "

Mrs Tregaskis dropped a curtsey. "But be sure, sir--what reproaches?"

"Your looks, ma'am--your looks, if I may say so! . . . William marriedyou soon as he could, I'll wager; but, to be fair, that should ha' beenten years afore _you_ married _him_. "

"La, sir!" answered Mrs Tregaskis blushing. "I wonder you nevermarried, yourself--you talk such nonsense! But you're in spiritsto-day, as any one can see. " She glanced at the broad back of CaptainTobias, who stood a few paces away, with legs planted wide and gazestill wrapped in contemplation of the gasometer. "Makin' so bold, sir, is that your friend we've heard tell so much about?"

"It is, ma'am, " Captain Cai turned about to call up 'Bias to beintroduced, when Mr Tregaskis gently checked him, laying a hand on themusical box. 

"I didn' think it worth mentionin' at the time, sir; but theseinstruments aren't intended for carryin' about. "

"No, no, " Captain Cai agreed hastily. "Here, 'Bias! Look around an' seewho's the first to welcome ye! Tregaskis, of all men! And this here'shis missus. "

"How d'e do, Mr Tregaskis, " said Captain Tobias, shaking hands. He knewthe mate of the _Hannah Hoo_, and respected him for a capable seaman. "I hope I see you well, ma'am?"

"Nicely, sir, thank you!" Mrs Tregaskis curtseyed and beamed. 

But Captain Tobias, though with her, too, he shook hands politelyenough, was plainly preoccupied. "'Tis a wonderful invention, " said he. "You just let the gas run in, an' then it is ready for use at any time. I hadn't a notion you was so up-to-date here. "

Mr Tregaskis looked puzzled. "It don't work by _gas_. You wind it upwith a cog arrangement, which acts on a spring coil, I'm told--just likethe inside of a watch. But we can see by liftin' up the lid. "

"Eh?" Captain Tobias glanced back over his shoulder. 

"But as I was tellin' the boss, 'twas never _intended_ for a countrywalk. You sets it down at home and calls for a tune--as it might bedrinks, " continued Mr Tregaskis lucidly. 

Captain Cai touched his friend's elbow. "You're talkin' o' differentthings, you two, " he explained in a nervous haste, anxious to get offdelicate ground. "Tregaskis was alludin' to--er--this here; which" heconcluded, "nobody could have been more taken aback than I was thismornin' . . . When it happened. "

"You don't say that's the musical box!" cried Mrs Tregaskis. "Now, don't you agree, sir"--she appealed to Captain Tobias--"with whatI said to William at dinner-time, when he told me about the presentationand the speeches? [Here Captain Cai shot a look at his mate, whoflushed but kept his eyes averted, pretending carelessness. ] I saidthat for a lot of ignorant seamen 'twas quite a happy thought, an'nobody could say as Captain Hocken didn' deserve it; but, the thingbein' bought in such a hurry--an' knowin' William as I do--ten to onehe'd been taken in an' the thing wouldn't work when it came to betried. "

"I told you, " put in her spouse, "as the salesman had shown us how towork it, an' it played the most life-like tunes, 'Home Sweet Home'inclooded. "

"The salesman!" said Mrs Tregaskis scornfully. "A long way you'll go inthe world if you trust a salesman! Why, there was a young man once inHarris's Drapery showed me a bonnet--with humming-birds--perfectlyoutrageous; I wouldn' ha' been seen in it; and inside o' five minutes hehad me there with the tears in my eyes to think I couldn' afford it. "

"It works all right indeed, ma'am, " Captain Cai assured her. 

"Ah, maybe you're cleverer with machinery than William? I don't knowhow you find him at sea, but _I_ can't trust him to wind the clock. "

"I didn' set it goin' myself, ma'am; not personally. "

"Well, " sighed Mrs Tregaskis, "I wish William had consulted me, anyway, before buying the thing in such a hurry. It's shop-soiled, he has toadmit; which I only hope you'll overlook. "

"I've told you, my dear, " put in Mr Tregaskis patiently, "that the markwas done by a Challenge Cup. The fellow was quite honest about it. "

"A more thoughtful man, " the lady insisted, "would have consulted hiswife--would have brought the thing home, maybe, for a trial, to have heropinion on it. The others wouldn't have raised any objection, I'm sure. And, " she concluded with another sigh, "he knows that I fairly dote onmusic!"

"If that's so, ma'am, " began Captain Cai, and hesitated, overtaken bysudden caution, "I might let you have the loan of it, some time. "

"You got out o' that very well, " said Tobias, as they moved on. "I likethis place--" He paused, to scan a bill hoarding. "I likes it the morethe further I gets. But the women hereabouts seem more than usualforward. Which an unprejoodiced man might call it a drawback. "

"I'm sorry, 'Bias, she would keep talkin' about the darned box. . . . I couldn' prevent the lads, d'ye see--not knowin' they'd any such thingin their minds. "

"She as good as invited herself to call an' listen to it, " Tobiaspursued stolidly. "You headed her off very well. 'Tis possible, o'course, we may get tired o' the tunes in time; an' then she may bewelcome to it for a spell. We'll see. Plenty o' time for that whenwe've done listenin' to it together. "

Captain Cai halted and gazed at his friend with an emotion too deep forwords. But Tobias did not see: he was staring up at a wire whichcrossed the street overhead. 

"Telephone! What next? . . . You never told me, neither--or not to myrecollection--as you went in for speech-makin'. "

"But I don't. I--er--the fact is, I had thoughts of takin' a lesson ortwo. Private lessons, you understand. "

"You don't need to, so far as I can see. What was it I heard youtellin' that widow-woman?--'You was made the recipient--of sentiments--which emanated'--that's the way to talk to 'em in public life. I can reckernise the lingo, though I couldn' manage it for worlds, an'don't know as I want to try. "

"Troy is my native town, you see, " explained Cai, drinkingencouragement. 

"An' a rattlin' fine one, too!" Tobias halted in front of a wallletter-box. "Look at that, now! 'Hours of Collection' so-an'-so. It _do_ make a difference--fancy a thing o' that sort at sea! . . . D'ye know, although you never expressed yourself that way, I'd always athought at the back o' my head that you'd end by takin' up with publiclife in one form or another. "

"It _has_ been hinted to me, " confessed Cai, colouring. "As one mightsay, it has been--er--"

"Emanated, " his friend suggested. 

"It has been emanated, then--that there was a thing or two wantedputtin' to rights. "

"We'll make notes as we go along. "

"But I don't want you to start by lookin' out our little weaknesses!"cried Cai, suddenly fearful for his beloved town. 

Nevertheless he was in the seventh heaven, divining that his friend (sochary of speech as a rule) had been trying to make amends, to sweep awaythe little cloud that for a moment--no more--had crossed their perfectunderstanding. 'Bias was here, determined to like Troy: and 'Bias wassucceeding. What else mattered?

"Tidy little trade here, " commented 'Bias, as they reached the PassageSlip and conned the business reach of the river, the vessels alongsidethe jetties, the cranes at work, the shipping moored off at the buoys--vessels of all nations, but mostly Danes and Russians, awaiting theirturn. 

"Twenty thousand tons a-month, my boy! See that two-funnelled craft'longside the second jetty? Six thousand--not a fraction under. We're things o' the past, you an' me, an' 'twas high time we hauled outo' the competition. "

"China clay?"

"All of it. "

"I don't know much about china clay, " said 'Bias reflectively. "But I never met twenty thousand tons of anything where it wasn' timefor somebody to protect the public. "

"There's a Harbour Commission here, o' course--bye-laws an' all thatsort o' thing. "

"Ay; there's one openin' for ye. We'll find others. "

They resumed their way. The street--Troy has but one street, but makesup for this by calling various lengths of it by various names--was inplaces so narrow that to avoid passing vehicles they were forced to takerefuge in handy doorways. In three out of four the door stood open, andCaptain Cai, popping his head in at kitchen or small parlour, would begpardon for intruding, pass the time of day with the mistress of thehouse, inquire for her husband's health--"Do I remember him, I wonder?"--and how many children there were, and what might be their ages?He always wound up by introducing his friend. Nobody resented thesesalutations, these questions. Indeed how was it possible to be morosewith Captain Cai?--he bubbled such transparent gaiety, kindliness, innocence. 

"'Tis our way in Troy, you see, " he told 'Bias as they dived into acobbler's shop to escape the omnibus. "You have to be neighbourly ifyou don't want to be run over. . . . In London, now, you'd waste a loto' time explainin' that you didn' want your boots mended. "

"It's like what I've heard about canvassin' for Parlyment, " said 'Bias. "And that's another suggestion fur ye. "

Of the most important shops in the length of thoroughfare known as ForeStreet and in Church Square (which is the same street with a corkscrewtwist in it) 'Bias showed much appreciation. He was especially alluredby the rainbow-tinted goods in Mr Shake Benny's window, and by the cardsrecommending them for sale. _If you admire Lord Rosebery, Now is YourTime_--He studied this for some moments. 

"Time for what?" he asked, rubbing his ear softly. 

"Drinks, " suggested Cai, and laughed in pure pleasure of heart. "Come along, man--or you'll be makin' me Prime Minister before we get tothe Ship. . . Yes, yon's the church--Established. You can tell by thefour spikes an' the weathercock; like-wise by the tombstones. But theybury folks up the hill nowadays. " He paused--"That reminds me"--hepaused again. 

"What of?"

"Oh--er--nothing; nothing particular. . . . Well, if you must know, Iwas thinkin' about that old hat o' mine. "

"You don't tell me you've buried it?"

"No. "

"It _is_ time for drinks, " said 'Bias with decision. They called at theShip Inn, where they ascertained that Captain Hunken's chest andparrot-cage had been duly delivered. 

"Very decent beer, " pronounced 'Bias as they shared a quart. 

"When a man has a job to tackle--" began Cai, and glanced at his friend. "You're sure we hadn' better wait till you've had a meal?--tillto-morrow mornin' if you like. "

'Bias drained his tankard and arose--a giant visibly refreshed. "I'm a-goin' to see the house, instanter. "

"Things, " said Cai, "strike different parties from different points o'view. That's notorious. One man's born an' bred in a place, andanother isn't. . . . Now if the latter--as we'll call him for argyment'ssake--"

But 'Bias, cutting short this parley, had gained the door and wasmarching forth. 

To be sure (and Captain Cai might with better command on his nerves havehailed the omen) Nature could hardly have dressed shore and harbour ofTroy in weather more auspicious. The smoke of chimneys arose straighton the "cessile air, " making a soft dun-coloured haze through which thelight of the declining day was filtered in streams of yellow--palelemon-yellow, golden-yellow, orange, orange-tawny. On the far shore ofthe harbour, windows blazed as if cottage after cottage held the core ofa furnace intense and steady. The green hillside above them lay bathedin this aureate flush, which permeated too the whole of the southernsky, up to its faint blue zenith. 

"Pretty weather, " grunted 'Bias, "I see the glass is steady too;leastways if you can trust the one they keep in the Inn parlour. "

Cai did not respond: the crucial moment was drawing too near. 

"Pretty li'l view, too. . . . A man with a box o' paints, now, might betempted to have a slap at it. "

Well-meant but artless simulation! Captain Hunken had once in his lifepurchased a picture; it represented Vesuvius by night, in eruption, andhe had yielded to the importunity of the Neapolitan artist--or, rather, had excused himself for yielding--on the ground that after all youcouldn't mistake the dam thing for anything else. 

They came abreast of Harbour Terrace. They were passing by the greenfront door of Number Two. Still Captain Cai made no sign. 

"There's a house, f'r instance--supposin' a man could afford therental--" 'Bias halted and regarded it. "Hullo, 'tis unoccupied!"He turned about slowly. "You don't--mean--to tell me--as that's _of_it?"

"That's _of_ it, " Cai admitted tremulously. After a long pause, '"Bias, " he stammered, "break it gently. "

"I'm tryin' to, " said 'Bias, breathing and backing to the railings for abetter view. He removed his hat and wiped the top of his head severaltimes around. Then of a sudden--

"Hooray!" he exploded. 

"'Bias!" Cai stared, as well he might, for his friend's face wastotally impassive. 

"Hoo--" began 'Bias again. "Who the devil's this?" he demanded, as thedoor opened and Tabb's child appeared in the entry. 

"I been expectin' you this hour an' more, " announced Tabb's child. "Stoppin' for drinks on the road, I reckon?"

"We did take a drink, now you mention it, " stammered Captain Cai, caughtaback: "though, as it happens that don't account for our bein' late. But what brings _you_, here, missy?"

She laid a finger on her lip. "Sh! I've got 'em. "

"Got what?"

"Servants for 'ee. They're inside. " She pointed back in to the passagemysteriously. 

"Who's this child?" demanded Captain 'Bias. 

"She's--er--a young friend o' mine--" began Captain Cai. But Fancyinterrupted him, dropping a slight curtsey, and addressing his friendstraight. 

"My name's Fancy Tabb, sir. Which I hope you'll like Troy, and Cap'nHocken ast me to make myself useful an' find you a pair of servants--woman an' boy. "

"Oh, but hold hard!" protested Captain Cai. "We haven't startedfurnishin' yet. "

She nodded. "That's all right. No hurry with either of 'em--not forsome weeks, or so long as it suits you. But you'll be safer to bespeak'em: an' Mrs Bowldler is the chance of a lifetime. "

She led the way through to the unfurnished and somewhat dingy kitchen. It had a low window-seat, from the extreme ends of which, as the twoskippers entered, two figures--a middle-aged woman and a gawky lad--arose and saluted them; the one with a highly genteel curtsey, the otherwith an awkward half-pull at his forelock, and much scraping with hisfeet. 

"This is Mrs Bowldler, " Fancy nodded towards the middle-aged woman. 

"Your servant, sirs, " Mrs Bowldler curtseyed again and coughed. "With aW if you don't object. "

"She's quite a good plain cook; and well connected, though reduced incircumstances. Mr Rogers, sir, is often glad to employ her at a pinch. "

"At a what?" asked Captain Tobias, breathing hard. 

"Which, " said Mrs Bowldler with a trembling cough, "the bare thought oftaking service again with two strange gentlemen in my state of health isa nordeal, and as such I put it to you. " Here she smoothed the front ofher gown and turned upon Tobias with unexpected spirit. "You can say tome what you like, sir, and you can do to me what you like, but if you'dbeen laying awake all night with geese walking over your grave, I'd putmyself in your place and say, 'Well, if he don't spit blood 'tis amercy!'"

"Plain cookin', did you say?" asked Captain Tobias, turning stonily uponthe girl. 

"And knick-knacks. You mustn't mind her talk, sir; she was brought upto better things and 'tis only her tricks. . . . Now the boy here--hisname's Pam, which is short for Palmerston: and I can't conscientiouslysay more for him, except that he's willin' and tells me he can carrycoals. "

She might not be able to say more for him, and yet her voice had awistfulness it had lacked while she commended Mrs Bowldler. Certainly the lad's looks did not take the casual glance. He was coltish and angular, with timid, hare-like eyes. He worecurduroy trousers (very short in the leg), a coat which had patentlybeen made for a grown man, and in place of waistcoat a crimson guernseywhich as patently was a piece of feminine apparel. The sleeves of hiscoat were folded back above his wrists, and in his hand he dangled, by astring of elastic, a girl's sailor hat. 

"Healthy?" asked Captain Tobias. 

As if at a military command, the boy put out his tongue. 

"La!" exclaimed Mrs Bowldler, "look at that for manners!"

"Where does he come from?"

The boy glanced at Fancy in a helpless way. Fancy was prompt. "'Twouldsave time--wouldn't it?--now that you've seen Mrs Bowldler, if she wentround an' had a look at the house?"

"Which I trust, " said Mrs Bowldler, "it would not be required of me tosleep in a nattic. It's not that I'm peculiar, but as I said to mysister Martha at breakfast only this morning, 'Attics I was neveraccustomed to, and if 'tis to be attics at my age, with the roof on yourhead all the time and not a wink in consequence, Martha, ' I said, 'youwouldn't ask it of me, no, not to oblige all the retired gentlemen inChristendom. '"

"You'd better trot along upstairs, then, an' make sure, " said Fancy. As soon as the woman was gone she jerked a nod towards the door. "Now we can talk. I didn't want _her_ to know, but Pam comes from thework'ouse. His father was mate of a vessel and drowned at sea, and hismother couldn't manage alone. "

"What vessel?" asked Captain Cai. Both skippers were regarding the boywith interest. 

"The _Tartar Girl_--one of Mr Rogers's--with coal from South Shields, but a Troy crew. It happened five years ago; an' last night when yousaid you wanted a boy it came into my head that one of the Burts wouldbe just about the age. [Pam's other name is Burt, but I didn't tell itjust now, not wanting Mrs Bowldler to guess who he was. ] So thismorning I got Mr Rogers to let me telephone to Tregarrick Work'ouse--an'here he is. "

"Do they dress 'em like that in there?" asked

Captain Cai. 

"Better fit they did!" said the girl angrily. "They sent him over in aclean corduroy suit with 'Work-'ouse' written all over it: and a nicejob I had to rig him up so's Mrs Bowldler shouldn' guess. "

At this moment a piercing scream interrupted Fancy's explanation. It came from one of the front rooms, and was followed by another shorterscream--the voice unmistakably Mrs Bowldler's. 

Running to the lady's rescue, they found her in the empty parlour--alone, clutching at the mantelshelf with both hands, and preparing toemit another cry for succour. 

"What in the world's happened?" demanded Fancy the first to arrive. 

"There was a man!" Mrs Bowldler ran her eyes over her protectors andturned them, with a slow shudder, towards the window. "I seen himdistinctly. It sent my blood all of a cream. "

"A man? What was he doing?" they asked. 

"He was a-looking in boldly through the window . . . " Mrs Bowldlercovered her face with her hands. 

"Well?" Fancy prompted her impatiently, while Captain Cai stepped out tothe front door in quest of the apparition. 

"He had on a great black hat. I thought 'twas Death itself come afterme!"

While Mrs Bowldler paused to take breath and record her furtheremotions, Captain Cai, reaching the front door, threw it open, lookedout into the roadway, and recoiled with a start. Close on his right aman in black stood peering, as Mrs Bowldler had described, but now intothe drawing-room window; shielding, for a better view, the brim of atall hat which Captain Cai recognised with an exclamation--

"Mr Philp!"

Mr Philp withdrew his gaze, turned about and nodded withoutembarrassment. 

"Good evenin', Cap'n. Friend arrived?"

"Funny way to behave, isn't it?" asked Captain Cai with sternness. "Pokin' an' pryin' in at somebody else's windows--what makes ye do it?"

"I was curious to know what might be goin' on inside. "

There was a finality about this which held Captain Cai gravelled for amoment. It hardly seemed to admit of a reply. At length he said--

"Well, you've frightened a woman into hysterics by it, if that's anyconsolation. "

"There, now! Mrs Bosenna?"

"No, it was not Mrs Bosenna. . . . By the way, that reminds me. I've changed my mind over that hat. "

"Hey?"

"I find I've a use for it, after all. "

But at this moment 'Bias appeared in the doorway behind him. 

"Seen anything?" demanded 'Bias. 

"Interduce me, " said Mr Philp with majestic calm. 

Captain Cai, caught in this act of secret traffic, blushed in hisconfusion, but obeyed. 

"'Bias, " said he, "this is the gentleman that caused the mischiefinside. His name's Philp, and he'd like to make your acquaintance. "

BOOK II. 

CHAPTER IX. 

FIRST SUSPICIONS. 

It was August, and the weather for weeks had been superb. It was alsothe week of Troy's annual regatta, and a whole fleet of yachts layanchored in the little harbour, getting ready their riding lights. Two or three belated ones--like large white moths in the grey offing--had yet to make the rendezvous, and were creeping towards it with allcanvas piled: for the wind--light and variable all day--had now atsunset dropped almost to a flat calm. 

"A few pounds to be picked up out yonder, " commented Captain Cai, "ifthe tugs had any enterprise. "

Captain 'Bias reached out a hand for the telescope. "That yawl--the bigfellow--'d do better to take in her jib-tops'le. The faster it'spullin' her through the water the more it's pullin' her to leeward. She'd set two p'ints nigher with it down. "

"The fella can't make up his mind about it, either: keeps it shakin'half the time. "

The two friends sat in 'Bias's summerhouse, the scent of their tobaccomingling, while they discoursed, with the fragrance of late roses, nicotianas, lemon verbenas. "Discoursed, " did I say? Well, let theword pass: for their talk was discursive enough. But when at intervalsone or the other opened his mouth, his utterance, though it took theform of a comment upon men and affairs, was in truth but the breathingof a deep inward content. On the table between them Captain Cai'smusical box tinkled the waltz from "Faust. "

They had become house-occupiers early in May, and at first with a fewbare sticks of furniture a-piece. But by dint of steady attendance atthe midsummer auctions they had since done wonders. Captain Cai hadacquired, among other things, a refrigerator, a linen-press, and a setof 'The Encyclopaedia Britannica' (edition of 1881); Captain 'Bias apoultry run (in sections) and a framed engraving of "The WaterlooBanquet, "--of which, strange to say, he found himself possessor directlythrough his indifference to art; for, oppressed by the heat of thesaleroom, he had yielded to brief slumber (on his legs) while thepictures were being disposed of, and awaking at the sound of his ownname was aware that he had secured this bargain by an untimely andunpremeditated nod. 

Such small accidents, however, are a part of the fun ofhouse-furnishing. On the whole our two friends had bought judiciously, and now looking around them, could say that their experiment hadhitherto prospered; that, so far, the world was kind. 

Especially were they fortunate (thanks to Fancy Tabb) precisely wherebachelor householders are apt to miss good fortune--in the matter ofdomestic service. The boy Palmerston, to be sure, suffered from atrick--acquired (Fancy assured them) under workhouse treatment anderadicable by time and gentle handling--of bursting into tears uponsmall provocation or none. But Mrs Bowldler was a treasure. Of thisthere could be no manner of doubt; and in nothing so patently as inrelation with the boy Palmerston did the gold in Mrs Bowldler's nature--the refined gold--reveal itself. 

It was suspected that she had once been a kitchen-maid in the West Endof London: but a discreet veil hung over this past, and she never liftedit save by whatever of confession might be read into the words, "When we were in residence in Eaton Square, "--with which she preludedall reminiscences (and they were frequent) of the great metropolis. Her true test as a good woman she passed when--although she must haveknown the truth, being a confirmed innocent gossip--she chose to extendthe same veil, or a corner of it, over the antecedents of Palmerston. She said--

"The past is often enveloped. In the best families it is notoriouslyso. We know what we are, an' may speckilate on what we was; but whatwe're to be, who can possibly tell? It might give us the creeps. "

She said again: "Every man carries a button in his knapsack, by which hemay rise sooner or later to higher things. It was said by a Frenchman, and a politer nation you would not find. "

Again: "Blood will tell, always supposin' you 'ave it, and will excusethe expression. "

Thus did Mrs Bowldler "turn her necessity to glorious gain, " colouringand enlarging her sphere of service under the prismatic lens of romance. In her conversation either cottage became a "residence, " and its smallgarden "the grounds, " thus:--

"Palmerston, inform Captain Hunken that dinner is served. You will findhim in the grounds. "

Or, "Where's that boy?" Captain Cai might ask. 

"Palmerston, sir? He is at present in the adjacent, cleaning the knivesand forks. "

She had indeed set this high standard of expression in the very act oftaking service; when, being asked what wages she demanded, she answered, "If acceptable to you, sir, I would intimate eighteen guineas--and myviands. "

"That's two shilling short o' nineteen pound, " said Captain Hunken. 

"I thank you, sir"--Mrs Bowldler made obeisance--"but I have anattachment to guineas. "

She identified herself with her employers by speaking of them in thefirst person plural: "No, we do not dress for dinner. Our rule is todine in the middle of the day, as more agreeable to health. " [A sigh. ]"Sometimes I wish we could persuade ourselves that vegetables lookbetter on the side-table. "

Such was Mrs Bowldler: and her housekeeping, no less vigilant thanromantic, protected our two friends from a thousand small domesticcares. 

"Committee-meeting, to-night?" asked 'Bias. 

"Eight o'clock: to settle up details--mark-boats, handicap, and thelike. . . . It's a wonder to me, " said Cai reflectively, "how thisregatta has run on, year after year. With Bussa for secretary, if youcan understand such madness. "

"They'll be runnin' you for the next Parish Council, sure as fate. "

Cai ignored this. "There's the fireworks, too. Nobody chosen yet tosuperintend 'em, an' who's to do it I don't know, unless I take overthat little job in addition. "

"I thought the firm always sent a couple o' hands to fix an let 'emoff. "

"So it does. They arrived a couple of hours ago--both drunk as Chloe. "

"Plenty o' time to sleep it off between this an' then, " opined 'Biascomfortably. 

"But they're still _on_ the drink. Likely as not we shall find 'emto-morrow in Highway lock-up, which is four miles from here. . . . It happened once before, " said Cai with a face of gloom, "and Bussa didthe whole display by himself. "

"Good Lord! How did it go off?"

"He can't remember, except that it _did_ go off. _He_ was drunk, too--drunk o' purpose: for, as he says very reas'nably, 'twas the only way hecould find the courage. The fellow isn' without public spirit, if he'donly apply it the right way. Toy tells me that he, for his part, saw itfrom his bedroom window--the Town Quay wasn't safe, wi' therocket-sticks fairly rainin'--an' the show wasn' a bad show, _if youlooked at it horizontal_; but the gentry on the yachts derived next tono enjoyment from it, bein' occupied in gettin' up their anchors. "

Before 'Bias could comment on this, a footstep--light, yet audiblebetween the tinkling notes of the musical box--drew the gaze of the pairto a small window on the right, outside of which lay the gravelledapproach to their bower. 

"May I come in?" asked a voice--a woman's--with a pretty hesitation inits note: and Mrs Bosenna stood in the doorway. 

"_Please_ keep your seats, " she entreated as both arose awkwardly. She added with a mirthful little laugh, "I heard the musical box playingaway, and so I took French leave. Now, don't tell me that I'm anintruder! It is only for a few minutes; and--strictly speaking, youknow--the lease says I may enter at any reasonable time. Is this areasonable time?"

They assured her, but still awkwardly, that she was welcome at any time. Captain Cai found her a chair. 

"So this, " she said, looking around, "is where you sit together and talkdisparagingly of our sex. At least, that's what Dinah assures me, though I don't see how she can possibly know. "

"Ma'am!" said Cai, "we were talkin', this very moment, o' fireworks:nothing more an' nothing less. "

"Well, and you couldn't have been talking of anything more to thepoint, " said Mrs Bosenna; "for, as it happens, it's fireworks thatbrought me here. "

'Bias looked vaguely skyward, while "You don't tell me, ma'am, thosefellows are making trouble down in the town?" cried Cai. 

"Eh? I don't understand. . . . Oh, no, " she laughed when he explainedhis alarm, "I am afraid my errand is much more selfish. You see, Ipositively dote on fireworks. "

She paused. 

"Well, " said 'Bias, "that's womanlike. "

"Hallo!" said Cai. "How do you know what's womanlike?"

"I am afraid it is womanlike, " confessed Mrs Bosenna hastily. "And from Rilla Farm you get no view at all on Regatta night. So I waswondering--if you won't think it dreadfully forward of me--"

"You're welcome to watch 'em from here, ma'am, if that's what you mean, "said 'Bias. 

"Or from my garden, ma'am, if you prefer it, " said Cai. 

"Why should she?" asked 'Bias. 

"Well, 'tis a yard or two nearer, for one thing. "

"Anything else?"

"Yes: the other summer-house fronts a bit more up the harbour; t'wardsthe fireworks, that's to say. "

"You ought to know: _you_ chose it. . . . But anyway I asked her first. "

"Thank you--thank you both!" interposed Mrs Bosenna, leaving thequestion open. "And may I bring Dinah too? She's almost as silly aboutfireworks as I am, poor woman! and life on a farm _can_ be dull. "She sighed, and added, "Besides, 'twould be more proper. We mustn't setpeople talking--eh, Captain Hocken?" She appealed to him with a laugh. 

"Cai won't be here, " announced 'Bias heavily. 

"Who said so?" demanded Cai. 

"'Said so yourself, not twenty minutes ago. . . . 'Said you didn' knowhow the fireworks was ever goin' off without you, or words to thateffect. I didn' make no comment at the time. All I say now is, if MrsBosenna comes here to see fireworks, she'll expect 'em to go off: an' Ileave it at that. "

"They'll go off, all right, " said Cai cheerfully, putting a curb on histemper. [But what ailed 'Bias to-night?] "I'll get a smallSub-committee appointed this very evening. But about takin' a handmyself, I've changed my mind. "

"Indeed, Captain Hocken, I hope you'll not desert the party, " said MrsBosenna prettily, and laughed again. "Do you know that, having made sobold I've a mind to make bolder yet, and pretend I am entertaining _you_to-morrow. It's the only chance you give me, you two. "

She said this with her eyes on 'Bias, who started as if stung andglanced first at her, then at Cai. But Cai observed nothing, beingoccupied at the moment in winding up the musical box, which had rundown. 

Mrs Bosenna smiled a demure smile. She had discovered what she had cometo learn; and having discovered it, she presently took her leave, with apromise to be punctual on the morrow. 

When she was gone the pair sat for some time in silence. _Tink, tink-tink-a-tink, tink_, went the musical box on the table. . . . At length Cai stood up. 

"Time to be gettin' along to Committee, " he said, and stepped to thedoorway; but there he turned and faced about. "'Bias--"

"Eh?"

"You don't really think as I chose th' other summer-house because it hada better view?"

"_Has_ it a better view?" asked 'Bias. 

"For fireworks, it seems, " said Cai sadly. "But I reckoned--though Ihate to talk about it--as this one looked straighter out to sea an' byconsequence 'd please ye better. That's why. . . . You're welcome tochange gardens to-morrow. "

"Mrs Bosenna's comin' to-morrow, " grunted 'Bias, and then, after asecond's pause, swore under his breath, yet audibly. 

"What's the matter with ye, 'Bias?"

"I don't know. . . . Maybe 'tis that box o' tunes gets on my temper. No, don't take it away. I didn' mean it like that, an' the music usedto be pretty enough, first-along. "

"We'll give it a spell, " said Cai, stooping and switching off the tune. "I'm not musical myself; I'd as lief hear thunder, most days. But thething was well meant. "

"Ay, an' no doubt we'll pick up a taste for it again--indoors of anevenin', when the winter comes 'round. "

"Tell ye what, " suggested Cai. "To-morrow, I'll take it off to JohnPeter and ask him to put a brass plate on the lid, with an inscription. He's clever at such things, an' terrible dilatory. . . . An' to-nightMrs Bowldler can have it in the kitchen. She dotes on it--'_I dreamtthat I dwelt_' in particular. "

"Which, " said Mrs Bowldler to Palmerston later on, as they sat drinkingin that ditty, one on either side of the kitchen table, "it can't sing, but the words is that I dreamt I dwelt in Marble Halls with Princes andPeers by my si-i-ide--just like that. Princes!" She leaned back in thecheap chair and closed her eyes. "It goes through me to this day. I used to sing it frequent in my 'teens, along with another popularfavourite which was quite at the other end of the social scale, butartless--'My Mother said that I never should Play with the gypsies inthe wood. If I did, She would say, Tum tiddle, tum tiddle, tum-ti-tay'--my memory is not what it was. " Mrs Bowldler wiped her eyes. 

"And did you?" asked Palmerston. "Tell me what happened. "

Next morning, while the Church bells were ringing in Regatta Day, Captain Cai tucked the musical box under his arm and called, on his wayto the Committee Ship, upon Mr John Peter Nanjulian (commonly "JohnPeter" for short). 

John Peter, an elderly man, dwelt with a yet more elderly sister, in anold roomy house set eminently on the cliff-side above the roofs of theLower Town, approachable only by a pathway broken by flights of steps, and known by the singular name of On the Wall. 

The house had been a family mansion, and still preserved traces ofancient dignity, albeit jostled by cottages which had climbed the slopeand encroached nearer and nearer as the Nanjulians under stress ofpoverty had parted with parcel after parcel of their terraced garden. Of the last generation--five sons and three daughters, not one of whomhad married--John Peter and his sister "Miss Susan" were now the onlysurvivors, and lived, each on a small annuity, under the old roof, meeting only at dinner on Sundays, and for the rest of the week dwellingapart in their separate halves of the roomy building, up and down thewide staircase of which they had once raced as children at hide-and-seekwith six playmates. 

John Peter was eccentric, as all these later Nanjulians had been: alean, stooping man, with a touch of breeding in his face, a weak mouth, and a chin dotted with tufts of gray hair which looked as if they hadbeen affixed with gum and absent-mindedly. He was reputed to be a greatreader, and could quote the poetical works of Pope by the yard. He hadsome skill with the pencil and the water-colour brush. He understoodand could teach the theory of navigation; dabbled in chess problems; andhad once constructed an astronomical timepiece. His not-too-clean handswere habitually stained with acids: for he practised etching, too, although his plates invariably went wrong. He had considerable skill inengraving upon brass and copper, and was not above eking out his incomeby inscribing coffin-plates. But the undertaker was shy of employinghim because he could never be hurried. 

John Peter received Captain Cai in his workshop--a room ample enough fora studio and lit by a large window that faced north, but darkened bycobwebs, dirty, and incredibly littered with odds and ends of futileapparatus. He put a watchmaker's glass to his eye and peered long intothe bowels of the musical box. 

"The works are clogged with dust, " he announced. "Fairly caked with oiland dirt. No wonder it won't go. "

"But it _does_ go, " objected Captain Cai. 

"You don't tell me! . . . Well, you'd best let me take out the works, any way, and give them a bath of paraffin. "

"Is it so serious as all that? . . . What I came about now, was to askyou to make a brass plate for the lid--with an inscription. "Captain Cai pulled out a scrap of paper. "Something like this, 'Presented to Caius Hocken, Master of the _Hannah Hoo_, on the Occasionof his Retirement. By his affectionate undersigned': then the names, with maybe a motto or a verse o' poetry if space permits. "

"What sort of poetry?"

"Eh? . . . 'Tell ye the truth, I didn' know till this moment that there_were_ different sorts. Well, we'll have the best. "

"Why not go to Benny, and get him to fix you up something appropriate?"suggested John Peter. "Old Benny, I mean, that writes the letters forseamen. He's a dab at verses. People go to him regular for theIn-Memoriams they put in the newspaper. "

"That's an idea, too, " said Captain Cai. "I'll consult him to-morrow. But that won't hinder your getting ahead wi' the plate?" he added; forJohn Peter's ways were notorious. 

"How would you like it?" John Peter looked purblindly about him, rubbinghis spectacles with a thread-bare coat-tail. 

"Well, I don't mind, " said Cai with promptitude--"Though 'tis ratherearly in the morning. "

"Old English?"

"Perhaps I don't know it by that name. "

"Or there's Plain. "

"Not for me, thank ye. "

"--Or again, there's Italic; to my mind the best of all. It lendsitself to little twiddles and flourishes, according to your taste. "Old John Peter led him to the wall and pointed with a dirty finger; andCai gasped, finding his attention directed to a line of engravedcoffin-plates. 

"That's Italic, " said John Peter, selecting an inscription and tracingover the flourishes with his thumb-nail. "'_William Penwarne, b. 1837--_' that's the year the Queen came to the throne. It's easier toread, you see, than old English, and far easier than what we callGothic, or Ecclesiastical--which is another variety--though, of course, not so easy as Plain. Here you have Plain--" He indicated aninscription--'_Samuel Bosenna, of Rilla, b. 1830, d. 1895_. "

"Would that be th' old fellow up the valley, as was?--Mrs Bosenna'shusband?" asked Cai, somewhat awed. 

"That's the man. "

"But what's it doing here?"

"'Tis my unfortunate propensity, " confessed John Peter with simplefrankness. "You see, by the nature of things these plates must beengraved in a hurry--I _quite_ see it from the undertaker's point ofview. But, on the other hand, if you're an artist, it isn't always youfeel in the mood; you wait for what they call inspiration, and then theundertaker gets annoyed and throws the thing back on your hands. "With a pathetic, patient smile John Peter rubbed his spectacles again, and again adjusted them. "Perhaps you'd like Plain, after all?" hesuggested. "It usually doesn't take me so long. "

"No, " decided Cai somewhat hurriedly; "it might remind--I mean, thereisn't the same kind of hurry with a musical box. "

"It would be much the better for a bath of paraffin, " muttered JohnPeter, prying into the works. But Cai continued to stare at the plateon the wall, and was staring at it when a voice at the door called"Good mornin'!" and Mr Philp entered. 

"Ho!" said Mr Philp, "I didn' know as you two were acquainted. And what might _you_ be doin' here, cap'n?"

"A triflin' matter of business, that's all, " answered Cai, who chafedunder Mr Philp's inquisitiveness; but chafed, like everybody else, invain. 

"Orderin' your breastplate? . . . It's well to be in good time whenyou're dealin' with John Peter, " said Mr Philp with dreadful jocularity. "As I came along the head o' the town, " he explained, "I heard thatSnell's wife had passed away in the night. A happy release. I droppedin to see if they'd given you the job. "

John Peter shook his head. 

"And I don't suppose you'll get it, neither, " said Mr Philp; "but Iwanted to make sure. Push, --that's what you want. That's the onlything nowadays. Push. . . . You're lookin' at John Peter's misfits, Isee, " he went on, turning to Cai. "Now, _there's_ a man whose place, asyou might say, won't go unfilled much longer--hey?" Mr Philp pointedhis walking-stick at the name of the late owner of Rilla, and achieved asort of watery wink. 

"I daresay you mean something by that, Mr Philp, " said Cai, staring athim, half angry and completely puzzled. "But be dashed if I know whatyou _do_ mean. "

"There now! And I reck'ned as you an' Cap'n Hunken had ne'er a secretyou didn't share!"

'"Bias?" asked Cai slowly. "Who was talkin' of 'Bias?"

"It takes 'em that way sometimes, " said Mr Philp, wiping a rheumy eye. "An' the longer they puts it off the more you can't never tell which wayit will take 'em. O' course, if Cap'n Hunken didn't tell you he'd beenvisitin' Rilla lately, he must have had his reasons, an' I'm sorry Ispoke. "

Cai was breathing hard. "Bias? . . . When?"

"The last time I spied him was two days ago . . . In the late afternoon. Now you come to mention it, I'd a notion at the time he wasn't anxiousto be seen. For he came over the fields at the back--across theten-acre field that Mrs Bosenna carried last week--and a very tidy crop, I'm told, though but moderate long in the stalk. . . . Well, there hewas comin' across the stubble--at a fine pace, too, with his coat 'ponhis arm--when as I guess he spied me down in the road below and stoppedshort, danderin' about an' pretendin' to poke up weeds with his stick. 'Some new-fashioned farmin', ' thought I; 'weedin' stubble, and in Augustmonth too! I wonder who taught the Widow that trick'--for I won't besure I reckernised your friend, not slap-off. But Cap'n Hunken it was:for to make certain I called and had a drink o' cider with FarmerMiddlecoat, t'other side of the hill, an' _he'd_ seen your friendfrequent these last few weeks. . . . There now, you don't seem pleasedabout it!--an' yet 'twould be a very good match for him, if it cameoff. "

Cai's head was whirling. He steadied himself to say, "You seem to takea lot of interest, Mr Philp, in other people's affairs. "

"Heaps, " said Mr Philp. "I couldn' live without it. "

CHAPTER X. 

REGATTA NIGHT. 

It must be admitted, though with sorrow, that on the Committee Ship thatday Captain Cai did not shine. He bungled two "flying starts" bynervously playing with his stop-watch and throwing it out of gear; hefired off winning guns for several hopelessly belated competitors; hemade at least three mistakes in distributing the prize-money (and nobodywho has not committed the indiscretion of paying out a first prize to acrew which has actually come in third can conceive the difficulty ofenforcing its surrender); finally, he provoked something like a freefight on deck by inadvertently crediting two boats each with the other'stime on a close handicap. It was the more vexatious, because he had incommittee meetings taken so many duties upon himself, virtuallycashiering many old hands, whose enforced idleness left them upon theship with a run of the drinks, and whose resentment (as the day wore on)made itself felt in galling comments while, with no offer to help, theystood by and watched each painful development. The worst moment arrivedwhen Captain Cai, who had replaced the old treasurer by a new andpushing man, and had, further, carried a resolution that prizes for allthe major events should be paid by cheque, discovered his _protege_ tobe too tipsy to sign his name. This truly terrible emergency CaptainCai met by boldly subscribing his own name to the cheques. They wouldbe drawn, of course, upon his private account, and he trusted theCommittee to recoup him, while reading in the eyes of one or two thatthey had grasped this opportunity of revenge. But Regatta Day happenson a Wednesday, when the banks in Troy close early; and these chequeswere accepted with an unflattering show of suspicion. 

The longest day, however, has its end. All these vexations served atleast to distract our friend's mind from the morning's discovery; andwhen at length, the last gun fired, he dropped into a boat to be pulledfor shore, he was too far exhausted physically--having found scarcely amoment for bite or sup--to load his mind any more than did Walton'smilk-maid "with any fears of many things that will never be. "

He reached home, washed off the cares of the day and the reek of blackgunpowder together in a warm bath, dressed himself with more thanordinary spruceness, and was descending the stair on his way to Bias'sgarden, when at the foot of them he was amazed to find Mrs Bowldler, seated and rocking herself to and fro with her apron cast over her head. Nay, in the dusk of the staircase he but just missed turning asomersault over her. 

"Hullo! Why, what's the matter, missus?"

"Oh--oh!" sobbed Mrs Bowldler. "Bitter is the bread of poverty, deny itwho can! And me, that have gone about Troy streets in my time with onepound fifteen's worth of feathers on my hat! Ostrich. And now to belaying a table for the likes of _her_, that before our reverses Iwouldn't have seen in the street when I passed her!"

Captain Cai, already severely shaken by the events of the day, put ahand to his head. 

"For goodness' sake, woman, talk sense to me! _Who_ is it you'remeanin'?--Mrs Bosenna? And what's this talk about layin' table?"

"Mrs Bosenna?" echoed Mrs Bowldler, who had by this time arisen from thestair. She drew her skirts close with a gesture of dignity. "It is notfor me to drag Mrs Bosenna into our conversation, sir--far from it, --andI hope I know my place better. For aught I know, Captain Hocken--if, as a _menial_, I may use the term--"

"Not at all, " said Captain Cai vaguely, as she paused with elaboratehumility. 

"For aught that I know, sir, Mrs Bosenna may be a Duchess fresh droppedfrom heaven. I _have_ heard it mentioned in a casual way that she camefrom Holsworthy in Devon, and (unless my memory deceives me, sir)nothing relative to Duchesses was dropped--or not at the time, at least. But I pass no remarks on Mrs Bosenna. If she chose to marry an old manwith her eyes open, it's not for me to cast it up, beyond saying thatsome folks know on which side their bread's buttered. _I_ never draggedin Mrs Bosenna. You will do me that justice, I hope?"

"Then who the dickens is it you're talkin' about?"

"Which to mention any names, sir, it is not my desire; and the best ofus can't help how we was born nor in what position. But farm service isfarm service, call it what you please; and if a party as shall benameless starts sitting down with her betters, perhaps you will tell mewhen and where we are going to end? That, sir, is the very question Iput to Captain Hunken; and with all respect, sir, 'dammit' doesn't meetthe case. "

"Perhaps not, " agreed Captain Cai, but not with entire conviction. 

"It was all the answer Captain Hunken gave me, sir. 'Dammit, ' he says, 'Mrs Bowldler, go and lay supper as I tell you, and we'll talk later. '"

"Supper? Where?"

"In the summer-house, sir: which it's not for me to talk about takingfreaks into your head, and the spiders about, or the size o' them atthis time o' the year. Captain Hunken and the lady and the other partyare at present in your portion of the grounds, hoping that you'll jointhem in time for the fireworks; which it all depends if you like mixedcompany. And afterwards the guests"--Mrs Bowldler threw withering scorninto the word--"the guests is to adjourn to Captain Hunken'ssummer-house or what not, there to partake of supper. And if I'm askedto wait, sir, " she concluded, "I must beg to give notice on the groundsthat I'm only flesh and blood. "

"O--oh!" said Captain Cai reflectively. It occurred to him that 'Biashad hit on a compromise with some tact. For the moment he was notthinking of Mrs Bowldler, and did not grasp the full meaning of herultimatum. 

She repeated it. 

"Tut--tut, " said he. "Who wants you to wait table against your will?The boy'll do well enough. "

"Which, " said Mrs Bowldler, "I have took the opportunity of soundingPalmerston, and he offers no objection. "

"Very well, then. "

Mrs Bowldler was visibly relieved. She heaved a sigh and fired aparting shot. 

"I can only trust, " she said, "if Palmerston waits as he'll catch upwith no low tricks. Boys are so receptive!"

Cai descended to his garden, and at the foot of it found a trio of darkfigures by the low fence of the edge of the cliff--'Bias and Mrs Bosennain talk together, Dinah standing a little apart. "But that, " thoughthe, "is only her place, as I've just been hearing. " He had a just mindand was slow to suspect. Even now he could not assimilate the poison ofMr Philp's story. Everybody knew Mr Philp and his propensities. As Mr Toy the barber was wont to say, "Philp don't mean any harm: hejust makes mischief like a bee makes honey. "

So Cai said, "Cheer-o, 'Bias!"--his usual greeting--hoped he saw MrsBosenna well, and fell in on the other side of her by the breast-rail. The sky by this time was almost pitch dark, with a star or two shiningbetween somewhat heavy masses of clouds. He begged Mrs Bosenna to besure that she was comfortably anchored, as he put it. The rail wasstout and secure; she might lean her weight against it without fear. He went on to apologise for his late arrival. The Committee Ship hadbeen at sixes and sevens all day. 

"Nobody could have guessed it, from the shore, " said Mrs Bosennagraciously, and appealed to 'Bias. "Coming through the town I heard iton all hands. "

"Not so bad, " agreed 'Bias, and this, from him, was real praise. 

"'Not a hitch from first to last--the most successful Regatta we've hadfor years. ' Those were the very expressions that reached me. "

"We'll do better next time, " Cai assured her, swallowing down theflattery. "Believe it or not, I had trouble enough to keep thingsstraight; and being one to fret when they're not ship-shape--"

"_I_ know!" murmured Mrs Bosenna sympathetically. "You could not bearto come away until you'd seen everything through. Well, as it happens, there are people in Troy who recognise this; and it does me good to hearyou talk about 'next time. ' Though, to be sure, one can't count nexttime on such perfect weather. "

"There'll be rain in half an hour or less, " grunted 'Bias. 

"Oh, not before the fireworks, surely?" she exclaimed in pretty dismay. "Do say, now, Captain Hocken!"

She turned to Cai, and then--

"Oh--oh!" she cried as, far away up the harbour, the signal rocket shothissing aloft and exploded with a tremendous detonation. The roar of itfilled their ears; but Cai scarcely heeded the roar. It reverberatedfrom shore to shore, and the winding creeks took it up, to re-echo it;but Cai did not hear the echoes. 

For (it was no fancy!) a small hand had clutched at his arm out of thedarkness and was clinging to it, trembling, for protection. . . . Yes, it trembled there yet! . . . He put a hand over it, to reassure it andat the same time to detain it. 

He could not see her face. The rocket was of the kind known as"fog detonator, " and scattered no light with its explosion. He greatlydesired to know whether her gaze was turned towards him or up at thedark sky, and this he could not tell. But the hand lay under cover ofhis arm, and, as moments went by was not withdrawn. . . . 

Half a minute passed thus, and then (oh, drat the fireworks after all!)a salvo of rockets climbed the sky--luminous ones, this time. As theyshot up with a _wroo--oo--sh!_ the hand was snatched away, gently, swiftly. . . . 

They burst in balls of fire--blue, green, yellow, crimson. They lit upthe garden so vividly that each separate leaf on the laurustinus bushescast its own sharp shadow. "O--oh!" breathed Mrs Bosenna, but now on avery different note, and as though her whole spirit drank deep, quenching a celestial desire. Cai, stealing a look, saw her profileirradiated, her gaze uplifted to the zenith. 

The fiery shower died out, was extinct. Across the party hedge the boyPalmerston was heard inquiring if that was the way the angels behaved inheaven. 

"Moderately so, " responded the polite, high-pitched voice of MrsBowldler (who never could resist fireworks). "Moderately so, butwithout the accompanyin' igsplosion. That is, so far as we arepermitted to guess. . . . And highly creditable to _them_, " it wound up, with sudden asperity, "considering the things they sometimes have tolook down on!"

"I'd _love_, " aspired the romantic boy, "to go up--an' up--an' up, justlike that, an' then bust--bust in red and yellow blazes. "

"You will, one o' these days; that is, if you behave yourself. We havethat assurance within us. "

"I wouldn' mind the dyin' out, " ingeminated Palmerston, "so's I couldhave one jolly good bust. "

"In the land of marrow an' fatness we shall be doing of it permanent, "Mrs Bowldler assured him for his comfort. "That's to say if we ever getthere. But you just wait till they let off the set pieces. There's oneof Queen Victoria, you can see the very eyelids. Sixty years Queen ofEngland, come next June: with _God Bless Her_ underneath in squibs likeBelshazzar's Feast. And He _will_, too, from what I know of 'im. "

As it turned out, at the distance from which our company viewed them, these set pieces laid some tax on the imagination. They were dulyapplauded to be sure; and when Mrs Bosenna exclaimed "How lovely!" and'Bias allowed "Not so bad, " their tribute scarcely differed, albeit paidin different coin. The rockets, however, won the highest commendation, and a blaze of coloured fires on the surrounding hills ran the rockets aclose second. 

Towards the close of the display a few drops of rain began to fall fromthe overcharged clouds: large premonitory drops, protesting against thisdisturbance of the upper air. 

"That's the fine-alley!" announced 'Bias, as another detonator bangedaloft, while a volcano of "fiery serpents" hissed and screamed behindit. "Let's run for shelter!"

He offered his arm. Cai did the same. But Mrs Bosenna--she had notclung to any one this time--very nimbly slipped between them and tookDinah for protector. She was in the gayest of moods, as they allscrambled up the wet steps to the roadway, and so down other flights ofwet steps under the pattering rain to the shelter of 'Bias'ssummer-house. 

"Just in time!" she panted, shaking the drops from her cloak. "And Ican't remember whenever I've enjoyed myself so much. But--" as shelooked about her and over the table--"what a feast!"

It was a noble feast. If Cai had been busy all day, no less had 'Biasbeen busy. There were lobsters; there were chickens, with a boiled ham;there was a cold sirloin of beef, for grosser tastes; there werejellies, tartlets, a trifle, a cherry pie. There was beer in anine-gallon jar, and cider in another. There were bottles of fizzylemonade, with a dash of which Mrs Bosenna insisted on diluting hercider. Her mirth was infectious as they feasted, while the rain, nowdescending in a torrent, drummed on the summer-house roof. 

"How on earth we're ever to get home, Dinah, I'm sure I don't know!And what's more, I don't seem to care, just yet. "

Captain Cai and Captain 'Bias protested in unison that, when the timecame, they would escort her home against all perils. 

"You can trust me, ma'am, I hope?" blurted 'Bias. 

"I can trust both of you, I hope. " Mrs Bosenna glanced towards Cai, orso Cai thought. 

"The jokes they keep makin'!" Palmerston reported to Mrs Bowldler. (With the utmost cheerfulness he continued running to and fro betweensummer-house and residence under the downpour. ) "When Mrs Bosenna saidthat about a merrythought I almost split myself. "

"There's a medium in all things, " Mrs Bowldler advised him. "Stand-offish should be your expression when waiting at table; like asif you'd heard it all before several times, no matter how funny theytalk. As for splitting, I shiver at the bare thought. "

"Well, I didn't do it, really. I just got my hand over my mouth intime. "

"And what did that other woman happen to be doing?" asked Mrs Bowldler. 

"I partic'l'ly noticed, " said Palmerston. "She was sittin' quiet andtoyin' with her 'am. "

The rain continuing, 'Bias at the close of supper sensationally producedtwo packs of cards and proposed that, as soon as Palmerston had removedthe cloth, they should play what he called "a rubber to whist. " He andMrs Bosenna cut together; Cai with Dinah. Now the two captains could, as a rule, play a good hand at whist. On this occasion they played soabominably as to surprise themselves and each other. Dinah did notprofess to be an expert, and Cai's blunders were mostly lost on her. But 'Bias disgraced himself before his partner, who neither reproachedhim nor once missed a trick. 

"I can't tell what's come over me to-night, " he confessed at the end ofthe second rubber. 

"Regatta-day!" laughed Mrs Bosenna, and pushed the cards away. The wedding-ring on her third finger glanced under the light of thehanging lamp. "Dinah shall tell our fortunes, " she suggested. 

Dinah took the pack and proceeded very gravely to tell their fortunes. She began with Captain Hunken, and found that, a dark lady happening inthe "second house, " he would certainly marry one of that hue, withplenty of money, and live happy ever after. 

She next attempted Captain Hocken's. "Well, that's funny, now!" sheexclaimed, after dealing out the cards face uppermost. 

"What's funny?" asked Cai. 

"Why, " said Dinah, after a long scrutiny, during which she pursed andunpursed her lips half a dozen times at least, "the cards are different, o' course, but they say the same thing--dark lady and all--and I can'tmake it other. "

"No need, " said Cai cheerfully, drawing at his pipe (for Mrs Bosenna hadgiven the pair permission to smoke). "So long as you let 'Bias and merun on the same lines, I'm satisfied. Eh, 'Bias?"

"But 'tis the _same_ lady!"

"Oh! That would alter matters, nat'ch'rally. "

Dinah swept the cards together again and shuffled them. "Shall I tell_your_ fortune, mistress?" she asked mischievously. 

"No, " said Mrs Bosenna, rising. "The rain has stopped, and it's time wewere getting home, between the showers. "

Again Captain Cai and Captain 'Bias offered gallantly to accompany herto the gate of Rilla Farm; but she would have none of their escort. 

"No one is going to insult me on the road, " she assured them. "And besides, if they did, Dinah would do the screaming. That's why Ibrought her. "

She had enjoyed her evening amazingly. She took her departure with afew happily chosen words which left no doubt of it. 

After divesting himself of his coat that night, Captain Cai laid a handon his upper arm and felt it timidly. Unless he mistook, the fleshbeneath the shirt-sleeve yet kept some faint vibration of Mrs Bosenna'shand, resting upon it, thrilling it. 

"The point is, " said Cai to himself, "it can't be 'Bias, anyway. I feltpretty sure at the time that Philp was lyin'. But what a brazen fellowit is!"

Strangely enough, in his bedroom on the other side of the party wallCaptain 'Bias stood at that moment deep in meditation. He, too, wasrubbing his arm, just below the biceps. 

Yet the explanation is simple. You have only to bethink you that MrsBosenna, like any other woman, _had two hands_. 

CHAPTER XI. 

MRS BOSENNA PLAYS A PARLOUR GAME. 

"We have runned out simultaneous, " announced Mrs Bowldler next morning, as the two friends sat at breakfast in Captain Cai's parlour, eachimmersed (or pretending to be immersed) in his own newspaper. They hadslept but indifferently, and on meeting at table had avoided, as if bytacit consent, allusions to last night's entertainment. Each of thenewspapers contained a full-column report of the Regatta, with itsfestivities, which gave excuse for silence. With a thrill of innocentpleasure Cai saw his own name in print. He harked back to it severaltimes in the course of his perusal, and confessed to himself that itlooked very well. 

But Mrs Bowldler, too, had slept indifferently, if her eyes--which werered and tear-swollen--might be taken as evidence. Her air, as shebrought in the dishes, spoke of sorrow rather than of anger. Finding that it attracted no attention, she sighed many times aloud, andat each separate entrance let fall some gloomy domestic news, droppingit as who should say, "I tell you, not expecting to be believed or evenheeded, still less applauded for any vigilant care of your interests, but rather that I may not hereafter reproach myself. "

"We have runned out simultaneous, " she repeated as Captain Cai glancedup from the newspaper. "Which I refer to coals. Palmerston tells methere's not above two-and-a-half scuttlefuls in either cellar, searchthem how you will. " (The search at any rate could not be extensive, since the cellars measured 8 feet by 4 feet apiece. )

"Which, " resumed Mrs Bowldler, after a pause and a sigh, "it may beun-Christian to say so of a man that goes about in a bath-chair with onefoot in the grave, but in my belief Mr Rogers sends us short weight. "

"I'll order some more this very morning, eh, 'Bias?"

'Bias grunted approval. 

"And while we're about it, we may as well order in a quantity, --as muchas the sheds will hold. We've pretty well reached the end o' summer, an' prices will be risin' before long. . . . If I were you, MrsBowldler, " added Cai with a severity beyond his wont, "I shouldn't callpeople dishonest on mere suspicion. "

"If you were me, sir--makin' so bold, --you'd ha' seen more of the worldwith its Rogerses and Dodgerses. There now!" Mrs Bowldler set down adish of fried potatoes and stood resigned. "Dismiss me you may, CaptainHocken, and this instant. I ask no less. It was bound to come. As mysister warned me, 'You was always high in the instep, from a child, and, ' says she, 'high insteps are out of place in the Reduced. '"

"God bless the woman!" Cai laid down the paper and stared. "Who evertalked of dismissin' you?"

"I have rode in my time in a side-saddle: and that, sir, is not easilyforgotten. But if you will overlook it, gentlemen, " said Mrs Bowldlertearfully, "I might go on to mention that Palmerston have had amisfortune with a tumbler last night. "

Cai continued to stare. "I _saw_ a couple performin' in the streetyesterday. How did the boy get mixed up in it?"

"He broke it clearin' up the _debree_ in the summer-house after thevisitors had gone, " Mrs Bowldler explained. "Which being a newdeparture, I hope you will allow me to pass it by in his case with acaution. "

In the course of the forenoon Cai paid a call at Mr Rogers'sharbour-side store, where he found Mr Rogers himself superintending, from his invalid-chair, the weighing out of coal. Fancy Tabb was inattendance. 

"Hullo!" Mr Rogers greeted him. "Well, the show went very wellyesterday, and I see your name in the papers this morning. "

Cai confessed that he, too, had seen it. 

"And it won't be the last time either, not by a long way. I was wantin'a word with you. Cap'n Hunken, --eh, but that's the sort of friend tohave--a man in a thousand--Cap'n Hunken was tellin' me, a few days back, as he'd a mind to see ye in public life. "

"Thank'ee, " said Cai. "'Bias has been nursin' that notion about me, Iknow. But I hope I can make up my own mind. "

"He said 'twould be a distraction for ye. "

"Very likely. " Cai was nettled without knowing why. "But supposin' Idon't need bein' distracted, not at this present?"

"Not at this present, " Mr Rogers agreed. "Your friend allowed that; buthe said as, all human life bein' uncertain, he was worried in mind whatwas goin' to become o' you in the years to come. "

"Meanin' after his death?" asked Cai, with a touch of asperity. 

"He didn' specify. It might ha' been death he had in mind, or it mightha' been anything you like. What he said was, 'I'd like to see old Caifixed up wi' summat to while away his latter years. ' That's how he saidit, in those exact words, an' nothing could have been more kindly put. "

"We're the same age, to a hair. I don't see why 'Bias should be in allthis hurry, unless between ourselves . . . But you wanted a word withme. "

"Yes, on that very question. I'm on the School Board, as it happens, and I'm thinkin'--between you an' me--to send in my resignation, whichwill create a vacancy. "

"Oh?" said Cai, alert; "I didn' know you took an interest in education. "

"I don't, " Mr Rogers responded frankly. "I hate the damned thing. If it rested with me, I'd have no such freaks in the land. But there'salways the rates to be kept down. And likewise there's the coalcontract to be considered. Added to which, " he wound up, "it gives youa pull in several little ways. "

"I see, " said Cai after a pause. "But, if that's so, why resign?"

"Because I'm broken in health, an' can't attend the meetings. I'd haveresigned six months ago if it hadn't been for Philp. "

"Did Mr Philp persuade you to hold on?"

"You bet he didn't!" Mr Rogers grinned. "Philp wants the vacancy, and--well, I don't like Philp. I don't know how he strikes you?"

"To tell the truth, " confessed Cai, "I can't say that I like him. He's too--inquisitive, shall we put it?--though I daresay he means itfor the best. "

"He's suspicious, " said Mr Rogers. "You'd scarcely believe it now, buthe came down to this very store, one day, and hinted that I gave shortweight in coal. 'That's all right, ' said I; 'are you come to lay aninformation?' 'No, ' says he; 'I know the cost o' the law, an' I'm hereas a friend, to give a fresh order. But, ' says he, 'as between friendsI'm goin' to see it weighed out. ' 'Right again!' says I--'how much?''Twelve sacks will meet my requirements for the present, ' says he; 'butI'd like 'em full this time, if you don't mind. ' I'm givin' you theexact words as they occurred. 'Very well, ' says I, 'you shall see 'emweighed an' put into the cart for ye, here an' now. ' So I ordered Billround wi' the cart; an' George, here, I told to pick out twelve o' thebest sacks, lay 'em in a row 'long-side o' me, an' start weighin' verycareful. When the scales turned the hundred-weight, I said, 'Now put intwo great lumps for overplush and sack it up. ' So he did, an' Bill tookthe bag out to the cart. 'Now for the next, ' says I. Philp's a greedyfellow: he stuck there lookin' so hard at the weighin'-scoop, wonderin'how much overplush he'd get this go, he didn' see me twitch the tailmostsack out o' the line wi' th' end o' my crutch, nor Bill pick it upcasual as he came along an' toss it away into the corner. When Georgehad weighed out the eleven, I says to Philp, 'Well, now, I hope you'resatisfied this time?' says I. He turns about, sees that all the sackshave gone, an' says he, 'That's the end, is it?' 'You're a treat, an'no mistake, ' says I jokin'. 'We don't sell by the baker's dozen at thisstore:' for I could see he hadn' counted. 'Well, ' says he, 'I must saythere's no cause o' complaint this time, ' and off drives Bill wi' theload. 'No cause o' complaint'!" Mr Rogers chuckled till the tearsgathered in his eyes. He controlled his mirth and resumed, "I believe, though, the poor fool suspected something; for he was back at homebefore Bill had time to deliver more'n four sacks. But Bill, you see, always carries an empty sack or two to sit upon; so there was nocountin' to be done at that end, d'ye see?"

"I see, " said Cai gravely. It crossed his mind that he had beenover-hasty in rebuking Mrs Bowldler. 

"I wonder, " put in the child Fancy, "how you can sit there an' tell sucha story! That's just the sort o' thing people get put in hell for, asI've warned you again and again. It fairly gives me the creeps to hearyou boastin' about it. "

"Nothin' o' the sort, " said her master cheerfully. He could not resenther free speaking, for she was necessary to him. Besides, it amusedhim. "You leave old Satan and Johnny Rogers to settle scores betweenthemselves. If he takes me as he finds me I'll do the same by him--_an'he knows I'll count the sacks_. Cap'n Cai here'll tell you I'd neverhave put such a trick on Philp if he hadn' shown himself so suspicious. I hate a suspicious man. . . . An' that's one reason, Cap'n, why I wantyou to decide on takin' my place on the School Board. You see, I canchoose my own time for resignin'; the Board itself fills up any vacancythat occurs between Elections: an' I can work the Board for you beforePhilp or any one else gets wind of it. That is, if I have yourconsent?"

"It's uncommonly good of you, " said Cai. "I'll think it over, an' takeadvice, maybe. "

"You know what advice your friend'll give you, anyway. For, I don'tmind tellin' you, when he talked about your enterin' public life Idropped a hint to him. "

"'Bias Hunken isn' the only friend I have in the world, " answered Cai, with a sudden flush. 

"I hope not, " said Mr Rogers. "There's me, f'r instance: an' you'veheard my opinion. That ought to be good enough for him--eh, child?"he turned to Fancy, who had been watching Cai's face with interest. 

"If the Captain wants feminine advice, " said Fancy, in a mockinggrown-up tone, "we all love public men. It's our well-known weakness. "

Cai wished them good-day, and took his leave in some confusion. 

That mischievous child had divined his intent, almost as soon as hehimself had divined it. Nay, now--or, to be accurate, three minuteslater--it is odds that she knew it more surely than he: for he walkedtowards the Railway Station--that is, in the direction of Rilla Farm--telling himself at first that a stroll was, anyhow, a good recipe forclearing the brain; that Rogers's offer called on him to make, at shortnotice, an important decision. 

He paused twice or thrice on his way, to commune with himself: the firsttime by the Passage Slip, where 'Bias and he had halted to view thetraffic by the jetties. He conned it now again, but with unreceptiveeyes. . . . "Rogers talks to me about takin' advice, " soliloquised Cai. "It seems to me this is just one of those steps on which a man must makeup his own mind. . . . "

He paused again beneath the shadow of the gasometer, possibly throughassociation of ideas, because it suggested thoughts of 'Bias who had somuch admired it--"'Bias means well, o' course. But I don't go about, for my part, schemin' how 'Bias is to amuse his latter days. Besides, 'Bias may be mistaken in more ways than one. "

He had passed the Railway Station without being aware of it, and arrivedin sight of Rilla gate, when he halted the third time. "A man mustdecide for himself, o' course, when it comes to the point. Still, incertain cases there's others to be considered. . . . If I knew how farshe meant it! . . . She must ha' meant something. " Yes, he felt theclutch on his biceps again and the small hand trembling under his largeenfolding one. "She _must_ ha' meant something. Not, to be sure, thatit would seriously influence his decisions! But it seemed hardly fairnot to consult her. . . . He would get her opinion, for what it wasworth, not betraying himself. In advising him she might go--well, either a little further or a little backward. . . . Yet, once again, she_must_ have meant something; and it wasn't fair, if she meant anythingat all, to let old 'Bias go on dwelling in a fool's Paradise. Yes, certainly--for 'Bias's sake--there ought to be some clear understanding, and the sooner the better. . . . "

By the time Cai pressed the hasp of the gate, he had arrived at viewinghimself as a man launched by his own strong will on a necessary errand, and carrying it through against inclination, for the sake of a friend. 

"I hope it won't be a blow to him, whichever way it turns out, " was thethought in Cai's mind as he knocked on the front door. 

Dinah answered his knock: and, as she opened, Dinah could not repress asmall start, which she hid, almost on the instant, under a demure smileof welcome. 

"Captain Hocken? . . . Oh, yes! the mistress was within at this momentand entertaining a visitor. . . . Oh, indeed, no! there was no reason atall"--she turned, quick about, and he found himself following her andfound himself, before he could protest, at the parlour door, which sheflung open, announcing--

"Captain Hocken to see you, ma'am!"

Mrs Bosenna, seated at the head of her polished mahogany table andengaged upon a game of "spillikins"--which is a solitary trial ofskill, and consists in lifting, one by one, with a delicate ivory hook amass of small ivory pieces tangled as intricately as the bones in akingfisher's nest--showed no more than a pretty surprise at theintrusion. She had, in fact, seen Captain Hocken pass the window somemoments before; and it had not caused her to joggle the tiny ivory hookfor a moment or to miss a moment's precision. What native quickness didfor her, native stolidity did almost as well for Captain Hunken, who satin an arm-chair by the fireplace smoking and watching her--and had beensitting and watching her for a good half an hour admiringly, withoutconverse. "Spillikins" is a game during which, though it enjoinssilence on the looker-on, a real expert can playfully challenge a remarkor tolerate one, now and again. Also, you can make astonishing playwith it if you happen to possess a pretty wrist and hand. 

I throw in this explanation of "spillikins" to fill up a somewhat longand painful pause during which Cai and 'Bias without speech slowlyquestioned one another. Neither heeded the pretty tactful clatter withwhich Mrs Bosenna, after sweeping her ivory toys in a heap and startingup with a little cry of pleasure, held out her hand to the intruder. Cai took it as one in a dream. His eyes were fixed on 'Bias, as 'Bias, who had withdrawn the pipe from his mouth and replaced it, withdrew itagain, and asked--

"Well, an' what brings _you_ here?"

For a moment Cai seemed to be chewing down a cud in his throat. He ought to have been quicker, he felt. It is always a mistake to letyour adversary (Good Lord! had it come to this?) set up aninterrogatory. 

"I might ask you the same question, " he responded. 

"But you didn', " said 'Bias solidly, crossing his legs and reaching fora box of matches from the shelf to relight his pipe. "Well?"

"Well, if you must know, I've called to consult Mrs Bosenna on a privatematter of business. "

This was a neat enough hint; yet strange to say it missed fire. 'Bias sucked at his pipe without budging, and answered--

"Same here. "

"Please be seated, Captain Hocken, " said Mrs Bosenna, covering inwardmerriment with the demurest of smiles. "You shall tell me your businesslater on--that's to say, if there's no pressing hurry about it?"

"There's no _pressin_ hurry, " admitted Cai. "It's important, though, ina way--important to _me_; and any ways more important than smokin' apipe an' watchin' you play parlour games. "

"That, " said 'Bias sententiously, withdrawing his pipe from his lips, "isn' business, but pleasure. "

"You may not believe it, Captain Hocken, " protested Mrs Bosenna, "but 'spillikins' helps me to fix my thoughts. And you ought to feelflattered, really you ought--"

She laughed now, and archly--"Because, as a fact, I was fixing them onyou at the very moment Dinah showed you in!" She threw him a look whichmight mean little or much. Cai took it to mean much. 

"Ma'am, --" he began, but she had turned and was appealing to 'Bias. 

"Captain Hunken and I were at that moment agreeing that a man of yourabilities--a native of Troy, too--and, so to speak, at the height of hispowers--ought not to be rusting or allowed to rust in a little placewhere so much wants to be done. For my part, "--her eyes stillinterrogated 'Bias, --"I could never live with a man, and look up to him, unless he put his heart into some work, be it farming, or publicaffairs, or what else you like. I put that as an illustration, ofcourse: just to show you how it appeals to us women; and we _do_ make uphalf the world, however much you bachelor gentlemen may pretend todespise us. "

"That settles poor old 'Bias, anyhow, " thought Cai, and at the samemoment was conscious of a returning gush of affection for his oldfriend, and of some self-reproach mingling in the warm flow. 

"Why, as for that, ma'am, " said he, "though you put it a deal tookindly--'twas about something o' that natur' I came to consult you. "

"School Board?" suggested 'Bias. 

"That's right. I knew Rogers had dropped a hint to you about it: but o'course, seein' you here, I never guessed--"

Mrs Bosenna clapped her hands together. "And on that hint away comesCaptain Hunken to ask my advice: knowing that I should be interestedtoo. Ah, if only we women understood friendship as men do! . . . But you come and consult us, you see. . . . And now you must both stopfor dinner and talk it over. "

CHAPTER XII. 

_AMANTIUM IRAE_. 

"What I feel about it, " said Cai modestly at dinner, "is that I mightn'tbe equal to the position, not havin' studied education. "

"Education!" echoed Mrs Bosenna in a high tone of contempt and with ahalf vicious dig of her carving-fork into the breast of a goose thatDinah had browned to a turn. (Both Cai and 'Bias had offered to carvefor her, but she had declined their services, being anxious to provokeno further jealousy. Also be it said that the operation lends itself, even better than does the game of spillikins, to a pretty display ofhands and wrists). "Education! You know enough, I hope, to tell theBoard to get rid of their latest craze. You'll hardly believe it, " shewent on, turning to 'Bias, "but I happened to pass the Girls' School theother day, and if there wasn't a piano going!--yes, actually a piano!When you come to think that the parents of some of those children don'tearn sixteen shillings a-week!"

"Mons'rous, " 'Bias agreed. 

"But I don't understand, ma'am, " said Cai, "that the children themselvesplay the piano. I made inquiries about that, it being a new thing sincemy day: and I'm told it's for the teachers to use in singin' lessson, an' to help the children to keep time at drill an' what-not. "

"The teachers? And who are the teachers, I'd like to know?--Nastystuck-up things, if they want the children to keep time, what's toprevent their calling out 'One, two--right, left' like ordinary people?But--oh, dear me, no! We're quite above _that!_ So it's tinkle-tum, tinkle-tum, and all out of the rates. "

"But 'one, two--right, left' wouldn' carry ye far in a singin' lesson, "urged Cai. 

"And who _wants_ all this singin'? There's William Skin, my waggoner, for instance--five children, and a three-roomed cottage--all thechildren attending school, and regular, too. Pleasant life it would befor William, with all five coming home with 'The Sea, the Open Sea' intheir mouths and all about the house when he gets home from work!Leastways it would be, if he wasn't providentially deaf. "

"Is the woman deaf, too?" asked 'Bias. 

"No. She believes in Education, " said Mrs Bosenna. "She's _bound_ tobelieve in anything that takes the children off her hands five days inthe week. "

Cai puckered his brow. "But, " said he, harking back, "I made inquiries, too, who paid for the piano, and was told the teachers had collected themoney by goin' round with a subscription-list an gettin' up littleentertainments. So it doesn't come out of the rates. "

"You appear to have had your eye on this openin' for some time, "retorted Mrs Bosenna, with a faint flush of annoyance. She very muchdisliked being proved in the wrong. "And it's not very polite of you tocontradict me!"

Cai was crestfallen at once. "I didn' mean it in that light, ma'am, " hestammered; "and I only made inquiries, d'ye see? Bein' ignorant of somany things ashore. You'd be astonished how ignorant 'Bias an' me foundourselves, first-goin' off. "

"Speak for yourself, " put in 'Bias. 

"You should have come to me, " said Mrs Bosenna. "I could have told youall about Education, especially the sort that ought to be given tolabourers' children; and it's astonishin' to me the way some people willtalk on matters they know nothing about. My late husband made a studyof the question, having been fined five shillin' and costs, the yearbefore he married me, just for withdrawing a dozen children from schoolto pick his apples for him. As luck would have it, one of them fell offa tree and broke his leg, and that gave the Board an excuse to take thematter up. My husband argued it out with the Bench. 'The children likeit, ' he said, 'for it keeps 'em out of doors, and provides 'em withhealthy exercise. If Education sets a boy against climbing for apples, why then, ' says he, speaking up boldly, 'with your Worships' leave, Education must be something clean against Nature, as I always thought itwas. And the parents like it, for the coppers it brings in. And thefarmer gets his apples saved. If that's so, ' says he, 'here's atransaction that benefits everybody concerned, instead of which theBoard goes out of its way to harass me for it. ' The chairman, SirFelix, owned he was right, too. 'Bosenna, ' says he, 'I can't answer youif I would. Nothing grieves me more, sitting here, than having toadminister the law as I find it. But, as things are, I can't let youoff with less. '"

This anecdote, and the close arguments used by Mr Bosenna, plunged Caiin thought; and for the remainder of the meal he sat abstracted, joiningby fits and starts in the conversation, now and then raising his eyes toa portrait of the deceased farmer, an enlarged and highly-tintedphotograph, which gazed down on him from the opposite wall. The gazewas obstinate, brow-beating, as though it challenged Cai to find a flawin the defence: and Cai, although dimly aware of a fallacy somewhere, could not meet the challenge. He lowered his eyes again to his plate. He found himself wondering if, in any future circumstances, Mrs Bosennawould consent to hang the portrait in another apartment. . . . 

Into so deep an abstraction it cast him, indeed, that when Mrs Bosennaarose to leave them to their wine and tobacco, he scrambled to his feeta good three seconds too late. . . . 'Bias (usually lethargic in hismovements) was already at the door, holding it open for her. 

What was worse--'Bias having closed the door upon her, returned to hisseat with a slight but insufferable air of patronage, and--passed thedecanter of wine to him!

"You'll find it pretty good, " said 'Bias, dropping into his chair andheavily crossing his legs. 

Cai swallowed down a sudden tide of rage. "After you!" said he withaffected carelessness. "I've tasted it afore. "

"Well--if you _won't_--" 'Bias stretched out a slow arm, filled hisglass, and set down the decanter beside his own dessert plate. "You'll find those apples pretty good, " he went on, sipping the wine, "though not up to the Cox's Orange Pippins or the Blenheim Oranges thatcome along later. " He smacked his lips. "You'd better try this portwine. Maybe 'tis a different quality to what you tasted when here byyourself. "

"Thank 'ee, " answered Cai. "I said 'after you. '"

"Oh?" 'Bias pushed the decanter. "You weren't very tactful just now, were you?" he asked after a pause. "_Is_ it the same wine?"

"O' course it is. . . . _When_ wasn't I tactful?"

"Why, when you upped an' contradicted her like that. " 'Bias started tofill his pipe. "Women are--what's the word?--sensitive; 'specially attheir own table. "

"I _didn'_ contradict her, " maintained Cai. "Leastways--"

"There's no reason to lose your temper about it, is there? . . . You gave me that impression, an' if you didn' give her the same, I'mmistaken. "

"I'm not losin' my temper. "

"No? . . . Well, whatever you did, 'tis done, an' no use to fret. Only I want you and Mrs Bosenna to be friends--she bein' our landlady, so to speak. "

"Thank 'ee, " said Cai again, holding a match to his pipe with anagitated hand. "If you remember, I ought to know it, havin' had all theearly dealin's with her. "

"She's very well disposed to you, too, " said 'Bias. "Nothing could havebeen kinder than the way she spoke when I mentioned this School-Boardbusiness: nothing. We'd be glad, both of us, to see you fixed up inthat job. "

"I wonder you didn't think of takin' it on yourself. "

"I did, " confessed 'Bias imperturbably. 

"_You?_ . . . Well, what next?"

"I thought of it. . . . Only for a moment, though. First place, I didn'want to stand in your way; an' next, as you was sayin' just now, 'tis aticklish matter when a man starts 'pon a business he knows nothingabout. But you'll soon pick it up, bein' able to give your whole timeto it. "

"That might apply to you. "

To this 'Bias made no reply. He smoked on, pressing down the tobacco inthe bowl of his pipe. The two friends sat in a constrained silence, nowand again pushing the wine politely. 

"When you are ready?" suggested 'Bias at length--as Cai helped himselfto a final half-glassful, measuring it out with exactitude and leavingas much or may be a trifle more at the bottom of the decanter. "Ladiesdon't like to be kept waitin' too long. "

Cai swallowed the wine and stood up, swallowing down also an inwardmirth to which his anger had given way. During the last minute or twohe had been recalling many things, --his first meeting with Mrs Bosenna;his first call at Rilla; her remarks on that occasion, upon the grace ofa cultivated manner in men; some subsequent glances, intimate almost;above all, the clutch upon his protective arm. . . . He felt sorry for'Bias. Under the rosy influence of Mrs Bosenna's wine he felt genuinelysorry for 'Bias, while enjoying the humorous aspect of 'Bias's delusion. 'Bias--for whose lack of polish he had from the first made Excuse--'Biaslaying down the law on what ladies liked and disliked!

They arose heavily and strolled forth to view the livestock. It waswonderful with what ease these two retired seamen, without instruction, dropped into the farm-master's routine. So (if in other words) Dinahremarked, glancing out of the mullioned window of the kitchen as shefetched a fresh faggot for the hearth on which her mistress had alreadybegun to set out the heavy-cake and potato-cake in preparation fortea-time. 

"--the _afternoon_ habits, I mean, " explained Dinah. "Just glimpsy outo' window, mistress, an' see the pair o' men down there--along studyin'the pigs. Wouldn' know a pig's starn from his stem, I b'lieve, if th'Almighty hadn' clapped on a twiddling tail, same as they put in books toshow where a question ends. When they come to that, they're safe. . . . But from their backs, mistress--do 'ee but take a look now, do--youwouldn' guess they weren't just as knowledgeable as th' old masterhimself, as used to judge pigs for the Royal Cornwall--the poor oldangel! I can see him now, after the best part of a bottle o' sherry, strollin' out to the styes. "

"Don't, Dinah!" entreated Mrs Bosenna, stealing a glance nevertheless:which Dinah demurely noted. "It's--it's all so _recent!_"

"Ay, " agreed Dinah, and mused, standing boldly before the window, knuckles on hips. "You couldn' say now, takin' 'em separate, what it isthat puts me more in mind of th' old master. "

"Go about your work, you foolish woman. "

"I suppose, " said Dinah, withdrawing her gaze reluctantly and obeying, "there's always a _something_ about a man!"

Mrs Bosenna stood by the kitchen-table, patting up another barm-cake. She had a hand even lighter than Dinah's with flour and pastry. . . . The two captains had moved on to the gate of Home Parc, and she couldstill espy them past the edge of the window. She saw Captain Hunkendraw his hand horizontally with a slow explanatory gesture and then dropit abruptly at a right angle. 

'Bias was, in fact, at that moment expounding to Cai, point by point andin a condescending way, the right outline of a prize Devon shorthorn. Mrs Bosenna (who had taught him the little he knew) guessed as shewatched the exposition, pursing her lips. 

"A trifle o' bluffness in the entry don't matter, if you understand me, "said 'Bias, retrieving his lesson. "Aft o' that, no sheer at all; astraight line till you come to the rump, --or, as we'll say, forargyment's sake, the counter--an' then a plumb drop, plumb as aquay-punt. "

"Where did you pick up all this?" asked Cai. 

"I don't make any secret about it, " 'Bias owned. "Mrs Bosenna taughtme. Though, when you come to think it out, 'tis as straightforward assizing up a vessel. You begin by askin' yourself what the objec' inquestion--call it a cow, or call it a brigantine--was designed for. Now what's a cow _designed_ for?"

"Milk, I suppose, " hazarded Cai. 

"Very well, then, I take you at that: the squarer the cow the more sheholds. It stands to reason. "

"I don't know. " Cai made some show of obstinacy, but, it is feared, rather to test his friend than to arrive at the truth. "A round cow, --supposing there was such a thing--"

"But there isn't. It's out of the question. "

"I speak under correction, " said Cai thoughtfully; "but looking at whatcows I've seen, --end on. And anyway, you can't call a cow's uddersquare; not in any sense o' the word. "

"What beats me, I'll confess, " said 'Bias, shifting the argument, "ishow these butchers and farmers at market can cast their eye over abullock an' judge his weight to a pound or two. 'Tis a trick, Isuppose; but I'd like to know how it's worked. "

"Why?"

"If 'twas a vessel, now, an' tons burden in place o' pounds' weight, youan' me might guess pretty right. But when it comes to a bullock!"

"I don't see, " objected Cai, "how it consarns either of us. "

"You don't?" asked 'Bias with a look which, for him, was quick and keen. 

"To be sure I don't, " answered Cai. "If it happened as I wanted to buya bullock to eat, all at one time--and if so be as I found myself atmarket in search o' one, --I should be anxious about the weight. That goes without sayin'. An' the odds are I should ask thehonestest-lookin' fellow handy to give a guess for me. But with you an'me 'tis a question o' two pounds o' rump steak. I know by the look if'tis tender, and I can tell by a look at the scales if 'tis fair weight. I don't ask to be shown the whole ox. "

"I daresay you're right, " said 'Bias, apparently much 'relieved. "It'll save a lot of trouble, anyhow, if you're goin' in for publiclife. A man in public life can't afford time for details such asweighin' bullocks. But, for my part, I'm beginnin' to take an interestin agriculture. "

"And why not?" agreed Cai. "There's no prettier occupation thanfarmin', so long as a man contents himself with lookin' on an' don'tstart practising it. Actual farmin' needs capital, o' course. "

To this 'Bias made no response, but continued to stare thoughtfully atMrs Bosenna's kine. 

"After all, " pursued Cai cheerfully, "these little interests are thesalt of a leisurable man's life. I dare say, f'r instance, as Philpgets quite an amount o' fun out o' funerals, though to me it seems aqueer taste. Every man to his hobby; and yours, now, I can understand. When you've finished potterin' around the garden, weedin' an' plantin', --an', by the way, the season for plantin' isn't far off. It's abouttime we looked up those autumn catalogues we talked so much about backin the spring. "

"True, " said 'Bias. "It has slipped my mind of late. An' you notmentionin' either--"

"Somehow it had slipped mine too. . . . All that Regatta business, Isuppose. . . . And now, if I am to take up with this School Boardthere'll be more calls on my time. But there! If I turn over both thegardens to you, I reckon you won't object. 'Twill be so much the moreoccupation, --not o' course, " added Cai, "that I want to shirk doin' myshare. But, as I was sayin', when you've done your day's job at thegarden, an' taken your stroll down to the quay to pick up the evenin'gossip, what healthier wind-up can there be than to stretch your legs ona walk to one of the two-three farms in the parish, an' note how thecrops are comin' on, an' the beef an' mutton, so to speak, an' how thecows are in milk; an' maybe drop in for tea an' a chat?--here at Rilla, f'r instance, where you'll always be sure of a welcome. "

"You're sure o' that?" asked 'Bias. The words came slowly, heavilycharged with meaning. 

"Why, o' course you will! . . . 'Twas your own suggestion, mind you. 'Takin' an' interest in agriculture' was your words. I don't promise, o' course, that you'll make much of it, first along. Learnin's half thefun--"

But here Mrs Bosenna's voice called to them, and they turned togetheralmost guiltily to see her climbing the slope above the mow-hay, withspringy gait and cheeks charmingly flushed by recent caresses of thekitchen-fire. 

"If you care for it, " she greeted them, "there's just time for a strollto Higher Parc and back while Dinah lays tea. A breath of fresh airwill do me all the good in the world"--little she looked to be in needof it--"and I don't suppose either of you knows what a glorious viewyou'll get up there? All the harbour and shipping at your feet, andmiles of open Channel beyond! My poor dear Robert used to say therewasn't its equal in Cornwall. "

Cai could assure her in all innocence that he had never heard tell ofHigher Parc and its famous view; nor did it occur to him to turn andinterrogate his friend, who was flushing guiltily. 

If Mrs Bosenna saw the flush, she ignored it. She led the way to astile; clambered over it, declining their help, agile as a maid ofseventeen; and struck a footpath slanting up and across a turnip-fieldat the back of the farmstead. The climb, though not steep, wascontinuous, and the chimneys of Rilla lay some twenty or thirty feetbelow them, when they reached a second stile and, overing it, stood onthe edge of a mighty field, the extent of which could not be guessed, for it domed itself against the sky, cutting off all view of hedge orlimit beyond. 

"This is Higher Parc, " announced Mrs Bosenna. "Ten acres. "

"Oh?" exclaimed Cai with a sudden flash of memory. "And stubble!"

He glanced at 'Bias. But 'Bias, who, if he heard the innuendo, readnothing in it, was gazing up the slope as though he had never set eyeson Higher Parc before in all his life. 

They made their way up across the stubble, Mrs Bosenna picking her stepsdaintily among the sharp stalks that shone like a carpet stiff with goldagainst the level sunset. The shadows of the three walked ahead ofthem, stretching longer and longer, vanishing at length over the ridge. . . . And the view from the ridge was magnificent, as Mrs Bosenna hadpromised. The slope at their feet hid the jetties--or all save the topsof the loading-cranes: but out in midstream lay the sailing vessels andsteamships moored to the great buoys, in two separate tiers, awaitingtheir cargoes. Of the sailing vessels there were Russians, with noyards to their masts, British coasters of varying rig, Norwegians, andone solitary Dutch galliot. But the majority flew the Danish flag--yourDane is fond of flying his flag, and small blame to him!--and theseexhibited round bluff bows and square-cut counters with white orvarnished top-strakes and stern-davits of timber. To the right andseaward, the eye travelled past yet another tier, where a stumpy Swedishtramp lay cheek-by-jowl with two stately Italian barques--nowItalian-owned, but originally built in Glasgow for traffic around theHorn--and so followed the curve of the harbour out to the Channel, wheresea and sky met in a yellow flood of potable gold. To the left theriver-gorge wound inland, hiding its waters, around overlapping bluffsstudded with farmsteads and (as the eye threaded its way into details)peopled here and there with small colonies of farm-folk working hard, like so many groups of ants, --some cutting, others saving, the yellowcorn, all busy forestalling night, when no man can work. 

 Uplands, where the harvesters Pause in the swathe, shading their eyes, to watch Or barge or schooner stealing up from sea: Themselves in twilight, she a twilit ghost Parting the twilit woods. 

. . . While Cai and 'Bias stood at gaze, drinking it all in, MrsBosenna--whose senses were always quick--turned, looked behind her, anduttered a little scream. 

"Steers! . . . That Middlecoat's steers--they've broken fence again!Oh--oh! and whatever shall I do?"

Cai and 'Bias, wheeling about simultaneously, were aware of a smalltroop of horned cattle advancing towards them leisurably, breasting thegolden rays on the stubble-field, and spreading as they advanced. 

"Do, ma'am?" echoed 'Bias, taking in the situation at a glance. "Why, turn 'em back, to be sure!" He started off to meet the herd. 

"--While you run for the stile, " added Cai, preparing to follow asbravely. But Mrs Bosenna caught his arm. 

"I'm--I'm so silly, " she confessed in a tremulous whisper, "about horned beasts--when they don't belong to me. "

"Dangerous, are they?" asked Cai. He lingered, although 'Bias hadadvanced some twenty paces to meet the herd, three or four of which hadalready come to a halt, astonished at being thus interrupted in aninnocent ramble. "We'll head 'em off while you run. "

"No, no!" pleaded Mrs Bosenna; and Cai hung irresolute, for the pressureon his arm was delicious. It crossed his mind for a moment that a ladyso timid with cattle had no business to be dwelling alone at Rilla Farm. 

"It's different--with my own cows, " gasped Mrs Bosenna, as ifinterpreting and answering this thought in one breath. "I'm used tothem--but Mr Middlecoat will insist on keeping these wild beasts!--though he knows I'm a lone woman and they're not to be held by anyfences--"

"I'd like to give that Middlecoat a piece of my mind, " growled Cai, andswore. His arm by this time was about Mrs Bosenna's waist, and she wasyielding to it. But he saw 'Bias still steadily confronting the herd--saw him lift an arm, a hand grasping a hat, and wave it violently--sawthereupon the steers swing about and head back for the gate, heads down, sterns heaving and plunging. Cai swore again and reluctantly loosenedhis embrace. 

"Run, _dear!_" The word drummed in his ears as he pelted to 'Bias'srescue. 'Bias, as a matter of fact, needed neither rescue nor support. The steers after spreading and scattering before his first onset, wereconverging again in a rush back upon the open gateway. They chargedthrough it in a panic, jostling, crushing through the narrow way: and'Bias, still frantically waving his hat, had charged through it afterthem before Cai, assured now that his friend had the mastery, halted anddrew breath, holding a hand to his side. 

'Bias had disappeared. Cai heard his voice, at some little distance, still chivvying the steers down the lane beyond the gate. . . . Then, as it seemed, another voice challenged 'Bias's, and the two weremeeting in angry altercation. 

"Mr Middlecoat!" gasped a voice close behind him. Cai swung about, andto his amazement confronted Mrs Bosenna. Instead of retreating she hadfollowed up the pursuit. 

"But I told you--" he began, in a tone of indignant command. 

"You don't know Mr Middlecoat's temper. I'm afraid--if they meet--"She hurried by him, towards the gate. 

Cai took fresh breath and dashed after her. They passed the gatewayneck and neck. At a turning some fifty yards down the lane--Cai leadingnow by a stride or two--they pulled up, panting. 

'Bias, his back blocking the way, stood there confronting a youngfarmer: and the young farmer's face was red with a bull-fury. 

"You damned trespasser!"

"Trespasser?" echoed 'Bias, squaring up. "What about your damnedtrespassing cattle?"

Mrs Bosenna stepped past Cai and flung herself between the combatants. Strange to say she ignored 'Bias, and faced the enemy, to plead withhim. 

"Mr Middlecoat, how can you be so foolish? He's as good as aprize-fighter!"

The young farmer stared and lowered his guard slowly. 

"Your servant, ma'am! . . . A prize-fighter? Why couldn't he have toldme so, at first?"

CHAPTER XIII. 

FAIR CHALLENGE. 

Again the two friends traversed back the valley road in silence: butthis time they made no attempt to deceive themselves or to deceive oneanother by charging their constraint upon the atmosphere or the scenery. Each was aware that their friendship had a crisis to be overcome; eachsincerely pitied the other, with some twinge of compunction for his owngood fortune; each longed to make a clean breast--"a straight quarrel issoonest mended, " says the proverb, --and each, as they kept step on themacadam, came separately to the same decision, that the occasion must betaken that very evening, when pipes were lit after supper. The readerwill note that even yet, on the very verge of the crisis, Cai and 'Biasowned:

 "Two souls with but a single thought, Two hearts that beat as one. "

Now, in accordance with routine, supper should have been served thatevening at 'Bias's table. But Cai--on his way upstairs to titivate--perceived that the lamp was lit and the cloth spread in his own parlour;and, as he noted this with a vague surprise, encountered Mrs Bowldler. 

"Which, if it is agreeable, we are at home to Captain Hunken thisevening, " Mrs Bowldler began, in a panting hurry, and continued with acatch of the breath, "Which if you see it in a different light, I mustrequest of you, sir, to allow Palmerston to carry down my box, and youmay search it if you wish. "

"Oh! Conf--" began Cai in his turn, and checked himself. "I beg yourpardon, ma'am; but it really does seem as if I never reach home nowadayswithout you meet me at the foot of the stairs, givin' notice. What's wrong this time?"

"If you drive me to it, sir, " said Mrs Bowldler in an aggrieved tone, "it's Captain Hunken's parrot. "

"Captain Hunken's parrot?" echoed Cai, genuinely surprised; for, in hisexperience, this bird was remarkable, if at all, for an obese lethargy. It could talk, to be sure. Now and again it would ejaculate"Scratch Polly, " or "Polly wants a kiss, " in a perfunctory way; but onthe whole he had never known a more comfortable or a less loquaciousbird. 

"He--he made a communication to me this afternoon, " said Mrs Bowldlerdelicately; "or, as you might prefer to put it, he passed a remark. "

"What was it?"

Mrs Bowldler cast a glance behind her at the gas jet. "I reallycouldn't, sir! Not even if you were to put out the light; and as agentleman you won't press it. "

"Certainly not, " Cai assured her. He mused. "It's odd now; but I'vealways regarded that parrot as rather a dull bird: though of course I'venever hinted that to 'Bias--to Captain Hunken. "

"He wasn't dull this afternoon, " asseverated Mrs Bowldler. "Oh, not byany manner of means!"

"Has he ever--er--annoyed you in this way before?"

"Never, sir. "

"Has the boy ever heard him use--er--this kind o' language?"

"Which if you understand me, sir, " explained Mrs Bowldler still moredelicately, "the remark in question would not apply to a male party: notby any stretch. You may answer me, sir, that--the feathered tribes notbeing Christians--they don't calculate who's listening, but behave asthe spirit moves them, like Quakers. To which I answer _you_, sir, thatmakes it all the worse. As it transpired, Palmerston was at the momentbrushing down these very stairs, here, in the adjoining: which somemight call it luck and others again Providence. But put it we'dhappened to be cleaning out the room together, I must have sunk throughthe floor, and what would have happened to the boy's morals I leave youto guess. "

Cai had to allow the cogency of this. 

"As a matter of fact, sir, " Mrs Bowldler continued, "I soundedPalmerston later. He declares to me he has never heard the creature useany bad language; and I believe him, for he went on to say that if he_had_, he'd have mentioned it to me. But you see my position, sir?It might even have happened with you two single gentlemen in the room. . . . Stay another twenty-four hours in the house I will not, with thechance of it staring me in the face. "

Cai rubbed his chin. "I see, " said he after a moment. "Well, it'sawkward, but I'll speak to Captain Hunken. "

He did so, almost as soon as he and 'Bias had gloomily finished theirsupper--a repast which largely consisted of odds-and-ends (the _debree_, in Mrs Bowldler's language) of yester-night's banquet. Each, as he ate, unconsciously compared it--such is our frail humanity--less with thegood cheer of which it should have been a reminder than with the freshabundance of Mrs Bosenna's larder. A bachelor table and bachelor habitsare all very well--until you have tasted the other thing. 

To talk of the parrot, for which 'Bias had an inexplicable affection, might be awkward, as Cai had promised. But it was less ticklish anyhowthan to broach the subject uppermost in the minds of both; and Caiopened on it with a sense of respite, if not of relief. 

"By the way, " said he, lighting his pipe and crossing his legs, "I had achat with Mrs Bowldler before supper. She came to me complainin'about"--(puff)--"about your parrot. It seems she has taken a dislike tothe bird. "

"Finds his talk monotonous?" suggested 'Bias after a pause, during whichhe, too, puffed. Strange to say, he showed no vexation. His tone wascomplacent even. 

"I wouldn' say that azackly. . . . "

"I'll admit 'tis monotonous, " 'Bias went on, between puffs. "Call itnothing at all if you like: I don't take no truck in birds'-talk, for mypart--don't mind how same it is. If that's the woman's complaint, shewas free to teach it new words any time. "

"But it isn't. "

"Then I don't see what grievance she can have, " said 'Bias with entirecomposure. "The bird's shapely and well-grown beyond the usual. . . . Perhaps her objection is to parrots in general--eh?" 'Bias withdrew thepipe-stem from his lips and stared hardily along it. "There's no needto trouble, anyway, " he added, "for, as it happens, I'm givin' the birdaway. "

"Eh?" The interrogation sounded like a faint echo. 

"To-morrow. To Mrs Bosenna. Why shouldn't I?"

Cai felt his body stiffen as he sat. For the moment he made no answer:then--

"Well, 'tis your affair--in a sense, " he said; "but I shouldn't, if Iwas you. "

"I promised it to her this very day. She was confidin' to me that shefinds it lonely up at Rilla, and I don't wonder. "

"She've confided the same thing to me several times, off and on, " saidCai. 

"Ah?" . . . 'Bias was unmoved. "Then maybe it'll help ye to guess howthe land lies. "

"It do, more or less, " Cai agreed: and then, as a bright thought struckhim. "Why shouldn't we lend her the musical box? It's--it's morereliable, any way. "

"'Twouldn't be much account as a pet, would it?" retorted 'Bias. "Now look here, Cai!" he swung about in his chair, and for the firsttime since the conversation started the pair looked one another straightin the eyes. "You an' me'd best come to an understandin' and get itover. I don't mind tellin' you, as man to man, that I've been thinkin'things out; and the upshot is--I don't say 'tis certain, but 'tisprobable--that in the near futur' I shall be spendin' a heap o' my timeat Rilla. "

"You'll be welcome. I can almost answer for it, " Cai assured himheartily. 

"You've noticed it, eh? . . . Well, that saves a lot o' trouble. "With a grunt of relief 'Bias turned his gaze again upon the empty grateand sat smoking for a while. "I'd a sort o' fear it might come on yesudden . . . Eh? What's the matter?" He turned about again, for Caihad emitted an audible groan. 

"I'm sorry for ye, 'Bias--you can't think--"

"Oh, you can stow that bachelor chaff, " interrupted 'Bias with entirecheerfulness. "I used to feel that way myself, or pretend to. It's different when a man _knows_. "

"I can't let ye go on like this!" Cai groaned again. "Stop it, 'Bias--do!"

"Stop it?" 'Bias stared. He was plainly amazed. 

"I mean, stop talkin' about it! I do, indeed. "

Still 'Bias stared. Of a sudden a partial light broke in upon him. "Good Lord!" he muttered. He arose, knocked the ashes from his pipe, laid it carefully on the chimney-shelf, slid his hands under hiscoat-tails, and very solemnly faced about. 

"I'd an inklin' o' this, once or twice, and I don't mind confessin' it, "said he, looking down with a compassionate air which Cai foundinsupportable. "Tho' 'twas no more than an inklin', and I put it aside, seein' as how no man with eyes could mistake the one she favoured. "

"Meanin' me, o' course, " interjected Cai, jabbing the tobacco down inhis pipe. 

"_You?_" 'Bias opened his eyes wide: then he smiled an indulgent smile. "Ho--you must excuse me--but if that isn' too rich!"

"You needn't start grinnin' like that, or you may end by grinnin' on thewrong side of your face. " Cai, instead of pitying his friend'sinfatuation, was fast losing his temper. "What'd you say if I told youI had proofs?"

"I'd say you was a plumb liar, " answered 'Bias with equal promptness, candour, and aplomb. "Proofs? _What_ proofs?"

Cai hesitated a moment. . . . After all, what proof had he to cite?A gentle pressure of the arm, for example, is not producible evidence. "Never you mind, " said he sullenly. "You'll have proof enough when thetime comes. "

'Bias received this with a dry smile. "I thought as much. You haven'tany, my sonny--not so much as would cover a threepenny-bit. "

"You have, I suppose?" sneered Cai. 

"Heaps. "

"Very well; let's have a sample. . . . You won't find it on themantelpiece, " for 'Bias had turned about and was picking up his pipeagain with great deliberation. 

"I've no wish to hurt your feelin's undooly, " said he, eyeing the bowlfor a moment and tapping out the ashes into his palm. 

"Don't mind _me!_"

"But I _do_ mind ye. . . . See here now, Cai, " he resumed after a shortpause, "we've known one another--let me see--how long?"

"Seventeen years, come the twenty-first of November next, " quicklyresponded Cai, fumbling at the tobacco-jar. "In Rotterdam, if you'llremember--our vessels lyin' alongside. 'Hullo!' says you. "

"Far as I remember, you asked me aboard. "

"Yes. 'Hullo!' says you; 'that's a pretty-lookin' craft o' your'n. ''She'll work in' an' out o' most places, ' says I. 'Speedy too, Ireckon, ' says you, 'for a hard-wood ship; though a bit fine forra'd. A wet boat, I doubt?' 'Not a bit, ' says I; 'that's a mistake strangersare apt to make about the _Hannah Hoo_. Like to step aboard an' cast alook over her fittin's? I can show ye something in the way of teakpanels, ' says I: and you came. That's how it began, " wound up Cai, staring hard at the tobacco-jar, for--to tell the truth--a faint mistobscured his vision. 

'Bias, too, was staring hard, down upon the hearth-rug between his feet. 

"Ay; an' from that day to this never a question atween us we couldn'settle by the toss of a coin. " He continued to stare down gloomily. "Tossin' won't help us, not in this case, " he added. 

"It wouldn't be respectful. "

"It wouldn't be fair, neither. . . . You may talk as you please, Cai, but the widow favours me. "

"I asked ye for proofs just now, if you remember. "

"So you did. And if you remember I asked you for the same, not twominutes afore. We can't give 'em, neither of us: and, if we could, why--as you said a moment since--'twouldn't be respectful. Let's playfair then, damn it!"

"Certainly, " agreed Cai, striking a match and holding it to his pipe. (But his hand shook. ) "That's if you'll suggest how. "

'Bias mused for a space. "Very well, " said he at length; "then I'llsuggest that we both sit down and write her a letter; post the letterstogether, and let the best man win. "

"Couldn't be fairer, " agreed Cai, after a moment's reflection. 

"When I said the best man, " 'Bias corrected himself, "I meant no morethan to say the man she fancies. No reflection intended on you. "

"Nor on yourself, maybe?" hinted Cai, with a last faint touch ofexasperation. It faded, and--on an impulse of generosity following on abright inspiration which had on the instant occurred to him--he suggested, "If you like, we'll show one another the letters before wepost 'em?"

"That's as you choose, " answered 'Bias. "Or afterwards, if you like--I shall keep a rough copy. "

Now this was said with suspicious alacrity: for Cai was admittedly thebetter scholar and, as a rule, revised 'Bias's infrequent businessletters and corrected their faults of spelling. But--dazzled as he wasby his own sudden and brilliant idea--no suspicion occurred to him. 

"It's a bargain, then?"

"It's a bargain. "

They did not shake hands upon it. Their friendship had always beensincere enough to dispense with all formalities of friendship; theywould not have shaken hands on meeting (say) after a twenty years'separation. They looked one another in the eyes, just for an instant, and they both nodded. 

"Cribbage to-night?" asked 'Bias. 

"If 'tisn't too late, " answered Cai. 

He pulled out his watch, whilst 'Bias turned about to the mantel-shelfand the clock his bulk had been hiding. 

"Nine-thirty, " announced Cai. 

"Almost to a tick, " agreed 'Bias. "'Stonishing what good time we'vekept ever since we set this clock. "

"'Stonishing, " Cai assented. 

They played two games of cribbage and retired to bed. As he undressedCai remembered his omission to warn 'Bias explicitly of what--accordingto Mrs Bowldler--the parrot was capable. The warning had been once ortwice on the tip of his tongue during the early part of theconversation: but always (as he remembered) he had been interrupted. 

"I'll warn him after breakfast to-morrow, " said Cai to himselfmagnanimously, as he arose from his prayers. "Poor old 'Bias--what agood fellow it is, after all!"

He slept soundly, and was awakened next morning by Palmerston with theinformation, "Breakfast in the adjoining to-day, sir!"--this and"We are at home for breakfast" being the alternative formulae inventedby Mrs Bowldler. 

"And Captain Hunken requests of you not to wait, " added Palmerston, again repeating what Mrs Bowldler had imparted. 

"Is he lying late to-day?" asked Cai. 

"He have a-gone out for an early ramble, " answered Palmerston stolidly. 

"Ah! to clear his brain--poor old 'Bias!" said Cai to himself, andthought no more about it. Nor did it occur to his mind that, overnight, Mrs Bowldler had point-blank refused to lay another meal in the roominhabited by the parrot, until, descending to 'Bias's parlour andbecoming aware, as he lifted the teapot, that the room was brighter andsunnier than usual, he cast a glance toward the window. The parrot-cageno longer darkened it. Parrot and cage, in fact, were gone. 

He turned sternly upon Mrs Bowldler. But Mrs Bowldler, setting down adish of poached eggs, had noted his glance and anticipated his question. 

"Which, " said she, "I am obliged to you, sir, and prompter CaptainHunken could not have behaved. A nod, as they say, is as good as a winkto a blind horse; but Captain Hunken, being neither blind nor a horse, and anything so vulgar as winking out of the question, it may notaltogether apply, though the result is the same. "

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE LETTERS. 

Having breakfasted, read his newspaper, and smoked his pipe (and stillno sign of the missing 'Bias), Cai brushed his hat and set forth to paya call on Mr Peter Benny. 

This Mr Peter Benny--father of Mr Shake Benny, whose acquaintance wehave already made--was a white-haired little man who had known manycares in life, but had preserved through them all a passionate devotionto literature and an entirely simple heart: and these two had made liferomantic for him, albeit his cares had been the very ordinary ones of apoor clerk with a long family of boys and girls, all of whom--his wifeaiding--he had brought up to fear the Lord and seen fairly started inlife. Towards the close of the struggle Fortune had chosen to smile, rewarding him with the stewardship of Damelioc, an estate lying besidethe river some miles above Troy. This was a fine exchange against abeggarly clerkship, even for a man so honest as Peter Benny. But he didnot hold it long. On the death of his wife, which happened in the fifthyear of their prosperity, he had chosen to retire on a small pension, toinhabit again (but alone) the waterside cottage which in old days thechildren had filled to overflowing, and to potter at literarycomposition in the wooden outhouse where he had been used, after officehours, to eke out his 52 pounds salary by composing letters for seamen. 

He retained his methodical habits, and Cai found him already at work inthe outhouse, and thoroughly enjoying a task which might have dauntedone of less boyish confidence. He was, in fact, recasting the 'Fasti'of Ovid into English verse, using for that purpose a spirited, ifliteral, prose translation (published by Mr Bohn) in default of theoriginal, from which his ignorance of the Latin language precluded him. For a taste:--

 "What sea, what land, knows not Arion's fame! The rivers by his song were turned as stiff as glass: The hungry wolf stood still, the lamb did much the same-- Pursuing and pursued, producing an _impasse_--"

But while delighting in this labour, Mr Benny was at any time ready, nayeager, for a chat. At Cai's entrance he pushed up his spectacles andbeamed. 

"Ah, good morning, Captain Hocken!--Good morning! I take this as reallyfriendly. . . . You find me wooing the Muses as usual; up and early. Some authors, sir, --not that I dare claim that title, --have found theirbest inspirations by the midnight oil, even in the small hours. Edgar Allan Poe--an irregular genius--you are acquainted with his'Raven, ' sir?--"

"His what?"

"His 'Raven'; a poem about a bird that perched itself upon a bust andkept saying 'Nevermore, ' like a parrot. "

Cai winced. "On a bust, did you say? Whose bust?"

"A bust of Pallas, sir, in the alleged possession of Mr Poe himself:Pallas being otherwise Minerva, the goddess of Wisdom, usuallyrepresented with an Owl. "

"I don't know much about birds, " confessed Cai, reduced to helplessnessby this erudition. "And I don't know anything about poetry, more's thepity--having been caught young and apprenticed to the sea. "

"And nothing to be ashamed of in that, Captain Hocken!"

 'The sea, the sea, the open sea-- The blue, the fresh, the ever free. '

"I daresay you've often felt like that about it, as did the late BarryCornwall, otherwise Bryan Waller Procter, whose daughter, the giftedAdelaide Anne Procter, prior to her premature decease, composed'The Lost Chord, ' everywhere so popular as a cornet solo. It is one ofthe curiosities of literature, " went on Mr Benny confidentially, "thatthe author of that breezy (not to say briny) outburst could not evencross from Dover to Calais without being prostrated by _mal de mer_;insomuch that his good lady (who happened, by the way, to survive himfor a number of years, and, in fact, died quite recently), being of asatirical humour, and herself immune from that distressing complaint, used--as I once read in a magazine article--to walk up and down the deckbefore him on these occasions, mischievously quoting his own verses, --"

 'I'm on the sea, I'm on the sea! I am where I would ever be: I love (O, _how_ I love!) to ride On the fierce, foaming, bursting tide, '

"_et coetera_. You'll excuse my rattling on in this fashion. So fewpeople in Troy take an interest in literature: and it has so manyby-ways!"

"I'm afraid, " confessed Cai, more and more bewildered, "that myeducation was pretty badly neglected, 'specially in literature, thoughfor some reason or another I'm not bad at spellin'. But, puttin'spellin' aside, that's just why I've come to you. I want you to help mewith a letter, if you will. "

"Why, of course I will, " instantly responded Mr Benny, pushing histranslations of the 'Fasti' aside and producing from a drawer somesheets of fresh paper. 

"As a matter of business, you understand?"

"If you insist; though it will be a pleasure, Captain Hocken, I assureyou. "

"It's--it's a bit difficult, " stammered Cai gratefully. "In fact, it'snot an ordinary sort of letter at all. "

Mr Benny, patting his paper into a neat pad, smiled professionally. The letter might not be an ordinary sort of letter; but he had in olddays listened some hundreds of times to this exordium. 

"It's--well, it's a proposal of marriage, " said Cai desperately; and indespite of himself he started as he uttered the word. 

Mr Benny, having patted up the pad to his satisfaction, answered with anod only, and dipped his pen in the inkpot. 

"I don't think you heard me, " ventured Cai. "It's a proposal ofmarriage. "

"Fire away!" said Mr Benny. "Just dictate, of give me the mainbearings, and I'll fix it up. "

"But look here--it's a proposal of marriage, I tell you!"

"I've written scores and scores. . . . For yourself, is it?"

This simple and indeed apparently necessary question hit Cai betweenwind and water. 

"I want it written in the first person, of course--if that's what youmean?"

Again Mr Benny nodded, "I see, " said he. "You're here on behalf of afriend, who is too bashful to come on his own account. "

"You may put it at that, " agreed Cai, greatly relieved. "I told you thecase was a bit out o' the common!"

Mr Benny's smile was still strictly professional. "It's not outside ofmy experience, sir; so far, at any rate. May I take your friend to beof your own age, more or less?"

Cai nodded. "You're pretty quick at guessin', I must say. "

"A trifle rusty, I fear, for want of practice. . . . But it will comeback. . . Now for the lady. Spinster or widow?"

"Does that matter?"

"It helps, in a letter. "

"We'll put it, then, as she's a widow. "

"Age? . . . There, there! I'm not asking you to be definite, of course:but to give me a little general guidance. For instance, would she beabout your friend's age? Or younger, shall we say?"

"Younger. "

"Considerably?"

"I don't see as you need lay stress on that. "

"You may be sure I shall not, " said Mr Benny, jotting down "Younger, considerably" on his writing pad. "Moreover we can tone down or removeanything that strikes you as unhappily worded in our first draft. Trade, profession, or occupation, if any?" Seeing that Cai hesitated, "The more candid your friend is, between these four walls, " added MrBenny, extracting a hair from his pen, "the more persuasive we arelikely to be. "

"You may set down that she keeps a farm. "

"Independent means?"

"Well, yes, as it happens. Not that--"

"To be sure--to be sure! When the affections are engaged, that doesn'tweigh. Not, at any rate, with your friend. Still it may influence whatI will call, Captain Hocken, the style of the approach. Style, sir, hasbeen defined by my brother, Mr Joshua Benny--You may have heard of him, by the way, as being prominently connected with the London press. . . . No? A man of remarkable talent, though _I_ say it. They tell me thatfor lightness of touch in a Descriptive Middle, it would be hard to findhis match in Fleet Street. . . . As I was saying, sir, my brother Joshuahas defined style as the art of speaking or writing with propriety, whatever the subject. By propriety, sir, he means what is ordinarilytermed appropriateness. Impropriety, in the sense of indelicacy, is outof the question in--a--a communication of this kind. Strictappropriateness, on the other hand, is not always easy to capture. May I take it that your friend has--er--enjoyed a seafaring past?"

Cai gazed blankly at him for a short while, and broke into a simplehearty laugh. 

"Why, of course, " said he, "you're thinking of my friend 'Bias Hunken!I almost took ye for a conjuror, first-along--upon my word I did!But once I get the drift o' your cunning, 'tis easy as easy. "He gazed at Mr Benny and winked knowingly. 

"You may tell me, if you please, " replied Mr Benny, himself somewhatmystified, but playing for safety. "You may tell me, of course, that'tis not Captain Hunken but another man altogether: as different fromCaptain Hunken as you might be, for instance. "

Cai started. He was not good at duplicity, but managed to parry thesuggestion. "We'll suppose it _is_ my friend, 'Bias, " said he; "though'Bias would be amused if he heard it. "

"Very well--very well indeed!" Mr Benny laid down his pen, rubbed hishands softly, and picked up the pen again. "Now we can get to work. . . . '_Honoured Madam_'--Shall we begin with 'Honoured Madam'?Or would you prefer something a trifle more--er--impassioned?Perhaps we had better open--er--warily--if I may advise, and (so tospeak) warm to our subject. . . . There is an art, Captain Hocken, evenin composing and inditing a proposal of marriage. . . . 'HonouredMadam--You will doubtless be surprised by the purport of this letter--'Will she be surprised, by the way?"

"Cert'nly, " Cai answered. "We agreed this is from 'Bias, remember. "

"Yes, yes. . . . She will like it to be supposed that she's surprised, any way. All ladies do. '_--as by the communication I find myselfimpelled to make to you. _' I word it thus to suggest that you--thatCaptain Hunken, rather--cannot help himself: that the lady has made, inthe most literal sense, a conquest. A feeling of triumph, sir, is inthe female breast, whether of maiden or widow, inseparably connectedwith the receipt of such a communication. Without asking CaptainHunken's leave--eh?--we will flatter that feeling a little--and portrayhim as the victim of this particular lady's bow and spear. A figurativeexpression. "

"Oh!" said Cai, who had begun to stare. "Well, go on. "

"'_Surprised, I say; yet not (I hope) affronted; in any event notunwilling to pardon, recognising that these words flow from the dictatesof an emotion which, while in itself honourable, is in another sensenotoriously no respecter of persons. Love, Honoured Madam, has itsvotaries as well as its victims. I have never accounted myself, norhave I been accounted, in the former category_--'"

"What's a category?" asked Cai. 

Mr Benny scratched out the word. "We will substitute 'case, '" saidhe, "and save Captain Hunken the trouble of an explanation. '_I am nolonger--you will have detected it, so why should I pretend?--in thefirst flush of youth: no passionate boy_'--We are talking of CaptainHunken, remember. "

Cai nodded. "It's true as gospel, Mr Benny. But you have a wonderfulway o' putting things. "

In this way--Mr Benny scribbling, erasing, purring over a phrase andanon declaiming it--Cai venturing a question here and there, but alwaysapologetically, with a sense of being carried off his feet and sweptinto deep waters--in half an hour the letter was composed. It was notat all the letter Cai had expected. It threw up his suit into a highromantic light in which he scarcely recognised it or himself. But hefelt it to be extremely effective. His conscience pricked him a little, as in imagination he saw 'Bias with head aslant and elbows sprawling, inking himself to the wrists in literary effort. Poor 'Bias!But "all's fair in love and war. "

To his mild astonishment Mr Benny declined a fee. "If, sir, you will begood enough to accept it, as between friends?" the little man suggestedtimidly. "You have helped me to pass a very pleasant morning: and itwill be--shall I say?--something of a bond between us if, in the event, our joint composition should prove to have been instrumental inforwarding--er--Captain Hunken's suit. "

Cai hesitated. At that moment he would have preferred conferring abenefit to receiving one. His conscience wanted a small salve. Yet to refuse would hurt Mr Benny's feelings. 

"I'll tell you what!" he suggested: "We'll throw it in with anotherfavour I meant to ask of you, and for which you shall name your terms. It has been suggested--by several, so there's no need to mention names--that I ought to go in for public life, in a small way, of course. "

"Indeed, Captain Hocken?" Mr Benny smiled to himself; he began tounderstand, or thought that he did. "A very laudable ambition, too!"

"The mischief is, " confessed Cai, "that I have had no practice inspeakin'. I couldn't, as they say, make a public speech for nuts. "

"It is an art, Captain Hocken, " said Mr Benny reassuringly, "and can beacquired. An ambition to acquire it sir, --though in your mind youviewed it but as a means to an end, --would in my humble view be anambition even more laudable than that of shining on the administrativeside of public life. For it is not only an art, sir, and a great one. It is well-nigh a lost art. Where, nowadays, are your Burkes, yourFoxes, your Sheridans--not to mention your Demostheneses?"

"You'll understand, " hesitated Cai, "that nothing beyond the SchoolBoard is in question at present. I mention this strictly betweenourselves. "

Mr Benny swung about upon his stool. "Listen to this, Captain Hocken--'Observe, sir, that, besides the desire which all men have naturally ofsupporting the honour of their own government, that sense of dignity andthat security to property which ever attends freedom, has'--or, as Ishould prefer to say, _have_--'a tendency to increase the stock of thefree community. Much may be taken where most is accumulated. And whatis the soil or climate where experience has not uniformly proved thatthe voluntary flow of heaped-up plenty, bursting from the weight ofheaped-up luxuriance, has ever run with a more copious stream ofrevenue, than could be squeezed from the dry husks of oppressedindigence by the straining of all the machinery in the world?'That is Burke, sir--Burke: who, by the fribbles of his own day, waslightly termed the dinner-bell of the House of Commons, yet compelledthe attention of all serious political thinkers--"

 'Th' applause of listening Senates to command. '

"I divine your ambition. Captain Hocken, and I honour it, "

"So long as you don't mistake me, " urged Cai nervously. "It don't gobeyond a seat on the School Board at present. . . . But there was a hintdropped that you used, back-along, to give lessons in--I forget theword. "

"Elocution, " Mr Benny supplied it. "A guinea the course of six lessonswas my old charge. Shall we say to-morrow, at eleven sharp?"

"So be it, " Cai agreed. "The sooner the better--I've to catch up thelee-way of three-quarters of a lifetime. "

When Cai had folded the draft of his letter, bestowed it in hisbreast-pocket, and taken his departure, Mr Benny drew out his watch. It yet wanted a full hour of dinner-time. He rearranged the papers onhis desk and resumed work upon the 'Fasti':--

 "The hound beside the hare held consort in the shade, The hind, the lioness, upon the self-same rock, The too loquacious crow--"

Here some one knocked at the door. 

"Come in!" called Mr Benny. 

The door opened. The visitor was Captain Hunken. 

"Good mornin'. "

"Ah! Good morning, sir!"

"Busy?"

"Dallying, sir, --dallying with the Muses. That is all my businessnowadays. "

"I looked in, " said 'Bias, laying down his hat, "to ask if you would dome a small favour. "

"You may be sure of it, Captain Hunken: that is, if it should lie in mypower. "

'Bias nodded, somewhat mysteriously. "You bet it does: though, as onemight say, it don't lie azackly inside the common. I want a letterwritten. "

"Yes?"

"It ain't, as you might put it, an ordinary letter either. It's, --well, in fact, it's a proposal of marriage!"

Mr Benny rubbed the back of his head gently. "I have written quite anumber in my time, Captain Hunken. . . . Is it--if I may put itdelicately--in the first person, sir?"

"She's the first person--" began 'Bias, and came to a halt. "Does thatmatter, " he asked, "so long as I describe the parties pretty accurate?"

"Not a bit, " Mr Benny assured him. "A friend, shall we say?"

"That's right, " 'Bias nodded solemnly. 

"And the lady?--spinster or widow?"

"Widow. "

"Oh!"

"Eh?"

"Nothing. . . . I was considering. One has to collect a few data, youunderstand, --in strict confidence, of course. . . . Trade, profession, or occupation?"

"Whose?"

"Well, your friend's, to start with. "

"Is that necessary?"

"It will help us to be persuasive. " Seeing that 'Bias still hesitated, Mr Benny went on. "May I take it, for instance, that one may credithim, as a friend of yours, with a seafaring past?"

"I do believe, " responded 'Bias with a slow smile after regarding MrBenny for some seconds, "as you're thinkin' of Cai Hocken?"

Mr Benny laughed. "And yet it would not be so tremendous a guess, --hey?--seeing what friends you two are. "

"It won't do no harm, " allowed 'Bias after pondering a while, "if youtook it to be Cai Hocken; though, mind you, I don't say as you'reright. "

"That's understood. . . . Now for the lady's occupation?"

"Well . . . You might make it farmin'--for the sake of argument. "

"Now I wonder, " thought Mr Benny to himself, "_which_ of these two islying. " Aloud he began, setting pen to paper and repeating as he wrote, "'_Honoured Madam, _'--you don't think that too cold?"

"Why, are you able to start already?" exclaimed 'Bias in unfeignedamazement. 

"I like to catch an inspiration as it springs to my brain, " Mr Bennyassured him. "We'll correct as we go on. "

CHAPTER XV. 

PALMERSTON'S GENIUS. 

"You're welcome as blossom, my dear, " said Mrs Bowldler to Fancy Tabb, who had dropped in, as she put it, for a look around. The child wasallowed a couple of hours off duty in the afternoon to take a walk andblow away the cobwebs of the Chandler's gloomy house: her poorshop-drudge of a father having found courage to wring this concessionfrom Mr Rogers for her health's sake. "You're welcome as blossom, butyou must work for your welcome. Come and help me to cutbread-and-butter. . . . Palmerston! You bring the kettle and pour alittle water into the teapots, just to get 'em heated. "

"Company, is it?" asked Fancy, laying aside her cloak. 

"Company?" Mrs Bowldler sniffed. "We've had enough of company to lastus this side of the grave. Ho, I trust the name of company will not bebreathed in _my_ hearing for some time to come!"

"What is it, then?"

"Freaks, I hope; maggots, as my poor dear tender mother used to say; andall casting double work on the establishment. We must dine separate, all of a sudden; and now we must have our tea served separate; and fromdinner to tea-time sitting in writing, the pair of us, till I wonder ithaven't brought on a rush of blood to our poor heads. "

"Writing?" echoed Fancy. She desisted from spreading the butter andeyed Mrs Bowldler doubtfully, pursing up her lips. "I don't like thelook of that. What are they writing, do you suppose?"

"It don't become me to guess, " answered Mrs Bowldler. "Belike they'remaking their wills and leaving one another the whole of their property. "

"I hope not. They'd make a dreadful mess of it without a lawyer tohelp. "

"They're making a dreadful mess on the tablecloth--or, as I _should_say, on the tablecloths, respectively, as the case may be. Blots. There's one or two you couldn't cover with a threepenny bit. Captain Hunken especially; and it cost four-and-ninepence only lastJuly, which makes the heart bleed. "

"They haven't quarrelled, have they?" asked Fancy. 

"Quarrelled? No, of course they haven't quarrelled. What put such athing into your head, child?"

"I don't know. . . . But I don't like this writin'; it's unnatural. And they're livin' apart, you say?"

"They didn't even breakfast together. But that was an accident, CaptainHunken having walked out early and taken the parrot. "

"Funny thing to take for a walk. "

"Which, " explained Mrs Bowldler with a glance at Palmerston, "I had tolodge a complaint with Captain Hocken yesterday relative to itsconversation, and he must have spoken about it; for Captain Hunken wentout at eight o'clock taking the bird with him, cage and all, and when hecame back they were _minus_. "

Fancy pondered. "What did the parrot say?" she asked. 

"You mustn't ask, my dear. I couldn't tell it to anything less than amarried woman. "

"That's a pity; because I wanted to know, quick. I suppose, now, youhaven't a notion what he did with the bird?"

"Not a notion. "

"I thought not. Well, I have. He's been an' gone an' given it away toMrs Bosenna, up at Rilla. "

Mrs Bowldler turned pale and gripped the edge of the table. 

"I'll bet you any money, " Fancy nodded slowly. 

"Ho! catch me ere I faint!" panted Mrs Bowldler. 

"Why, what's the matter? She's a married woman, or has been. "

"If only you'd heard--"

"Yes, it's a pity, " agreed Fancy, and turned about. "Pam!"

"Yes, Miss, " answered Palmerston. 

"Call me 'Fancy. '"

"Yes, Miss Fancy. "

She stamped her small foot. "There's no 'Miss' about it. How stupidyou are--when you see I'm in a hurry, too! Call me 'Fancy. '"

"Y-yes--Fancy, " stammered Palmerston, blushing furiously, shutting hiseyes and dropping his voice to a whisper. 

"That's better. . . . What does it feel like? Pleasant?"

"V-very pleasant, miss--Fancy, I mean. It--it'll come in time, "pleaded Palmerston, still red to the eyes. 

"That's right, again. Because I want you to marry me, Pammy dear. "

"Well! the owdacious!" exclaimed Mrs Bowldler in a kind of hystericaltitter, snatching at her bodice somewhere over the region of her heart. Fancy paid no heed to her. 

"Only we must make a runaway match of it, " she went on, "for there's notime to lose, it seems. "

For answer Palmerston burst into a flood of tears. 

"There now!" Mrs Bowldler of a sudden became serious. "You might haveknown he's too soft to be teased. . . . Oh, be quiet, do, Palmerston!Think of your namesake!"

A bell jangled overhead. 

"Captain Hocken's bell!--and the child's face all blubbered, which hehates to see, while as for Captain Hunken--there! it that isn't his bellgoing too in the adjoining! Palmerston, pull yourself together and be aman. "

"I c-can't, missus, " sobbed Palmerston. "He--he said yesterday as he'dg-give me the sack the next time he saw my eyes red. "

"Well, I must take 'em their tea myself, I suppose, " said Mrs Bowldler, who had a kind heart. "No, Palmerston, your eyes are not fit. But yousee how I'm situated?" she appealed to Fancy. 

"Do you usually let them ring for tea?" Fancy asked. 

"No, child. There must be something wrong with them both, or else withmy clock, " answered Mrs Bowldler with a glance up at the timepiece. "But twenty-five past four, I take you to witness! and I keep it fiveminutes fast on principle. "

"There _is_ something wrong, " Fancy assured her. "If you'll take myadvice, you'll go in and look injured. "

"I couldn't keep 'em waiting, though injured I will look, " promisedMrs Bowldler, catching up one of the two tea-trays. "Palmerston hadbetter withdraw into the grounds and control himself. I will igsplainthat I have sent him on an errand connected with the establishment. "

She bustled forth. Fancy closed the door after her; then turned andaddressed Palmerston. 

"Dry your eyes, you silly boy, " she commanded. Palmerston obeyed andstood blinking at her--alternately at her and at his handkerchief whichhe held tightly crumpled into a pad; whereupon she demanded, somewhatcruelly:

"Now, what have you to say for yourself?" He was endeavouring to answerwhen Mrs Bowldler came running in and caught up the other tea-tray. 

"Which it appears, " she panted, "he is in a hurry to catch the post; andI hope the Lord will forgive me for saying that Palmerston had just thisinstant returned and would go with it. But he has it done up in anenvelope, and says boys are not to be trusted. When I was a girl in myteens, " pursued Mrs Bowldler, luckily discovering that the second teapothad no water in it, and hastening to the kettle, "we learnt out of aChild's Compendium about a so-called ancient god of the name of Mercury, whence the stuff they put into barometers to go up for fine weather. He had wings on his boots, or was supposed to: which it would be aconvenience in these days, with Palmerston's unfortunate habits. For goodness' sake, child, " she addressed Fancy, "take him outsomewhere, that I mayn't perjure myself twice in one day!"

She vanished. 

"_Now_, what have you to say for yourself?" Fancy turned again uponPalmerston and repeated her question. 

"That's what's the matter with me, Miss--Fancy, I mean, " confessed he, after a painful struggle with his emotions. "I never had nothing to sayfor myself, not in this world: and--and--" he plucked up courage--"you got no business to play with me the way you did just now!" heblurted. 

"Who said I was a-playin' with you?" Fancy demanded; but Palmerston didnot heed. 

"And right a-top of your sayin' as writin' was unnatural!" he continued. 

She stared at him. "What has that to do with it? . . . Besides, whatever you're drivin' at, I didn' mean as all writin' was unnatural. I got to do enough of it for Mr Rogers, the Lord knows! But for themtwo, as have spent the best part of their lives navigatin' ships, it doseem--well, we'll call it unmanly somehow. "

"That makes it all the worse, " growled Palmerston, sticking both handsin his pockets and forcing himself to meet her stare, against which henodded sullenly. "A man has to lift himself _somehow_--when he wantssomething, very bad. "

"What is it you want?" asked Fancy. 

"You know what it is, right enough. " He glowered at her hardily, beingdesperate now and beyond shame. 

"Do 'I?" But she blenched, meeting his eyes as be continued to nod. 

"Yes, you do, " persisted he. "I wants to marry ye, one of these days;and you can't round on me, either, for outin' with it; for 'twas yourown suggestion. "

"Oh, you silly boy!" Fancy reproved him, while conscious of a highlydelicious thrill and an equally delicious fear. ("O, youth, youth! andthe wonder of first love!") She cast about for escape, and forced alaugh. "Do you know, you're the very first as has ever proposed to me. "

"I was thinkin' as much, " said the unflattering Palmerston. "Come tothat, you was the first as ever offered marriage to me. "

"But I didn't! I mean, " urged Fancy, "it was only in joke. "

"Joke or not, " said Palmerston, "you can't deny it. " Suddenlyweakening, he let slip his advantage. "But I wouldn' wish to marry onethat despised me, " he declared. "I had enough o' bein' despised--in theWorkhouse. "

"I never said I despised you, Pammy, " Fancy protested. 

"Yes, you did; or in so many words--'Unmanly, ' you said. "

"But that was about writing. " She opened her eyes wide. "You don'tmean to tell me _that's_ the trouble? . . . What have you been writing?"

"A book, " owned Palmerston with gloom. "A man must try to raise himselfsomehow. "

"Of course he must. What sort of book?"

"It's--it's only a story. "

"Why, " she reassured him, "I heard of a man the other day who wrote astory and made A Thousand Pounds. It was quite unexpected, andsurprised even his friends. "

"It must be the same man Mrs Bowldler told me about. His name wasWalter Scott, and he called it 'Waverley' without signing his name toit, because he was a Sheriff; and there was another man that wrote abook called 'Picnic' by Boss, and made pounds. So I've called mine'Pickerley, ' by way of drawing attention, --but, of course, if you thinkthere's no chance, I suppose there isn't, " wound up Palmerston, with asudden access of despondency. 

"Oh, Palmerston, " exclaimed Fancy, clasping her hands, "if it shouldonly turn out that you're a genius!"

"It _would_ be a bit of all right, " he agreed, his cheerfulnessreviving. 

"I have heard somewhere, " she mused, "or perhaps I read it on thenewspaper, that men of genius make the very worst husbands, and a womanmust be out of her senses to marry one. "

Again Palmerston's face fell. "I mayn't be one after all, " heprotested, but not very hopefully. 

"Oh yes, I am sure you are! And, what's more, if you make a hit, asthey say, I don't know but I might overlook it and take the risk. You see, I'm accustomed to living with Mr Rogers, who is bound to go tohell and that might turn out to be a sort of practice. "

The boy stood silent, rubbing his head. He wanted time to think thisout. Such an altered face do our ambitions present to most of us asthey draw closer, nearer to our grasp!

Suddenly Fancy clapped her hands. "Why, of course!" she cried. "I always had an idea, somewhere inside o' me, that I'd be a lady one ofthese days--very important and covered all over with di'monds, so thatall the other women would envy me. You know that feelin'?"

"No-o, " confessed Palmerston. 

"You would if you were a woman. But, contrariwise, what I like almostbetter is keepin' shop--postin' up ledgers, makin' out bills, _toaccount rendered, second application, which doubtless has escaped yournotice_, and all that sort of thing. I saw a shop in Plymouth once withyoung women by the dozen sittin' at desks, and when they pulled a stringlittle balls came rollin' towards them over on their heads like thestars in heaven, all full of cash; and they'd open one o' these ballsand hand you out your change just as calm and scornful as if they wereangels and you the dirt beneath their feet. You can't think how Ilonged to be one o' them and behave like that. But the two thingsdidn't seem to go together. "

"What two things?"

"Why, sittin' at a desk like that and sittin' on a sofa and sayin''How d'e do, my dear? It's _so_ good of you to call in this dreadfulweather, especially as you have to hire. . . . ' But now, " said Fancy, clasping her hands, "I see my way: that is, if you're really a genius. You shall write your books and I'll sell them. '_Mr and Mrs PalmerstonBurt, Author and_--what's the word?--pub--publicans--no, publisher;_Author and Publisher_. ' It's quite the highest class of business: andif any one tried to patronise me I could always explain that I just didit to help, you bein' a child in matters of business. Geniuses aremostly like that. "

"Are they?"

"Yes, that's another of their drawbacks. And, " continued Fancy, "you'd be a celebrity of course, which means that we should be in themagazines, with pictures--_A Corner of the Library_, and _TheRose-garden, looking West, and Mrs Palmerston Burt is not above playingwith the Baby_, and you with your favourite dog--for we'd have both, bythat time. Oh, Pammy, where is the book?"

"Upstairs, mostly, but I got a couple o' chapters upon me--" Palmerstontapped his breast-pocket--"If you really mean as you'd like--"He hesitated, his colour changing from red to white. Here, on the pointof proving it, the poor boy feared his fate too much. 

But Fancy insisted. They escaped together to Captain Hunken's garden;and there, in the summer-house--by this time almost in twilight--heshowed her the precious manuscript. It was written (like many anotherfirst effort of genius) on very various scraps of paper, the most ofwhich had previously enwrapped groceries. 

"And to think, " breathed Fancy, recognising some of Mr Rogers's tradewrappers, "that maybe I've seen dad doin' up those very parcels, andnever guessed--well, go on! Read it to me. "

"I--I don't read at all well, " faltered Palmerston. 

She tapped her foot. "I don't care how bad you read so long as youdon't keep me waitin' a moment longer. "

"This is Chapter Nine. . . . If you like, of course, I could start bytellin' you what the other chapters are about--"

"_Please_ don't talk any more, but read!"

"Oh, very well. The chapter is called '_Ernest makes Another Attempt. _'Ernest is what Mrs Bowldler calls the hero, which means that the book isall about him. It begins--"

 'It was late in the evening following upon the events related in the previous chapter'

--I got that out of a paper Mrs Bowldler carries about in her pocket. It is called 'Bow Bells, ' and you can depend on it, for it's all aboutthe highest people--

 'when Ernest rang at the bell of Number 20 Grovener Square. '

--I got that address, too, out of Mrs Bowldler. She said you couldn' gohigher than that. 'Not humanly speakin'' was her words, though I don'tquite know what she meant. "

"But, " objected Fancy, "you might want to start higher, in another book. We can't expect to live all our lives on this one: and there oughtn't tobe any come-down. "

Palmerston smiled and waved his manuscript with an air of mastery. He had thought of this. 

"There's Royalty!"

"O-oh!" Fancy caught her breath. She felt sure now of his genius. 

"We must feel our way, " said Palmerston; "I believe in flyin' as high asyou like so long as you're on safe ground. Of course, " he went on, "there _is_ a danger. I don't know who _really_ lives in GrovenerSquare at Number 20; but they're almost sure not to be called Delauncy, and so there's no real hurt to their feelin's. "

"Mrs Bowldler might know. "

"You don't understand, " explained Palmerston, who seemed, since breakingthe ice of his confession, to have grown some inches taller, andaltogether more masterful. "She don't know why I put all thesequestions to her. She sets it down to curiosity: when, all the time, I'm _pumpin'_ her. "

"Oh!" Fancy collapsed. 

Palmerston resumed:--

 "'The second footman ushered him to the boudoir, where already he had lit several lamps, casting a subdued shade of rose colour. The Lady Herm Intrude reclined on a console in an attitude which a moment since had been one of despair, but was now languid to the point of carelessness. '"

"What's a console?" inquired Fancy. 

"They have one in all the best drawing-rooms, " answered Palmerston. "Mrs Bowldler--"

"Oh, go on!" She was beginning to feel jealous, or almost jealous. 

 "'She was attired in a gown of old Mechlin, with a deep fall and an indication of orange blossoms, and carried a shower bouquet of cluster roses, the--

"No, I've scratched that out. It said 'the gift of the bridegroom, ' andI got it from a fashionable wedding; but it won't do in this place. "

 'Amid these luxurious surroundings Ernest felt his brain in a whirl. He cast himself on his knees before the recumbent figure on the console which gave no sign of life unless a long-drawn and half-stifled sob, which seemed to strangle its owner, might be so interpreted. "Lady Herm Intrude, " he cried in broken accents, "for the second time, I love you. "'"

"It's lovely, Palmerston! Lovely!" gasped Fancy. "Why was he loving herfor the second time?"

"He was _telling_ her for the second time. He had loved her from thefirst--it's all in the early chapters. . . . This is the second time hetold her: and he has to do it twice more before the end of the book. "

 'As he waited, scarcely daring to breathe, for some answer, he could almost smell the perfume of the orchids which floated from a neighbouring vase and filled the apartment with its high-class articles of furniture, the product of many lands. '

"Oh, Palmerston! And you that never had an 'ome of your own, since youwas nine--not even a Scattered one! However did you manage to think ofit all?"

She caught the manuscript from him and peered at it, straining her eyesin the dark. 

"If you could fetch a lamp now?" she suggested. 

But the boy stepped close and stood beside her, dominant. 

"_You_ know how I came to do it, " he said. "Yes--I'm glad you like it. I'll fetch a lamp. But--"

As she pored over the manuscript, he bent and suddenly planted a greatawkward kiss on the side of her cheek. 

Thereupon he fled in quest of the lamp. 

CHAPTER XVI

IS IN TWO PARTS. 

PART I. 

Cai and 'Bias supped together that night, greatly to Mrs Bowldler'srelief. But they exchanged a very few words during the meal, being poorhands at dissimulation. 

The meal, for the third time running, was laid in Cai's parlour, MrsBowldler having delicately elected to ignore the upset caused by theparrot and to treat yesterday as a _dies non_. 'Bias, if he noted this, made no comment. 

The cloth having been removed, they drew their chairs as usual to frontthe fireplace. Cai arose, found a clean church-warden pipe on themantelshelf, passed it to 'Bias, and selected one for himself. 

"I sent off that letter to-day, " he said carelessly. 

"Right, " said 'Bias; "I sent mine, too. "

"Four-thirty post, mine went by. "

"So did mine. "

"She'll get 'em together, then, first delivery to-morrow. "

"Ay. "

"That puts us all square. She'll be amused, I shouldn't wonder. "

"I didn' try to be amusin' in mine, " said 'Bias after a pause, puffingstolidly. 

"No more did I. " Cai filled and lit his pipe in silence. His consciencetroubled him a little. "Well, " said he, dropping into his arm-chair, "the matter's settled one way or another, so far as we're consarned. The letters are in the post, and there's no gettin' them out unless byAct o' Parliament. I don't mind tellin' you just what I said, if youthink 'twould be fairer-like. "

"I'm agreeable. "

"You won't take it amiss that I pitched it pretty strong?"

"Not at all, " answered 'Bias. "Come to that, I pitched it pretty strongmyself. "

Cai smiled tolerantly, and felt for the rough draft in his pocket. He fished it forth, unfolded the paper, and spread it on his knee underthe lamp-light. Then, having adjusted his glasses, he picked up hispipe again. 

"I just started off, " said he, "by hintin' that she might be a bitsurprised at hearin' from me. "

"That's true enough, " agreed 'Bias. "She'll be more'n surprised, if I'mnot mistaken. "

"I don't see why. "

"Don't you? . . . Well, no offence. It's a very good way to begin. In fact, " said 'Bias in a slightly patronising tone, "it's pretty muchhow I began myself. Only I went on quick to hope she wasn't--how d'yecall it?"

"I don't know what word _you_ used. _I_ should have said affronted, ' if Itake your meanin'. "

'Bias gave a start. "As it happens I--er--hit on that very word. I remember, because it looked funny to me, spelt with two f's. But I went on to say that I meant honourable, and that she mustn't blameme, because this kind o' thing happened without respect o' persons. "

Cai sat up, stiff and wondering. He took off his glasses and wipedthem. "You said--_that?_" he asked slowly. 

"I said a damned sight more than that, " chuckled 'Bias. "I said thatlove had its victims as well as its something else beginning with a v, which I forget the exact expression at this moment, and that I'd neverlooked on myself as bein' in the former cat--no, case. You can't thinkhow I pitched it, " said 'Bias, folding his hands comfortably over hisstomach. "The words seemed just to flow from the pen. "

"Oh, can't I?" Cai, sitting up with rigid backbone, continued to gazeat him. "Oh, they _did_--did they? And maybe you didn' go on toexplain you weren't precisely in the first flush o' youth--not what youmight call a _passionate boy_--"

It was 'Bias's turn to sit erect. He sat erect, breathing hard. "There--there's nothing unusual about the expression, is there?" hestammered. "Though how you come to guess on it--"

"You've been stealin' my letter, somehow!" flamed Cai. 

But 'Bias did not seem to hear. He continued to breathe hard, to stareinto vacancy. "Did you pay a visit to Peter Benny this mornin'?" heasked at length, very slowly. 

"Well, yes--if you must know, " Cai answered sullenly, his wrath checkedby confusion, much as the onset of a tall wave is smothered as it meetsa backwash. 

"That's right, " 'Bias nodded. "Somehow or 'nother Benny's sold us adog: and, what's more, he sold us the same dog. . . . I don't think, "went on 'Bias after a pause, "that it showed very good feelin' on yourpart, your goin' to Benny. "

"Why not?" demanded Cai, whose thoughts were beginning to work. "Far as I can see you did the very same thing; so anyway you can'tcomplain. "

"Yes, I can. You know very well I never set up to be a scholar, same asyou. By rights you're the scratch boat on this handicap, yet you triedto steal allowance. I thought you'd a-been a better sportsman. "

"My goin' to Benny, " urged Cai sophistically, "was a case of oneeddicated man consultin' another, as is frequently done. "

"Oh, is it? Well, you done it pretty thoroughly, I must say. "

"Whereas _your_ goin' was a clean case o' tryin' to pass off goods thatweren't your own, or anything like it. . . . Come, I'll put it to youanother way. Supposin' your letter had worked the trick, and she'd said'yes' on the strength of it--I'm puttin' this for argyment's sake, youunderstand?"

"Go on. "

"And supposin' one day, after you was married, she'd come to you andsaid, ''Bias, I want a letter written. I thought o' writin' it myself, but you're such a famous hand at a letter. ' A nice hole you'd a-beenin!"

"No, I shouldn'. I'd say, 'You rate me too high, my dear. Still, ' I'dsay, 'if you insist upon it, you just scribble down the main points on asheet o' paper, and I'll take a walk and think it over. ' Then I'd carryit off to Benny. " 'Bias, who so far had held the better of the argumentby keeping his temper, clinched his triumph with a nod and refilled hispipe. 

"Benny's an old man, and might die at any moment, " objected Cai. 

"Now you're gettin' too far-fetched altogether. . . . Besides, 'twouldn't be any affair o' yours--would it?--after I'm married to her. "

"Well, you won't be--now: and no more shall I, " said Cai bitterly. "Benny's seen to that!"

"'Tis a mess, sure enough, " agreed 'Bias, lighting his pipe and puffing. 

"She'll be affronted--oh, cuss the word! Just fancy it, to-morrowmorning, when she opens her post! A nice pair of jokers she'll thinkus!" Cai paced the room. "Couldn't we go up to-night and explain?"

"Five minutes to ten, " said 'Bias with a glance at the clock. "Ask herto get out o' bed and come down to hear we've made fools of ourselves?I don't see myself. You can do what you like, o' course. "

"I shan't sleep a wink, " declared Cai, still pacing. "How on earthBenny--" He halted of a sudden. "You don't suppose Benny himself--"

"Ch't! a man of his age. . . . No, I'll tell you how it happened, as Iallow: and, if so, Benny's not altogether to blame. First you goes tohim, and wants a letter written. You give him no names, but he learnsenough to guess how the wind sits . . . Am I right, so far?"

Cai nodded. 

"So he writes the letter and off you goes with it. Later on, in _I_drops with pretty much the same request. I remember, now, the oldfellow behaved rather funny: asked me something about bein' the 'firstperson, ' and then wanted to know if I didn' wish the letter written fora friend. I wasn't what you might call at my ease with the job, andso--as the time was gettin' on for dinner, too--I let it go at that. "

"You did? . . . But so did I!"

"Hey?"

"I let Benny think he was writin' it for a friend o' mine. Far as Iremember, he suggested it. . . . Yes, he certainly did, " said Cai withan effort of memory. 

"It don't matter, " said 'Bias after a few seconds' reflection. "He tookit for granted that one of us was tellin' lies: and likely enough he'schucklin' now at the thought of our faces when the thing came to becleared up. Come to consider, there was no vice about the trick, 'specially as he wouldn' take any money from me. "

"Nor from me, " Cai dropped into his chair and reached for thetobacco-jar. "Well, " he sighed, "the man's done for both of us, that'sall!"

"Not a bit, " said 'Bias sturdily. "We'll walk up early to-morrow, andexplain. Ten to one it'll put her in the best o' tempers, havin' such alaugh against us both. "

PART II. 

"He can't have known!" said Mrs Bosenna early next morning, sitting in ahigh-backed chair beside the kitchen-table. Her face was slightlyflushed, and the toe of her right shoe kept an impatient tap-tap on theflagged floor. "He can't possibly have known. "

"We'll hope not, " said Dinah. "It's thoughtless, though--put it at thebest: and any way it don't speak too well for his past. "

"He may have _bought_ it, you know, " urged Mrs Bosenna; "late in life. "

"Well, he's no chicken, " allowed Dinah; "since you put it like that. "

"I wasn't referring to Captain Hunken, you silly woman. I meant _it_. "

"Eh?" said Dinah. "Oh!--_him?_"

"'Him' if you like, " Mrs Bosenna mused. "It can't possibly be a female, can it?"

"I should trust not, for the sake of a body's sex . . . To say thingslike that. Besides, I've surely been told somewhere--in the 'Child'sGuide to Knowledge, ' it may have been--that the females don't talk atall. "

"Are you sure of that?"

"Pretty sure. It was _something_ unnatural anyhow; or I shouldn' haveremembered it. "

"Well, and if so, " said Mrs Bosenna, "one can see what Providence wasdriving at, which is always a comfort. . . . I was wondering now if youmind going and carrying him out to the garden somewhere. He couldn'ttake harm in this weather, --under the box-hedge, for instance. "

Dinah shook her head. "I couldn', mistress; no really!"

"The chances are, " said Mrs Bosenna persuasively, "he wouldn't sayanything, --anything like that again, not in a blue moon. "

"He said it to me first, and he said it to me again not ten minuteslater. But, o' course, if you're so confident, there's nothing hindersyour goin' and takin' him where you like. If you ask my opinion, though, he don't wait for no blue moons. He turns 'em blue as theycome. "

Mrs Bosenna tapped her foot yet more pettishly. "It's perfectlyridiculous, " she declared, "to be kept out of one's own parlour by abird! Go and call in William Skin, and tell him to take away the nastything. "

"And him with a family?"

"He's hard of hearin', " said Mrs Bosenna. 

"It's a hardness you can t depend on. I've knowed William hear fastenough, --when he wasn't wanted. He'll be wantin' to know, too, why wecan't put the bird out for ourselves: his deafness makes him suspicious. . . . And what's more, " wound up Dinah, "it won't help us, one way or'nother, whether he hears or not. We shall go about _thinkin_ he's heard;and I tell ye, mistress, I shan't be able to face that man again withouta blush, not in my born life. "

"It's perfectly ridiculous, I tell you!" repeated Mrs Bosenna, startingto her feet. "Am I to be forced to breakfast in the kitchen because ofa bird?"

"Then, if so be as you're so proud as all that, why not go back to bedagain, and I'll bring breakfast up to your room. "

"Nonsense. Where d'ye keep the beeswax? And run you up to the littlestore-cupboard and fetch me down a fingerful of cotton-wool for my ears. I'll do it myself, since you're such a coward. "

"'Tisn't that I'm a coward, mistress--"

"You're worse, " interrupted her mistress severely. 

"You never ought to know anything about such words, and it's arevelation to me wherever you managed to pick them up. "

Dinah smoothed her apron. "I can't think neither, " she confessed, andadded demurely, "It could never have been from the old master, for I'msure he'd never have used such. "

Mrs Bosenna wheeled about, her face aflame. But before she could turnon Dinah to rend her, the sound of a horn floated up from the valley. Dinah's whole body stiffened at once. "The post!" she cried, and ranforth from the kitchen to meet it, without asking leave. Letters atRilla Farm were rare exceedingly, for Mrs Bosenna made a point of payingready-money (and exacting the last penny of discount) wherever it waspossible; so that bills, even in the shape of invoices, were few. She had no relatives, or none whom she encouraged as correspondents, for, as the saying is, "she had married above her. " For the samereason, perhaps, she had long since stopped the flow of sentimentalletters from the girl-friends she had once possessed in Holsworthy, Devon. If Mrs Bosenna now and again found herself lonely at Rilla Farmin her widowhood, it is to be feared the majority of her oldacquaintances would have agreed in asserting, with a touch of satisfiedspite, that she had herself to blame, --and welcome!

"There's _two!_" announced Dinah, bursting back into the kitchen andwaving her capture. "_Two!_--and the Troy postmark on both of 'em!"

"Put them down on the table, please. And kindly take a look at theoven. You needn't let the bread burn, even if I _am_ to take breakfast inthe kitchen. "

"But ain't you in a hurry to open them, mistress?" asked Dinah, pretending to go, still hanging on her heel. 

"Maybe I am; maybe I ain't. " Mrs Bosenna picked up the two envelopeswith a carelessness which was slightly overdone. They were sealed, thepair of them. She broke the seal of the first carefully, drew out theletter, and read--

 "HONOURED MADAM, --You will doubtless be surprised--"

She turned to the last page and read the subscription--

 "Yours obediently, "

 "TOBIAS HUNKEN. "

"Who's it from, mistress?" asked Dinah, making pretence of a difficultywith the oven door. 

"Nobody that concerns you, " snapped Mrs Bosenna, and hastily stowed theletter in the bosom of her bodice. She picked up the other. Of that, in turn, she broke the seal--

 "HONOURED MADAM, --"

The handwriting was somewhat superior. 

 "HONOURED MADAM, --You will doubtless be surprised by the purport of this letter; as by the communication I feel myself impelled to make to you--"

Mrs Bosenna, mildly surprised, in truth, turned the epistle over. It was signed--

 "Your obedient servant, "CAIUS HOCKEN. "

She drew the first letter from her bodice. After the perusal of itsfirst few sentences her cheeks put on a rosy glow. 

But of a sudden she started, turned to the first letter again, andspread it on her lap. 

"Well, if I ever!" breathed she, after a pause. 

"A proposal! I knew it was!" cried Dinah, swinging about from the ovendoor. 

Mrs Bosenna, if she heard, did not seem to hear. She was holding upboth letters in turn, staring from the one to the other incredulously. Her roseal colour came and went. 

"Them and their parrots! I'll teach 'em!"

Before Dinah could ask what was the matter, a bell sounded. It was thefront door bell, which rang just within the porch. 

Dinah smoothed her apron and bustled forth. It had always been hergrievance--and her mistress shared it--against the nameless architect ofRilla farmstead, that he had made its long kitchen window face upon thestrawyard, whereas a sensible man would have designed it to command thefront door in flank, with its approaches. This mistake of his costDinah a circuit by way of the apple-room every time she answered theporch bell; for as little as any porter of old in a border fortresswould she have dreamed of admitting a visitor without first makingreconnaissance. 

A minute later she ran back and thrust her head in at the kitchen-door. 

"Mistress, " she whispered excitedly, "it's _them!_"

"Oh!" exclaimed Mrs Bosenna, as the bell jangled again. "They seem in ahurry, too. " She smiled, and the smile, if the curve of her mouthforbade it to be grim, at any rate expressed decision. She picked upthe two letters and slipped them into her pocket. "You can show themin. "

"Where, mistress?"

"Here. And, Dinah, nothing about the post, mind! Now, run!"

CHAPTER XVII. 

APPARENTLY DIVIDES INTO THREE. 

"You'll pardon us, ma'am, for calling so early, " began Cai. He was toofar embarrassed to be conscious of any surprise at being ushered intothe kitchen. 

"--You do the apologisin', of course, " had been 'Bias's words in thefront porch. "Yours was the first letter written: and, besides, you'rea speaker. "

"You are quite welcome, the both of you, " Mrs Bosenna assured him as hecame to a halt. Her tone was polite, but a faint note of interrogationsounded in it. "You have had your breakfast?"

"Yes, ma'am. "

"Ah, you are early indeed! I was just about to sit down to mine. "

"We don't want to interrupt, ma'am, but--" Here Cai looked helplesslyat 'Bias. 

"Go on, " growled 'Bias. 

"We--we don't want to seem rude--"

"Never mind rude, " growled 'Bias again. "Get it over. "

"The fact is, there's been a mistake: a painful mistake. At least, "said Cai, growing more and more nervous under Mrs Bosenna's gaze of calminquiry, "it _would_ be painful, if it weren't so absurd. " He forced alaugh. 

"Don't make noises like that, " commanded 'Bias. "Get it over. "

"It's about those letters, ma'am. "

"Letters?" Mrs Bosenna opened her dark eyes wide; and turned theminterrogatively upon Dinah. "Letters?"

"Letters?" repeated Dinah, taking her cue. 

Relief broke like a sun-burst over Cai's face. "But perhaps you don'tread your letters, ma'am, until after breakfast? And, if so, we're intime. "

"_What_ letters?" asked Mrs Bosenna. 

"They've surely been delivered, ma'am? In fact we met the postmancoming from the house. "

"Dear me--and did he tell you he had been deliverin' letters here?"

"No--he was on his round, and we took it for granted. Besides, we knowthey were posted in time. "

"William Skin takes the letters some days, " suggested Dinah, "if hehappens to overtake the post on his way back with the cart. It savesthe man a climb up the hill. "

"I wonder--" mused Mrs Bosenna. 

"Where is he?" Cai's bewildered brain darted at the impossiblestratagem of intercepting Skin and getting the letters from him. 

"Stabling the pony at this moment, I expect. . . . But I don'tunderstand. What letters are you talkin' about? What _sort_ ofletters?"

"There--there was one from me and one from 'Bias--"

"Goodness!" she broke in, smiling pleasantly, "What, anotherinvitation?"

"Well--" began Cai. 

"Yes, " struck in 'Bias. 

"You might call it an invitation, o' sorts, " Cai conceded. 

"'_Course_ you might, " said 'Bias positively. 

"You are very mysterious this morning, you two. " The widow turned fromone to another, her smile still hiding her amusement. "But let meguess. It appears you both wished to send me an invitation, andsomething has gone amiss with your letters. "

"We both sent the same one, " explained Cai, and blushed. "That's thelong and short of it, ma'am. "

"It doesn't seem so very dreadful. " Mrs Bosenna's smile was sweetlyreassuring. "You _both_ wrote, when it was only necessary for one towrite?"

"That's what I kept tellin' him, ma'am, " put in 'Bias stoutly. "But hewould put his oar in. "

"Well, well. . . You both wished to give me pleasure, and each wrotewithout the other's knowledge--"

"No, we didn't, " interrupted 'Bias again. 

"Anyway, " she harked back with a patient little sigh, "you had bothplanned your invitation to give me pleasure; and since it was thesame--?" She paused on a note of interrogation. 

"You might call it the same, ma'am--after a fashion, " assented Cai. 

She laughed. "Do you know, " she said, "I forgot for a moment whatfriends you are; and it _did_ cross my mind that maybe there were twoinvitations, and they clashed. "

"But they do, ma'am!" groaned Cai. 

"Eh? Yet you said just now. . . . So there _are_ two, after all!"

"It's--it's this way, ma'am: the letters are the same, but theinvitation as you call it--" Here Cai paused and cast an irritableglance in the direction of Dinah, who had stepped to the door of theoven to conceal her mirth. If the woman would but go he might be ableto explain. "But the invitation don't apply similarly, not in bothcases. "

"That's queer, isn't it?" commented Mrs Bosenna. "And, supposin' Iaccept, to which of you must I write?"

"Me, " said 'Bias with great promptitude. 

"Not at all. " Cai turned in wrath on his friend. 

"I do think you might help, instead of standin' there and--"

"Can't I accept both?" suggested Mrs Bosenna sweetly. 

"No, you certainly can't, ma'am. . . . And since the letters seemin'lyhaven't reached you yet, we'd both of us take it as a favour if you'd hand'em back to us without lookin' inside 'em. We--we want to try again, and send something calkilated to please you better. 'Tis a queerrequest, I'll grant you. "

"It is, " she agreed, cutting him short. "But what's the matter with theletters? Did you put any bad language into them by any chance?"

"Ma'am!" exclaimed Cai. 

"Bad language?" protested 'Bias. "Why, to begin with, ma'am, I neveruse it. The language is too good, in a way, an' that's our trouble;only Cai, here, won't out with it, but keeps beatin' about the bush. You see, we went to Mr Benny for it. "

"You went to Mr Benny?" she echoed as he hesitated. "For what, pray?"

"For the letters, ma'am. Unbeknowns to one another we went toMr Benny--Mr _Peter_ Benny--he havin' a gift with his pen--"'Bias hesitated again, faltered, and came to a stop, aware that MrsBosenna's smile had changed to a frown; that she was regarding him withdisapproval in her eyes, and that a red spot had declared itselfsuddenly upon either cheek. 

"_You_ don't seem to be makin' _very_ good weather of it either, " Caitaunted him; and with that, glancing at her for confirmation, he toonoticed her changed expression and was dumb. 

"Are you tellin' me, "--she seated herself stiffly, and they stood likeculprits before her. "Are you tellin' me this is a game?"

"A--a what, ma'am?"

"A game!" She stamped her foot. "You've been makin' the town's mock o'me with Peter Benny's help--is that what you two funny seamen havewalked up here to confess?"

"There was no names given, ma'am, " stammered Cai. "I do assure you--"

"No names given!" Mrs Bosenna in a temper was terribly handsome. Her indignation so overawed the pair, as to rob them of all presence ofmind for the moment. After all, where lay the harm in asking Mr Bennyto word a simple invitation? Since the letters had not reached her, shecould suspect no worse; and why, then, all this fuss? So they mighthave reasoned it out, had not conscience held them cowards--conscienceand a creeping cold shade of mutual distrust. "No names given!"repeated the lady. "And I'm to believe that, just as I'm to believe, sir, "--she addressed herself stiffly to 'Bias--"that you never used badlanguage in your life!"

"I didn' say that, ma'am--not exactly, " urged the bewildered 'Bias. "I dunno what's this about bad language. Who's been usin' badlanguage? Not me. "

"Not since your prize-fightin' days, perhaps, Captain Hunken. "

"My prize-fightin' days? My pr--Whoever told you, ma'am, as ever I hadany, or behaved so?"

"You had better ask your friend here. "

"Hey?"

"Perhaps, " said Mrs Bosenna sarcastically, "that goes back beyond yourmemory! Your parrot, if I may say so, has a better one. "

"Missus!" expostulated Dinah modestly, while "Oh good Lord!" mutteredCai with a start. His friend's eye was on him, too, fixed andsuspicious. 

"The parrot?" 'Bias, albeit innocent, took alarm. 

"Why, what has he been doin'?"

"It isn't anything he _did_, sir, " protested Dinah, taking courage toface about again from the oven door. "It's what he _said_. "

"I meant to warn you--" began Cai; but 'Bias beat him downthunderously--

"What did he say?" he demanded of Dinah. 

"Oh, I couldn't, sir! I really couldn't!"

"I meant to warn you, " interposed Cai again. "There's a--a screw loosesomewhere in that bird. Didn't I tell you only the night before lastthat Mrs Bowldler couldn't get along with him?"

"You did, " admitted 'Bias, his tone ominously calm. "But you didn'specify: not when I told you I was goin' to bring the bird up here toRilla. "

"No, I didn': for, in the first place, I couldn', not knowin' whatlanguage the bird used. "

He would have said more, but 'Bias turned roughly from him to demand ofthe women--

"Well, what _did_ he say? . . . Did he say it in your hearin', ma'am?"

"Ahem!--er--partially so, " owned Mrs Bosenna. 

"It's no use you're askin' what he said, " added Dinah; "for no decentwoman could tell it. And, what's more, the mistress is takin' herbreakfast here in the kitchen because she durstn't go nigh the parlour. "

"And I got that bird off a missionary! A decenter speakin' parrot I'venever known, so far as my experience goes--and I've known a good few. "

"Folks have different notions on these matters; different standards, soto speak, " suggested Mrs Bosenna icily. 

"It's my opinion, " put in Cai, "that missionary did you in the eye. "

"Oh, that's your opinion, is it? Well, you'd best take care, my joker, or you'll get something in the eye yourself. "

"We don't want any prize-fightin' here, if you please, " commanded MrsBosenna. 

"There again!" foamed 'Bias, with difficulty checking an oath. "A prize-fighter, am I? Who put that into your head, ma'am? Who's beenscandalisin' me to you?" He turned, half-choking, and shook aminatory finger at Cai. 

"I--I didn' say I had any objection to fightin'-men, not when they'requiet, " Mrs Bosenna made haste to observe in a pacificatory tone. In fact she was growing nervous, and felt that she had driven herrevenge far enough. "My late husband was very fond of the--the ring--inhis young days. "

It is easier, however, to arouse passions than to allay them. 'Bias continued to shake a finger at Cai, and Cai (be it said injustice) faced the accusation gamely. 

"I never scandalised you, " he answered. "In fact I done all in my powerto remove the impression. " Feeling this to be infelicitous--in a sort ofdespair with his tongue, which had taken a twist and could say nothingaright this morning--he made haste to add in a tone at once easy andawkward, "It's my belief, 'Bias, as your parrot ain't fit to be leftalone with females. "

"Well, I'm goin' to wring his neck anyway, " promised 'Bias; "and, ifsome folks aren't careful, maybe I won't stop with _his_. "

Cai, though with rising temper, kept his nonchalance. "With you and methe creatur' don't feel the temptation, and consikently there's a sideof his character hidden from us. But in female company it comes out. You may depend that's the explanation. "

"Why, of course it is, " chimed in Mrs Bosenna with sudden--suspiciouslysudden--conviction. "How clever of Captain Hocken to think of it!"

"Yes, he's clever, " growled 'Bias, unappeased. "Oh, he's monstrousclever, ma'am, is Caius Hocken! Such a friend, too! . . . And now, perhaps, he'll explain how it happened--he bein' so clever and such afriend--as he didn't find this out two nights ago and warn me?"

"I did warn ye, 'Bias, " Cai's face had gone white under the taunt. "But I'll admit to you I might have pitched it stronger. . . . If youremember, on top of discussin' the parrot we fell to discussin'something--something more important to both of us; and that drove thebird out o' my head. It never crossed my mind again till bedtime, andthen I meant to warn ye next day at breakfast. "

"You're good at explanations, this mornin', " sneered 'Bias. "Better fitthere was no need, and you'd played fair. "

"'Played fair'!"--Cai flamed up at last--"I don't take that from you, 'Bias Hunken, nor yet from any one! You fell into your own trap--that'swhat happened to _you_. . . . 'Played fair'? I suppose you was playin'fair when you sneaked off unbeknowns and early to Rilla that mornin', after we'd agreed--"

"Well?" asked 'Bias, as Cai came to a halt. 

"You know well enough what we agreed, " was Cai's tame conclusion. 

"Where's the bird, ma'am?" asked 'Bias dully. Both men felt that allwas over between them now, though neither quite understood how it hadhappened. "It--it seems I've offended you, and I ask your pardon. As for my doin' this o' purpose--well, you must believe it or not. That's as conscience bids ye. . . . But one warnin' I'll give--A bad friend don't us'ally make a good husband. "

He motioned to Dinah to lead the way to the parlour, and so, with a jerkof the head, took his leave, not without dignity. 

Mrs Bosenna promptly burst into tears. 

Cai, left alone with her and with the despair in his heart, slowly(scarce knowing what he did) drew forth a red spotted handkerchief andeyed it. Maybe he had, to begin with, some intention of proffering it. But he stood still, a figure of woe, now glancing at Mrs Bosenna, anonstaring fixedly at the handkerchief as if in wonder how it came in hishand. He noted, too, for the first time that the tall clock in thecorner had an exceptionally loud tick. 

"Go away!" commanded Mrs Bosenna after a minute or so, looking up withtear-stained eyes. It seemed that she had suddenly became aware of hispresence. 

Cai picked up his hat. "I was waitin' your leave, ma'am. "

"Go, please!"

He went. He was indeed anxious to be gone. Very likely at the whitegate below by the stream, 'Bias was standing in wait to knock his headoff. Cai did not care. Nothing mattered now--nothing but a desire tofollow 'Bias and have another word with him. It might even be. . . . But no: 'Bias was lost to him, lost irrevocably. Yet he craved tofollow, catch up with him, plead for one more word. 

He went quickly down the path to the gate, but of 'Bias there was nosign. 

Poor Cai! He took a step or two down the road, and halted. Since 'Biaswas not in sight there would be little chance of overtaking him on thisside of the town; and in the street no explanation would be possible. 

Cai turned heavily, set his face inland, and started to walk at a greatpace. As though walking could exorcise what he carried in his heart!

Meanwhile 'Bias went striding down the valley with equal vigour and evenmore determination. His right hand gripped the parrot-cage, swinging itas he strode, and at intervals bumping it violently upon the calf of hisright leg, much to his discomfort, very much more to that of the bird--which nevertheless, though bewildered by the rapid nauseating motion, and at times flung asprawl, obstinately forbore to reproduce the form ofwords so offensive in turn to Mrs Bowldler and the ladies at Rilla. 

Once or twice, as his hand tired, and the rim of the cage impingedpainfully on his upper ankle-bone, 'Bias halted and swore--

"All right, my beauty! You just wait till we get home!"

He had never wrung a bird's neck, and had no notion how to start on sofell a deed. He was, moreover, a humane man. Yet resolutely andwithout compunction he promised the parrot its fate. 

A little beyond the entrance of the town, by the gateway of Mr Rogers'scoal store, he came on a group--a trio--he could not well pass withoutsalutation. They were Mr Rogers (in his bath-chair and wicked asever) and Mr Philp, with Fancy Tabb in attendance as usual. 

"Well, I hope you're satisfied this time?" Mr Rogers was saying. 

"I suppose I must be, " Mr Philp was grumbling in answer. "But all I cansay is, coals burn faster than they used. "

"It's the way with best Newcastle. " Mr Rogers, who had never sold a tonof Newcastle coal in his life (let alone the best), gave his cheerfulassurance without winking an eye. 

"So you've told me more'n once, " retorted Mr Philp. "I never made astudy o' trade rowts, as they're called; but more'n once, too, it's beenin my mind to ask ye how Newcastle folk come to ship their coal to Troyby way o' Runcorn. "

Mr Rogers blinked knowledgeably. "It shortens the distance, " hereplied, "by a lot. But you was sayin' as coals burned faster. Well, they do, and what's the reason?"

"Ah!" said Mr Philp. "That's what I'd like to know. "

"Well, I'll give 'ee the information, and nothin' to pay. Coals burnfaster as a man burns slower. You're gettin' on in life; an' next timeyou draw your knees higher the grate you can tell yourself _that_, William Philp. . . . Hullo! there's Cap'n Hunken! . . . Mornin', Cap'n. That's a fine bird you're carryin'. "

"A parrot, by the looks of it, " put in Mr Philp. 

"Sherlock 'Omes!" Mr Rogers congratulated him curtly. 

"'Mornin', Mr Rogers--mornin', Mr Philp!" 'Bias halted and held out thecage at half-arm's length. "Yes, 'tis a fine bird I'm told. " He eyedthe parrot vindictively. 

"Talks?"

"Damn! That's just it. "

"What can it say?"

"Dunno. Wish I did. Will ye take the bird for a gift, or would yerather have sixpence to wring its neck?"

"Both, " suggested Mr Philp with promptitude. 

"What yer wrigglin' for like that, at the back o' my chair, you Tabb'schild?" asked Mr Rogers, whose paralysis prevented his turning his head. 

"Offer for 'n, master!" whispered Fancy. Mr Rogers, if he heard, madeno sign. "D'ye mean it?" he inquired of 'Bias. "I'm rather partial toparrots, as it happens: and it's a fine bird. What's the matter withit?"

"I don't know, " 'Bias confessed again. "I wish somebody'd find out: butthey tell me it can't be trusted with ladies. "

"Is that why you're takin' it for a walk? . . . Well, I'll risk fivebob, if it's goin' cheap. "

Mr Philp's face fell. "I'd ha' gone half-a-crown, myself, " he murmuredresignedly; "but I can't bid up against a rich man like Mr Rogers. . . . You don't know what the creetur says?"

"No more'n Adam--only that it's too shockin' for human ears. If Mr Rogers cares to take the bird for five shillin', he's welcome, andgood riddance. Only he won't never find out what's wrong with him. "

"Honest?" asked Mr Rogers. 

"Honest. I've lived alongside this bird seven years; he was bought offa missionary; and _I_ don't know. "

"Ah, well!" sighed Mr Philp. "Money can't buy everything. But I don'tmind bettin' I'd ha' found out. "

"Would ye now?" queried Mr Rogers with a wicked chuckle. "I'll put up amatch, then. The bird's mine for five shillin': but Philp shall havehim for a month, and I'll bet Philp half-a-crown he don't discover whatyou've missed. Done, is it?"

"Done. '" echoed Mr Philp, appealing to 'Bias and reaching out a hand forthe cage. 

"Done!" echoed 'Bias. "Five shillin' suits me at any time, and I'm gladto be rid o' the brute. "

"There's one stippylation, " put in Mr Rogers. "Philp must tell mehonest what he discovers. . . . You, Tabb's child, you're jogglin' mychair again!"

So 'Bias, the five shillings handed over, went his way; relieved of oneburden, but not of the main one. 

"Well, if I ever!" echoed Dinah, returning to the kitchen at Rilla. "If that wasn't a masterpiece, and no mistake!"

"Is the bird gone?" asked her mistress. "Then you might fry me a coupleof sausages and lay breakfast in the parlour. "

Dinah sighed. "'Tis lovely, " she said, "to be able to play the foolwith men . . . 'tis lovely, and 'tis what women were made for. But 'tiswasteful o' chances all the same. There goes two that'll never comeback. "

"You leave that to me, " said Mrs Bosenna, who had dried her eyes. "Joke or no, you'll admit I paid them out for it. Now don't you fallinto sentiments, but attend to prickin' the sausages. You know I hate aburst sausage. "

BOOK III. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE PLOUGHING. 

It is possible--though not, perhaps, likely--that had Cai obeyed hisfirst impulse and pursued 'Bias down the valley, to overtake him, thetwo friends might after a few hot words have found reconciliation, or atleast have patched up an honourable truce. As it was, 'Bias carriedhome a bitter sense of betrayal, supposing that he had left Cai masterof the field. He informed Mrs Bowldler that he would dine and supalone. 

"Which the joint to-day is a goose, " protested that lady; "and one moredifficult to halve at short notice I don't know, for my part. "

"You must do the best you can. " He vouchsafed no other reply. 

Mrs Bowldler considered this problem all the rest of the morning. "Palmerston, " she asked, as she opened the oven door to baste the bird, "supposin' you were asked to halve a roast goose, how would you begin?"

"I'd say I wouldn't, " answered Palmerston on brief reflection. 

"But supposin' you _had_ to?"

Palmerston reflected for many seconds. "I'd start by gettin' my knee onit, " he decided. 

Mrs Bowldler, albeit much vexed in mind, deferred solving the problem, and was rewarded with good luck as procrastinators too often are in thisworld. 

Dinner-time arrived, but Captain Hocken did not. She served the goosewhole and carried it in to Captain Hunken. 

"Eh?" said 'Bias, as she removed the cover. "What about--about Cap'nHocken?"

"He have not arrove. "

'Bias ground his teeth. "Havin' dinner with _her!_" he told himself, and fell to work savagely to carve his solitary portion. 

Having satisfied his appetite, he lit a pipe and smoked. But tobaccobrought no solace, no charitable thoughts. While, as a matter of fact, Cai tramped the highroads, mile after mile, striving to deaden the painat his heart, 'Bias sat puffing and let his wrath harden down into afixed mould of resentment. 

Dusk was falling when Cai returned. Mrs Bowldler, aware that somethingwas amiss, heard his footsteps in the passage and presented herself. 

"Which, having been detained, we might make an 'igh tea of it, " shesuggested, "and venture on the wing of a goose. Stuffing at this hour Iwould 'ardly 'int at, being onion and apt to recur. " But Captain Hockendesired no more than tea and toast. 

Mrs Bowldler was intelligently sympathetic, because Fancy had calledearly in the afternoon and brought some enlightenment. 

"There's a row, " said Fancy, and told about the sale of the parrot. "That Mrs Bosenna's at the bottom of it, as I've said all along, " sheconcluded. 

"Do you reelly think the bird has been talking?"

"I don't think: I know. "

Mrs Bowldler pondered a moment. "Ho! well--she's a widow. "

"I reckon, " said Fancy, "if these two sillies are goin' to fall out overher and live apart, you'll be wantin' extra help. Two meals for everyone--I hope they counted _that_ before they started to quarrel. "

"I'll not have another woman in the house, " declared Mrs Bowldler, andrepeated it for emphasis after the style of the great Hebrew writers. "Another woman in the house have I will not! What do _you_ say, Palmerston?"

Palmerston, who had been on the edge of tears for some time, broke downand fairly blubbered. 

"There's a boy!" exclaimed the elder woman. "Mention a little hard workand he begins to cry. "

"I don't believe he's cryin' for that at all, " spoke up Fancy. "Are you, Pammy dear?"

"Nun-nun-No-o!" sobbed Palmerston. 

"He can't abide quarrellin'--that's what's the matter. . . . Ah, well!"sighed Fancy, and fell back on her favourite formula of resignation. "It'll be all the same a hundred years hence; when we mee-eet, " shechanted, "when we mee-eet, when we mee-eet on that Beyewtiful Shore!_And_ in the meantime we three have got to sit tight an' watch for anopenin' to teach 'em that their little hands were never made. No talkin' outside, mind!"

"As if I should!" protested Mrs Bowldler, and added thoughtfully, "I often wonder what happens to widows. "

"They marry again, mostly. "

"I mean up there--on the Beautiful Shore, so to speak. They don't marryagain, because the Bible says so: but how some _contrytomps_ is to beavoided I don't see. "

Chiefly through the loyalty of these three, some weeks elapsed beforethe breach of friendship between Captain Caius Hocken and Captain TobiasHunken became a matter of common talk. Mr Rogers must have had aninkling; for the pair consulted him on all their business affairs andinvestments, and in two or three ships their money had meant a jointinfluence on the shareholders' policy. Now, as they came to himseparately, and with suggestions that bore no sign of concerted thought, so astute an adviser could hardly miss a guess that something was wrong. Nor did it greatly mend matters that each, on learning the other's wishupon this or that point where it conflicted with his own, at once madehaste to yield. "If that's how 'Bias looks at it, " Cai would say, "why o' course we'll make it so. I must have misunderstood him:" and'Bias on his part would as promptly take back a proposal--"Cai thinksotherwise, eh? Oh, well that settles it! We haven't, as you might say, threshed it out together, but I leave details to him. " "If you callthis a detail--" "Yes, yes: leave it to Cai. " Mr Rogers blinked, butasked no questions and kept his own counsel. 

Mr Philp was more dangerous. (Who in Troy could keep Mr Philp for longoff the scent of a secret?) But, as luck would have it, Cai in pureinnocence routed Mr Philp at the first encounter. 

It happened in this way. Towards the end of the first week ofestrangement Cai, who bore up pretty well in the day time with the helpof Mr Rogers, Barber Toy, and other gossips, began to find his eveningsintolerably slow. He reasoned that autumn was drawing in, that thehours of darkness were lengthening, and that anyway, albeit the weatherhad not turned chilly as yet, a fire would be companionable. He ordereda fire therefore (more work for Mrs Bowldler). But somehow, after abrief defeat, his _ennui_ returned. Then of a sudden, one night atbed-time, he bethought him of the musical box, and that John PeterNanjulian needed hurrying-up. 

Accordingly the next morning, as the church clock struck ten, found himclimbing the narrow ascent to On the Wall: where, at the garden gate, heencountered Mr Philp in the act of leaving the house with a bulgingcarpet-bag. 

"Eh? Good mornin', Mr Philp. "

"Good mornin' to you, Cap'n Hocken. " Mr Philp was hurrying by, but hisbesetting temptation held him to a halt. "How's Cap'n Hunken in thesedays?" he inquired. 

"Nicely, thank you, " answered Cai, using the formula of Troy. 

"I ha'n't see you two together o' late. "

"No?" Cai, casting about to change the subject, let fall a casual remarkon the weather, and asked, "What's that you're carryin', if one may makeso bold?"

"It's--it's a little commission for John Peter, " stammered Mr Philp. "Nothin' to mention. "

He beat a hasty retreat down the hill. 

"'Tis curious now, " said Cai to John Peter ten minutes later, "how yourinquisitive man hates a question, just as your joker can't never face ajoke that goes against him. I met Philp, just outside, with a carpetbag: and I no sooner asked what he was carryin' than he bolted like ahare. "

"There's no secret about it, either, " said John Peter. "He tells methat, for occupation, he has opened an agency for the Plymouth Dye andCleanin' Works. "

"And you've given him some clothes to be cleaned? Well, I don't see whyhe need be ashamed o' that. "

"Well, I haven't, to tell you the truth. For my part, I like my clothesthe better the more I'm used to 'em. But my sister's laid up withbronchitis. "

"Miss Susan? . . . Nothin' serious, I hope?"

"She always gets it, in the fall o' the year. No, nothing serious. But the doctor says she must keep her bed for a week--and now she's_got_ to. . . . There'll be a rumpus when she finds out, " said JohnPeter resignedly: "for she don't like clean clothes any better than Ido. But one likes to oblige a neighbour; and if he'd taken my trowsers'twould ha' meant the whole household bein' in bed, which, " concludedJohn Peter with entire simplicity, "would not only be awkward in itself, but dangerous when only two are left of an old family. "

Cai agreed, if he did not understand. He reclaimed his musical box--needless to say, John Peter had not yet engraved the plate--and carriedit home, promising to restore it when that adornment was ready. For thenext night or two it soothed him somewhat while he smoked and meditatedon public duties soon to engage his leisure. For he had been co-opted amember of the School Board in room of Mr Rogers, resigned: and in BarberToy's shop it was understood that he would be a candidate not only forthe Parish Council to be elected before Christmas, but for a HarbourCommissionership to fall vacant in the summer of next year. 

The notification of his appointment on the School Board reached him bypost on the last Tuesday in September. Now, as it happened, theTechnical Instruction Committee of the County Council had arranged tohold at Troy, some four days later, an Agricultural Demonstration, withcompetitions in ploughing, hedging, dry-walling, turfing, the splittingand binding of spars, &c. 

Behold, now, on the morning of the Demonstration, Captain Caius Hocken, School Manager and therefore _ex officio_ a steward, taking the field inhis Sunday best with a scarlet badge in his buttonhole, "quite, "declared Mrs Bowldler, "like a gentleman of the French Embassy as usedfrequent to take luncheon with us in the Square. "

The morning was bright and clear: the sky a pale blue and almostcloudless, the season--

 Not yet on summer's death, nor on the birth Of trembling winter, --and Cai walked with a lightness of spirit to which since the quarrelhe had been a stranger. The Demonstration was to be held at the FourTurnings, where the two roads that lead out of Troy and form a trianglewith the sea for base, converge to an apex and branch off again into twoCounty highways. The field lay scarcely a stone's throw from thisapex--that is to say from the spot where the late Farmer Bosenna hadended his mortal career. It belonged in fact to Mrs Bosenna, and hadbeen hired from her by the Technical Instruction Committee for a smallsum; but Cai did not happen to know this, for the arrangement had beenmade some weeks ago, before his elevation to the School Board. 

It was with a shock of surprise, therefore, that on passing the gate hefound Mrs Bosenna close within, engaged in talk with two rosy-facedfarmers; and, moreover, it brought a rush of blood to his face, for hehad neither seen her nor heard from her since the fatal morning. There was, however, no way of retreat, and he stepped wide to avoid thegroup, lifting his hat awkwardly as he passed, not daring to meet thelady's eyes. 

"Captain Hocken!" she called cheerfully. 

"Ma'am?" Cai halted in confusion. 

"Come here for a moment--that is, if it doesn't interrupt your duties--and be introduced to our two ploughing judges. Mr Widger of Callington, Mr Sam Nicholls of St Neot--Captain Hocken. " Cai's cheeks in rosinessemulated those of the two men with whom he shook hands. "CaptainHocken, " she explained to them, "takes a great interest in education. "

For a moment it struck Cai that the pair, on hearing this, eyed himsuspiciously; but his brain was in a whirl, and he might easily havebeen mistaken. 

"Not at all, " he stammered; "that is, I mean--I am new to this business, you see. "

"You are a practical man, I hope, sir?' asked Mr Nicholls. 

"I--I've spent the most part of my life at sea, if you'd count thatbein' practical, " said Cai modestly. 

"To be sure I do, " Mr Nicholls assented. "It's as practical as farmin', almost. "

"In a manner o' speakin' it is, " agreed Mr Widger grudgingly. "Men haven't all the same gifts. Now you'll hardly believe whathappened to me the only time I ever took a sea trip. "

"No?" politely queried Cai. 

"I was sick, " said Mr Widger, in a tone of vast reminiscent surprise. 

"It _does_ happen sometimes. "

"Yes, " repeated Mr Widger, "sick I was. It took place in PlymouthSound: and you don't catch me tryin' the sea again. "

"Now what, " inquired Mr Nicholls, "might be your opinion about LabourExemption Certificates, Captain Hocken?"

Cai was gravelled. His alleged interest in education had not as yetextended to a study of the subject. 

Mrs Bosenna came to the rescue. Talk about education (she protested)was the last thing she could abide. Before the ploughing began shewanted to show Captain Hocken some work the hedgers had been doing atthe lower end of the field. 

At that moment, too, the local secretary came running with word that thefirst teams were already harnessed, and awaited the judges' preliminaryinspection. Mr Widger and Mr Nicholls made their excuses, therefore, and hurried off to their duties. 

"I have a bone to pick with you, " said Mrs Bosenna, as she and Cai tooktheir way leisurably across the field. 

Cai groaned at thought of those unhappy letters. 

But Mrs Bosenna made no allusion to the letters. 

"You have not been near Rilla for weeks, " she went on, reproachfully. 

Cai glanced at her. "I thought--I was afraid you were offended, " hesaid, his heart quickening its beat. 

"Well, and so I was. To begin brawling as you did in a lady'spresence--and two such friends as I'd always supposed you to be!It was shocking. Now, wasn't it?"

"It has made me miserable enough, " pleaded Cai. 

"And so it ought. . . . I don't know that I should be forgiving younow, " added Mrs Bosenna demurely, "if it didn't happen that I wantedadvice. "

"_My_ advice?" asked Cai incredulous. 

"It's a business matter. Women, you know, are so helpless wherebusiness is concerned. " (Oh, Mrs Bosenna!)

"If I can be of any help--" murmured Cai, somewhat astonished butprodigiously flattered. 

"Hush!" she interrupted, lifting a quick eye towards the knap of thehill they had descended. "Isn't that Captain Hunken, up above? . . . Yes, to be sure it is, and he's turned to walk away just as I was goingto call him!" She glanced at Cai, and there was mischief in the glance. "I expect the ploughing has begun, and I won't detain either of you. . . . The business? We won't discuss it now. I have to wait here forDinah, who is coming for company as soon as she's finished herhousework. . . . To-morrow, then, if you have nothing better to do. Good-bye!"

He left her and climbed the hill again. He seemed to tread on air; andno doubt, when he reached the plateau where the ploughmen were drivingtheir teams to and fro before the judges, with corrugated brows, compressed lips, eyes anxiously bent on the imaginary line of the furrowto be drawn, this elation gave his bearing a confidence which to themalignant or uncharitable might have presented itself as bumptiousness. He mingled with the small group of _cognoscenti_, listened to theircriticisms, and by-and-by, cocking his head knowledgeably on one side, hazarded the remark that "the fellow coming on with the roan and greyseemed to be missing depth in his effort to keep straight. "

It was an innocent observation, uttered, may be, a thought toodogmatically, but truly with no deeper intent than to elicit freshcriticism from an expert who stood close beside his elbow. But a voicebehind him said, and carried its sneer--

"Maybe he ain't the only one hereabouts as misses depth. "

Cai, with a grey face, swung about. He had recognised the voice. Some demon in him prompted the retort--

"Eh, 'Bias? Is that you?--and still takin' an interest in agriculture?"

The shaft went home. 'Bias's voice shook as he replied--

"I mayn't know much about education, at two minutes' notice; and Imayn't pretend to know much about ploughin' and wear a button in my coatto excuse it. But I reckon that for a pound a side I could plough yousilly, Cai Hocken. "

It was uttered in full hearing of some ten or twelve spectators, mostlytownsmen of Troy; and these, turning their heads, for a moment notbelieving their ears, stared speechlessly at the two men whosefriendship had in six months passed into a local byword. Cap'n Hockenand Gap'n Hunken--what, _quarrelling?_ No, no--nonsense: it must betheir fun!

But the faces of the pair told a different tale. 

It was a stranger--a young farmer from two parishes away--who let offthe first guffaw. 

"A bet, naybours!--did 'ee hear _that?_ Take him up, little man--he won'teat 'ee. "

"I'll go ten shillin' myself, rather than miss it, " announced anothervoice. "Ten shillin' on the bantam!"

"Get out with 'ee both, " spoke up a citizen of Troy. "You don't knowthe men. 'Tisn't serious now--is it, Cap'n Hocken?--well as you'reactin'--"

"Why not?" Cai stood, breathing hard, eyeing his adversary. "If _he_means it?"

"That's right! Cover his money?" cried an encouraging voice behind him. 

The young farmer slapped his thigh, and ran off to the next group. "Hi, you fellows! A match!"

He shouted it. They turned about. "What is it, Bill Crago?"--for theyread in his excited gestures that he had real news. 

"The fun o' the fair, boys! Two ships'-cap'ns offering to plough for apound a side--if you ever!"

"Drunk!" suggested somebody. 

"What's the odds if they be? 'Twill be all the better fun, " answered MrCrago. "No--far's one can tell they're dead sober. Come along andlisten--" He hurried back and they after him. 

"If he chooses to back out?" Cai was taunting Bias as the crowd pressedaround. So true is it that:--

 "To be wroth with one we love Doth work like madness in the brain. "

"Who wants to back out?" answered 'Bias sullenly. 

"If a man insults me, I hold him to his word: either that or he takes itback. "

"Quite right, Cap'n';" prompted a voice. "And he can't tell us hedidn't say it, for I heard him!"

"I ain't takin' nothin' back. " 'Bias faced about doggedly. 

By this time, as their wits cleared a little, each was aware of hisfolly, and each would gladly have retreated from this public exhibitionof it. But as the crowd increased, neither would be the first to yieldand invite its certain jeers. Moreover, each was furiously incensed:anything seemed better than to be shamed by _him_, to give _him_ a cheaptriumph. 

News of the altercation had spread. Soon two-thirds of the spectatorswere trooping to join the throng in the upper field, pressing in on theantagonists, jostling in their eagerness to catch a word of the dispute. The competitors in Class D were left to plough lonely furrows and finishthem unapplauded. Young Mr Crago had run off meantime to secure theservices of the two judges. 

Now Mrs Bosenna, after waiting some ten minutes by the lower gate forDinah (whose capital fault was unpunctuality), had lost patience andwalked back towards Rilla to meet and reproach her. She had almostreached the small gate when she spied Dinah hurrying down the steep pathto the highroad, and halted. Dinah, coming up, excused herself betweencatches of breath. She had been detained by the plucking of a fowl, anda feather--or, as you might call it a fluff--had found its way into herthroat. "Which, " said she, "the way I heaved, mistress, is beyondbelief. "

Mrs Bosenna having admonished her to be more careful in future, turnedto retrace her steps to the field. 

They reached it and climbed the slope crosswise. They had scarcelygained the edge of the upper plateau when Mrs Bosenna stopped short andgave a gasp. For at that moment there broke on their view, against thenear sky-line, the figure of a man awkwardly turning a plough, behind ateam of horses. 

"Save us, mistress!" cried keen-eyed Dinah. "If it isn't--"

"It can't be!" cried Mrs Bosenna, as if in the same breath. 

"It's Cap'n Hunken, " said Dinah positively. 

"But why? Dinah--why?"

"It's Cap'n Hunken, " repeated Dinah. "The Lord knows why. If he'sdoin' it for fun, I never saw worse entry to a furrow in my life. "

"Nor I. But what can it mean?" Mrs Bosenna, panting, paused at thesound of derisive cheers, not very distant. 

The two women ran forward a pace or two, until their gaze commanded thewhole stretch of the upper slope. 'Bias, stolidly impelling his team--a roan and a rusty-black--had, in the difficult process of steering theturn, been too closely occupied to let his gaze travel aside. He wasoff again: his stalwart back, stripped to braces and shirt, bent as hetrudged in wake of the horses, clinging to the plough-tail, helplesslystriving to guide them by the wavy parallel his last furrow had set. 

Down the field, nearer and nearer, approached Cai, steering a team ashelplessly. Ribald cheers followed him. 

Mrs Bosenna, though quite at a loss to explain it, grasped the situationin less than a moment. She followed up 'Bias, keeping wide andrunning--yet not seeming to hasten--over the unbroken ground to theleft. 

"Captain Hunken!"

'Bias, throwing all his weight back on the plough-tail, brought his teamto a halt and looked around. He was bewildered, yet he recognised thevoice. 

While he paused thus, Cai steadily advanced to meet and pass him. He was plainly at the mercy of his team--a grey and a brown, both ofconspicuous height--and they were drawing the furrow at their own sweetwill. But he, too, clung to the plough-tail, and his lips werecompressed, his eyes rigid, as he drew nearer, to meet and pass hisadversary. He, likewise, had cast coat and waistcoat aside: his hat hehad entrusted to an unknown backer. He saw nothing, as he came, but theline of the furrow he prayed to achieve. 

"Captain Hocken!" She stepped forward hardily, holding up a hand, andCai's team, too, came to a halt as if ashamed. "What--_what_ is themeaning of this foolishness?"

"I've had enough, it _he_ has, " said Cai sheepishly, glancing past herand at 'Bias. 

"I ain't doin' this for fun, ma'am, " owned 'Bias. "Fact is, I'd 'mostas lief steer a monkey by the tail. "

"Then drop it this instant, the pair of you!"

'Bias scratched his head. 

"As for that, ma'am, I don't see how we can oblige. There's money onit--bets. "

"There won't be money's worth left in my field, at the rate you'respoilin' it. " She turned upon the two judges, who were advancingtimidly to placate her, while the crowd hung back. "And now, MrNicholls--now, Mr Widger--I'd like to hear what _you_ have to say tothis!"

"'Tis a pretty old cauch, sure 'nough, " allowed Mr Sam Nicholls, pushingup the brim of his hat on one side and scratching his head while his eyetravelled along the furrows. "Cruel!"

"And you permitted it! You, that might be supposed to have _some_knowledge o' farmin'!"

"Why, to be sure, ma'am, " interposed Mr Widger, "we never reckoned as'twould be so bad as all this. . . . Young Bill Crago came to us withword as how these--these two gentlemen--had made a match, and he askedus to do the judgin' same as for the classes 'pon the bills--"

"And so you started them? And then, I suppose, you couldn't stop forlaughin'?"

"Something like that, ma'am, _as_ you say, " Mr Widger confessed. 

"And what sort o' speech will you make, down to County Council, when Isend in my bill for damages?--you that complained to me, only thismornin', how the rates were goin' up by leaps and bounds! . . . As forthese gentlemen, " said Mrs Bosenna, turning on Cai and 'Bias with just atwinkle of mischief in her eyes, "I shall be at home to-morrow morningif they choose to call and make me an offer--unless, o' course, theyprefer to do so by letter. "

At this, Dinah put up her hand suddenly to cover her mouth. But Cai and'Bias were in no state of mind to catch the double innuendo. 

Having thus reduced the judges to contrition, and having proceeded tocall forward the local secretary and to extort from him a long andpainful apology, Mrs Bosenna wound up with a threat to bundle the wholeDemonstration out of her field if she heard of any further nonsense, and, taking Dinah's arm, sailed off (so to speak) with all the trophiesof war. 

Cai and 'Bias walked away shamefacedly to seek out their bottleholdersand collect each his hat, coat, and waistcoat. 

"But which of ee's won?" demanded their backers. 

"_Damn_ who's won!" was 'Bias's answer; and he looked too dangerous tobe pressed further. 

A wager is a wager, however; and the judges' decision was clamoured for, with threats that, until it was given, the Agricultural Demonstrationwould not be suffered to proceed. Mr Sam Nicholls consulted hastilywith Mr Widger, and announced the award as follows:--

"We consider Captain Hunken's ploughin' to be the very worst ploughin'we've ever seen. But we award him the prize all the same, because wedon't consider Captain Hocken's ploughin' to be any ploughin' at all. "

_Solvuntur risu tabulae_--They can laugh, too, at Troy!

CHAPTER XIX. 

ROSES AND THREE-PER-CENTS. 

Although in her rose-garden--the rose-garden proper--Mrs Bosenna grewall varieties of "Hybrid Perpetuals" (these ranked first with her, asbest suited to the Cornish soil and climate), with such "Teas" and"Hybrid Teas" as took her fancy, and while she pruned these plants hardin spring, to produce exhibition blooms, sentiment or good taste hadforbidden her to disturb the old border favourites that lined thepathway in front of the house, or covered its walls and even pushed pastthe eaves to its chimneys. Some of these had beautified Rilla year byyear for generations: the Provence cabbage-roses, for instance, in theborder, the Crimson Damask and striped Commandant Beaurepaire; themoss-roses, pink and white, the China rose that bloomed on into Januaryby the porch. These, with the Marechal Niel by her bedroom window, thescented white Banksian that smothered the southern wall, and theclimbing Devoniensis that nothing would stop or stay until its flag wasplanted on the very roof-ridge, had greeted her, an old man's bride, onher first home-coming. They had, in the mysterious way of flowers, soothed some rebellion of young blood and helped to reconcile her to alot which, for a shrewd and practical damsel, was, after all, notunenviable. She had no romance in her, and was quite unaware that theroses had helped; but she took a sensuous delight in them, and this hadstarted her upon her hobby. A success or two in local flower-shows haddone the rest. 

Now with a rampant climber such as Rosa Devoniensis it is advisable tocut out each autumn, and clean remove some of the old wood; and this isno easy job when early neglect has allowed the plant to riot up and overthe root-thatch. Mrs Bosenna had a particular fondness for this rose, and for the gipsy flush which separates it from other white roses as anunmistakable brunette. Yet she was sometimes minded to cut it down anduproot it, for the perverse thing would persist on flowering at itssummit, and William Skin, sent aloft on ladders--whether in autumn orspring to prune this riot, or in summer to reap blooms by the armful--invariably did damage to the thatch. 

Mrs Bosenna, then, gloved and armed with a pair of secateurs, stood nextmorning by the base of the Devoniensis holding debate with herself. 

The issue--that she would decide to spare the offender for yet anotheryear--was in truth determined; for already William Skin had planted oneladder against the house-wall and had shuffled off to the barn foranother, to be hoisted on to the slope of the thatch, and there belayedwith a rope around the chimney-stack. But she yet played with theresolve, taken last year, to be stern and order execution. She wasstill toying with it when the garden-gate clicked, and looking up, sheperceived Captain Cai. 

"Ah! . . . Good morning, Captain Hocken!"

Cai advanced along the pathway and gravely doffed his hat. "Good morning, ma'am--if I don't intrude?"

"Not at all. In fact I was expecting you. "

"Er--on which errand, ma'am?"

"--Which?" echoed Mrs Bosenna, as if she did not understand. 

"Shall we take the more painful business first?" suggested Cai humbly. "If indeed it has not--er--wiped out the other. The damage doneyesterday to your field, ma'am--"

"Have you brought Captain Hunken along with you?" asked Mrs Bosenna, interrupting him. 

"No, ma'am. He will be here in half an hour, sharp. " Cai consulted hiswatch. 

"You have stolen a march on him then?" she smiled. 

Cai flushed. "No, again, ma'am. Er--in point of fact we tossed upwhich should call first. "

"Then, " said she calmly, "we'll leave that part of the business until hearrives; though, since it concerns you both, I can't see why you did notbring him along with you. Do you know, " she added with admirablesimplicity, "it has struck me once or twice of late that you and CaptainHunken are not the friends you were?"

Still Cai stared, his face mantling with confusion. This woman was anenigma to him. Surely she must understand? Surely she must havereceived that brace of letters to which she evaded all allusion?And here was she just as blithely postponing all allusion to yesterday'soffence!

But no; not quite, it seemed; for she continued--

"I cannot think why you two should challenge one another as you didyesterday, and make sillies of yourselves before a lot of farmers. It--it humiliates you. "

"We were a pair of fools, " conceded Cai. 

"What men cannot see somehow, " she went on angrily, "is that it doesn'tend there. That kind of thing humiliates a woman; especially when--whenshe happens to be cast on her own resources and it is everything to herto find a man she can trust. "

Mrs Bosenna threw into these words so much feeling that Cai in a momentforgot self. His awkwardness fell from him as a garment. 

"You may trust me, ma'am. Truly you may. Tell me only what I can do. "

At this moment William Skin--a crab-apple of a man, whose infirmity ofdeafness had long since reduced all the world for him to a vaintolerable show, in which so much went unexplained that nothing causedsurprise--came stumbling around the corner of the house with awaggon-rope and a second ladder, which he proceeded to rest alongsidethe first one; showing the while no recognition of Cai's presence, evenby a nod. 

"I want you, " said Mrs Bosenna, "to invest a hundred pounds for me. Oh!"--as Cai gave a start and glanced at Skin--"we may talk before him:he's as deaf as a haddock. "

"A hundred pounds?" queried Cai, still in astonishment. 

"Yes; it's a sum I happen to have lyin' idle. At this moment it's inthe Bank, on deposit, where they give you something like two-and-a-halfonly: and in the ordinary way I should put it into Egyptian three percents, or perhaps railways. My poor dear Samuel always had a greatopinion of Egypt, for some reason. He used to say how pleasant it wasin church to hear the parson readin' about Moses and the bulrushes, andthe plague of frogs and suchlike, and think he had money invested inthat very place, and how different it was in these days. Almost in hislast breath he was beggin' me to promise to stick to Egyptians, or atany rate to something at three per cent and gilt-edged: because, yousee, he'd always managed all the business and couldn't believe thatwomen had any real sense in money affairs. . . . I didn't make anypromise, really; though in a sort of respect to his memory I've kept onputtin' loose sums into that sort of thing. Three per cent is a sillyrate of interest, when all is said and done: but of course the poor dearthought he was leavin' me all alone in the world, with no friend toadvise. . . . "

"I see, " said Cai, his heart beginning to beat fast. "And it'sdifferent now?"

"I--I was hopin' so, " said Mrs Bosenna softly. 

Cai glanced at the back of William Skin, who had started to hum--orrather to croon--a tuneless song while knotting a rope to the secondladder. No: it was impossible to say what he wished to say in thepresence of William Skin, confound him! Skin's deafness, Skin'simperturbability, might have limits. . . . 

"You wish me to advise you?" he controlled himself to ask. 

"No, I don't. I wish you--if you'll do me the favour--just to take themoney and invest it without consultin' me. It's--well, it's like themaster in the Bible--the man who gave out the talents. . . . Only don'twrap it in a napkin!" She laughed. "I don't even want to be told_what_ you do with the money. I'd rather not be told, in fact. I want to trust you. "

"Why?"

She laughed again, this time more shyly. "'Trust is proof, '" sheanswered, quoting the rustic adage. "You have given me some right tomake that proof, I think?"

Ah--to be sure--the letters! She must, of course, have received hisletter, along with 'Bias's, though this was her first allusion to it. . . . Cai's brain worked in a whirl for some moments. She was offeringhim a test; she was yielding upon honest and prudent conditions; she wasas good as inviting him to win her. . . . To do him justice, he hadnever--never, at any rate, consciously--based his wooing on her wealth. For aught he cared, she might continue to administer all she possessed. The comforts of Rilla Farm may have helped to attract him, but herselfhad been from the first the true spell. 

He did not profess any knowledge of finance. A return of four per centon his own modest investments contented him, and he left these to MrRogers. 

"Ah!"

His mind had caught, of a sudden, at a really brilliant idea. 

"I accept, " said he firmly, looking Mrs Bosenna hard in the eyes, andher eyes sank under his gaze. 

"Hi! Heads!" sang out a voice, and simultaneously the ladder whichWilliam Skin had been hauling aloft, came crashing down and struck theflagged path scarcely two yards away. 

A second later Cai had Mrs Bosenna in his arms. "You are not hurt?" hegasped. 

She disengaged herself with a half-hysterical laugh. "Hurt?Am I? . . . No, of course I am not. "

"The damned rope slipped, " growled William Skin in explanation, from hisperch on the ladder under the eaves. 

"Slipped?" Cai ran to the rope and examined it. "Of course it slipped, you lubber!" He stepped back on the pathway and spoke up to Skin as hewould have talked on shipboard to a blundering seaman in thecross-trees. "Ain't a slip-knot _made_ to slip? And when a man's foolenough to tie one in place of a hitch--"

He cast off the rope, bent it around the rung with, as it seemed, oneturn of the hand, and with a jerk had it firm and true. 

"Make way, up there!" he called. 

"You're never going to--to risk yourself, " protested Mrs Bosenna. 

"Risk myself? Lord, ma'am, for what age d'ye take me?" Cai caught upthe slack of the rope and hitched it taut over his shoulder. He wasrejuvenated. He made a spring for the ladder, and went up it much astwenty years ago he would have swarmed up the ratlines. "Make yourselfsmall, " he commanded, as Skin, at imminent risk of falling, drew to oneside before his onset. Cai was past him in a jiffy, over the eaves, balancing himself with miraculous ease on the slippery thatch. "Now ease up the ladder!"

He had anchored himself by pure trick of balance, and was pulling with asteady hand almost as soon as Skin, collecting his wits, could reach outto fend the ladder off from crushing the edge of the eaves. Ten secondslater, by seaman's sleight of foot, he had gained a second anchoragehalf-way up the slope, had gathered up all the slack of the rope into aseaman's coil, and with a circular sweep of the arm had flung it deftlyaround the chimney. The end, instead of sliding down to his hand, hitched itself among the thorns of the rampant Devoniensis. Did thisdaunt him? It checked him for an instant only. The next, he hadbalanced himself for a fresh leap, gained the roof-ridges, and, seatedastride of it, was hauling up the ladder, hand over fist, close to thechimney-base. 

The marvel was, the close thatch showed no trace of having been trampledor disturbed. 

"Darn the feller, he's as ajjile as a cat!" swore William Skin. 

"Pass up the clippers, you below!" Cai commanded, forgetting that theman was deaf. "If your mistress'll stand back in the path a bit, I'llpick out the shoots one by one and hold 'em up for her to see, so's shecan tell me which to cut away. "

"You'll scratch your hands to ribbons, " Mrs Bosenna warned him. 

"'Tisn't worth while comin' down for a pair of hedgin' gloves. . . . I say, though--I've a better notion! 'Stead of lettin' this fellow runriot here around the chimney-stack, why not have him down and peg himhorizontal, more or less, across and along the thatch, where he can beseen?"

"Capital!" she agreed. "He'd put out more than twice the number ofblooms too. They do always best when laid lateral. "

"He'll come down bodily with a little coaxin'. The question is how topeg him when he's down?"

"Rick-spars, " answered Mrs Bosenna promptly. "The small kind. There'sdozens in the waggon-house loft. " She signalled to William Skin to comedown, bawled an order in his ear, and despatched him to fetch a score orso. 

"Hullo!" cried Cai, who, being unemployed for the moment, had leisure tolook around and enjoy the view from the roof-ridge. "If it isn't 'Biascomin' up the path! . . . Hi! 'Bias!" he hailed boyishly, in the oldfriendly tone. 

'Bias, stooping to unlatch the gate, heard the call which descended, asit were, straight from heaven, and gazed about him stupidly. He wasaware of Mrs Bosenna in the pathway, advancing a step or two to make himwelcome. She halted and laughed, with a glance up towards the roof. 'Bias's eyes slowly followed hers. 

"Lord!" he muttered, "what made ye masthead him up there? . . . Beenmisbehavin', has he? 'Tis the way I've served 'prentices afore now. "

"On the contrary, he has been behaving beautifully--"

"Here, 'Bias!" called down Cai again. "Heft along the tall ladder halfa dozen yards to the s'yth'ard, and stand by to help. I'm bringin' downthis plaguy rose-bush, and I'll take some catchin' if I slip with it. "

"'Who ran and caught him when he fell?' 'His Bias, '" quoted MrsBosenna. "He has been doin' wonders up there, Captain Hunken. But if Iwere you--a man of your weight--"

"I reckon, " said 'Bias, stepping forward and seizing the ladder, whichhe lifted as though it had been constructed of bamboo, "I han't forgotall I learnt o' reefin' off the Horn. " He planted the ladder and hadmounted it in a jiffy. "Now, then, what's the programme?" he demanded. 

"You see this rose? Well, I got to collect it--I've tried the mainstem, and it'll bend all right, --and then I got to slide down to you. After that we've to peg it out somewheres above the eaves, as Madamgives orders. See?"

"I see. When you're ready, slide away. "

Just then William Skin came hurrying back with an armful of rick-spars:and within ten minutes the two rivals were hotly at work--yetcheerfully, intelligently, as though misunderstanding had never been, --clipping out dead wood from the rose-bush, layering it, pegging it, driving in the spars, --while Mrs Bosenna called directions, and WilliamSkin gazed, with open mouth. 

"This is better than ploughin', ma'am?" challenged Cai in his glee. 

"So much better, " agreed the widow, smiling up, "that I've almost a mindto forgive the pair of you. "

"But I won't ask you to stay for dinner to-day, " she said later, whenthe tangled mass of the Devoniensis had been separated, shoot fromshoot, and pegged out to the last healthy-looking twig, and the two menstood, flushed but safe, on the pathway beside her. She stole aconfidential little glance at Cai. "For I understand from CaptainHocken that you prefer to make your excuses separately. I have alreadyforgiven _him_: and it's only fair to give Captain Hunken his turn. "

Who less suspicious than Cai? Had he been suspicious at all, whatbetter reassurance than the sly pressure of her hand as he bade hergood-day? . . . Poor 'Bias!

Once past the gate, and out of sight, Cai felt a strange desire to skip!

"Well, mistress, you are a bold one, I must say!" commented Dinah thatnight by the kitchen fire, where Mrs Bosenna enjoyed a chat and, at thisseason of the year, a small glass of hot brandy-and-water, with a sliceof lemon in it, before going to bed. 

"I don't see where the boldness comes in, " said the widow. She wasstudying the fire, and spoke inattentively. 

"Two hundred pounds!"

"Eh? . . . There's no risk in that. You may say what you like ofCaptain Hocken or of Captain Hunken: but they're honest as children. The money's as safe with them as in the bank. "

"Well, it do seem to me a dashin' and yet a very cold-blooded way ofchoosin' a man. Now, if I was taken with one--"

"Well?" prompted Mrs Bosenna, as Dinah paused. 

"Call me weak, but I couldn't help it. I should throw myself straightat his head, an' ask him to trample me under his boots!"

"A nice kind of husband you'd make of him then!" said her mistressscornfully. 

"I know, I know, " agreed Dinah. "I've no power o' resistance at all, an' I daresay the Almighty has saved me a lifetime o' trouble. 'Twould ha' been desperet pleasant at the time though. " She sighed. 

"But to give two men a hundred pound each, an' choose the one thatmanages it best--"

"Worst, " corrected Mrs Bosenna. "You ninny!" she went on with sovereigncontempt. "Do you really suppose I'd marry a man that could handle mymoney, or was vain enough to suppose he could?"

"O--oh!" gasped Dinah as she took enlightenment. . . . "But two hundredpounds is a terrible sum to spend in findin' out which o' two men is thebigger fool. Why not begin wi' the one you like best, and find outfirst if he's foolish enough to suit?"

"Because, " answered Mrs Bosenna, turning meditative eyes again upon thefire, "I don't happen to know which I like best. "

"Then you can't be in love, " declared foolish Dinah. 

"Sensible women ain't; not until afterwards. . . . Now, which would youadvise me to marry?"

"Captain Hunken. " Dinah's answer was prompt. "He's that curt. I likea man to be curt; he makes it so hard for 'ee to say no. Besides which, as you might say, that parrot of his did break the ice in a manner ofspeakin'. "

"Dinah, I'm ashamed of you. "

"Well, mistress, natur' is natur': and we knows what we can't helpknowin'. "

"That's true, " Mrs Bosenna agreed. It was her turn to sigh. 

"Cap'n Hunken's the man, " repeated Dinah. She nodded her head on it andpaused. "Though, if you ask my opinion, Cap'n Hocken 'd make the betterhusband. "

"It's difficult. "

"Ay. . . . For my part I don't know what you want with a husband atall. "

"Nor I, " said Mrs Bosenna, still gazing into the fire. 

"At the best 'tis a risk. "

Mrs Bosenna sighed again. "If it weren't, where'd be the fun?"

CHAPTER XX. 

A NEWSPAPER PARAGRAPH. 

Mr Rogers enjoyed his newspaper. To speak more accurately, he enjoyedseveral: and one of Fancy's duties--by no means the least pleasant orthe least onerous--was to read to him daily the main contents of'The Western Morning News, ' 'The Western Daily Mercury, ' and'The Shipping Gazette': and on Thursdays from cover to cover--at aspecial afternoon _seance_--'The Troy Herald, ' with its weekly bulletinof more local news. 

"What's the items this week?" asked Mr Rogers, puffing at a freshly litpipe and settling himself down to listen. 

Fancy opened the paper at its middle sheet, folded it back and scannedit. 

"Here we are. 'If you want corsets, go to--' no, that's anadvertisement. 'Troy Christian Endeavour. Under the auspices of theabove-named flourishing society--'"

"Skip the Christian Endeavour. "

"Very well. The next is 'Wesley Guild. A goodly company met this weekto hear the Rev. J. Bates Handcock on "Gambling: its Cause and Cure. "The reverend gentleman is always a favourite at Troy--'"

"He's none of mine, anyway. Skip the Wesley Guild. "

"Right-o! 'On Wednesday last, in spite of counter attractions, muchinterest was testified by those who assembled in the Institute Hall tohear Mr Trudgeon, lately returned from the United States, on the GreatCanyon of Colorado, illustrated with lantern slides. The lecturer in agenial manner, after personally conducting his audience across the GreatContinent--'"

"Damn, " said Mr Rogers. "Get on to the drunks. Ain't there any?"

"Seems not. How will this do?"

 'Report says that Monday's Agricultural Demonstration --a full report of which will be found in another column--was not without its comic relief, beloved of dramatists. On dit that--'"

"On what?"

"Dit. Misprint, perhaps. "

 'On dit that two highly respected sons of the brine, recently settled in our midst, and one of whom has recently been elected to teach our young ideas how to shoot, were so fired with emulation by the ploughing in Class C as to challenge one another then and there to a trial of prowess, much to the entertainment of our agricultural friends. The stakes were for a considerable amount, and the two heroes who had elected to plough something more solid than the waves, quickly found themselves the observed of all observers. Rumour, that lying jade, hints at a lady in the case. Certain it is that the pair, whose names have of late been syn--been sy-nonymous--with, '--

"--O Lor'! here's a heap of it, master!"

"Skip the long syllables an' get on. "

"H'm--m--"

 '--acquitted themselves to the astonishment of the judges, and of everybody else in the field. Search out the lady, as our Gallic neighbours say. '

--"Where's Gallic?"

"Don't know. Ask Shake Benny. He supplies the Troy Notes to the'Herald. '"

"Oh, does he?"

"Yes: he gets his gossip off Philp; and dresses it up. That's how it'sdone. Philp has a nose like a ferret's: but he was unfort'nit in hiseducation. You may trust Philp to get at the facts--leastways you cantrust him for gossip: but he can't dress anything up. . . . Why, what'sthe matter with the child?"

Fancy Tabb never laughed: and this was the queerer because she had asense of humour beyond her years. Though by no means a gleeful childshe could express glee naturally enough: but a joke merely affected herwith silent convulsive twitchings, as though the risible facultiesstruggled somewhere within her but could not bring the laugh to birth. 

These spasms of mirth, whatever had provoked them, were cut short--andher explanation too--by a heavy footstep on the stairs. 

"Cap'n Hunken!" she announced, and went to open the door. "Most like hewants to talk business with you same as Cap'n Hocken did this morning, and I'd better make myself scarce. That's the silly way they've takento behave, 'stead of callin' together. "

"Ay, you're sharp, missy, " said her master. "But 'twon't be the samearrand this time, as it happens: so you're wrong for once. "

Fancy, if she heard, did not answer, for 'Bias by this time had reachedthe landing without. She opened to him. "Good afternoon, sir. "

"Afternoon, missy. I saw your father in the shop, and he told me towalk up. Mr Rogers disengaged?"

"Ay, Cap'n--walk in, walk in!" said Mr Rogers from his chair. What is it to-day? Business? or just a pipe and a chat?"

"Well, it's business, " allowed 'Bias with a glance at the girl. "But I'll light a pipe over it, if you don't mind. "

"And I'll fit and make tea for you both, " said Fancy. "It's near abouttime. "

She vanished and closed the door behind her. 'Bias found a chair, seated himself, and filled his pipe very slowly and thoughtfully. Mr Rogers waited. 

"The business that brings me--" 'Bias paused, struck a match and litup--"ain't quite the ordinary business. "

"No?"

"No. " For a few seconds 'Bias appeared to be musing. "In fact youmight call it a--a sort o' flutter. That's the word--ain't it?--whenyou take a bit o' money and play venturesome with it, against your usualhabits. "

"Ay?" Mr Rogers looked at him sharply. "When I say venturesome, "continued 'Bias, "you'll understand I don't mean foolhardy. . . . Nothin' o' the sort. I want to hear o' something tolerably safe, intowhich a man might put a small sum he happened to have lyin' about. "

"What sort of investment?"

"Ay, that's just what I want you to tell me. Ten per cent, we'll say, an' no more'n a moderate risk. . . . I reckoned as a man like you mightknow, maybe, o' half a dozen things o' the sort. "

"What's the amount?" Mr Rogers's eyes, that had opened wide for amoment, narrowed themselves upon him in a curiosity that hid somehumour. 

"Put it at a hundred pound. "

"Oh!--er--I mean, is that all?"

"You see, " exclaimed 'Bias. "You mustn' run away wi' the notion that Iain't satisfied as things are. Four and five per cent--and that's whatyou get for me--does best in the main. I can live within the income andsleep o' nights. But once in a way--"

"Ay, " interrupted Mr Rogers, "and more especially when _it's to oblige afriend_. "

'Bias withdrew the pipe from his mouth and stared. "You're a cleverone, too! . . . Well, and I don't mind you're knowin'. 'Tis a relief, in a way: for now you know I'm pleased enough with your dealins' on myown account. "

"Thank 'ee. I'm not askin' no names. "

"As to that, I'd rather not mention the name, either. But I'd be veryglad o' your advice: for 'tis important to me, in a way o' speakin'!"

Mr Rogers nodded. "If that's so, " said he, "you must give me a littletime to think. There's mortgages, o' course: and there's deals to bedone in shipping: and there's money-lendin, --though you'd object tothat, maybe. . . . Anyway, you come to me to-morrow, and I may havesomething to propose. "

"Thank 'ee. I take that as friendly. "

"Right. " Mr Rogers let drop a trembling half-paralysed hand towards thenewspaper which lay on the floor beside his chair. "Would ye mind--"

'Bias stepped forward and picked it up for him. 

"Thank 'ee. No: I want you to keep it. . . . I'm goin' to do a thingthat's friendlier yet: though it be a risk. Open the paper at themiddle sheet--right-hand side, an' look out a column headed'Troy News. ' . . . Got it?"

"Half a moment--Yes, ' Troy News'--Here we are!"

"Now cast your eye down the column till you come 'pon a part about lastMonday's Agricultural Demonstration. "

"The devil!" swore 'Bias. "You don't mean to say--"

"'Course I do. Everything gets into the papers nowadays. . . . You'll find it spicy. "

'Bias found the paragraph and started to read, with knitted brows. Its journalistic style held him puzzled for fully half a minute. Then he ejaculated "Ha!" and snorted. After another ten seconds hesnorted again and exploded some bad words--some very bad words indeed. 

"Thought I'd warn you to be careful, " said Mr Rogers. "You don't takeit amiss, I hope? In a little place like this there's eyes about allthe time--an' tongues. "

"I'd like to find the joker who wrote it?" breathed 'Bias, the papertrembling between his hands. 

"I can't tell you who _wrote_ it, " said the ship-chandler; "but I cangive a pretty close guess who's responsible for it: and that's Philp. "

"Philp?"

"Mind ye, I say 'tis but a guess. "

"I'll Philp him!"

"Well, he's no fav'rite o' mine, " said Mr Rogers grinning. "He's toosuspicious for me, and I hate a man to be suspicious. . . . But he's theman I suspect. "

"Where does he live?"

"Union Place--two flights o' steps below John Peter Nanjulian's--left-hand side as you go up. But you can't have it out with him onsuspicion only. "

"Can't I?" said 'Bias grimly. "I'll ask him plain 'yes' or 'no. 'If he says 'yes, ' I'll know what to do, and you may lay I'll do it. "

"But if he says 'no'?"

"Then I'll call him a liar, " promised 'Bias without a moment'sindecision. "That'll touch him up, I should hope. . . . _Where_ did yousay he lives?"

At this moment there came a knock at the door and Fancy entered with thetea-tray. 

"If you'd really like a talk with him, " said Mr Rogers, blinking, "maybe you'd best let the child here take you to his house. . . . Eh, missy? Cap'n Hunken tells me as how he'd like to pay a call 'pon MrPhilp, up in Union Place. "

"Now?" asked Fancy. 

"The sooner the better, " answered 'Bias, crushing 'The Troy Herald'between his hands. 

Fancy's hands, disencumbered of the tea-tray, began to twitch violently. "Very well, master, " was all she said, however; and with that she leftthe room to fetch her hat and small cloak. 

"I'd advise you to tackle Philp gently, " was Mr Rogers's warning as soonas the pair were alone. "Not that I've any likin' for the man: but thepoint is, you've no evidence. He'll tell you--and, likely enough, withtruth--as he never act'ally wrote what's printed. "

"You leave him to me, " answered 'Bias grimly, gulping his tea andpreparing to sally forth. 

"An' you might remember to leave the child outside. If a lady's name isto be handled in the discussion, you understand. . . . Besides which, witnesses are apt to be awk'ard. Two's the safe number when there's adelicate point to be cleared up. "

Fancy reappeared and announced herself ready. 'Bias caught up his hat. . . . Left to himself, Mr Rogers lay back in his chair and chuckled. He did not care two straws for Mr Philp, or for what might happen tohim. His mind was off on quite another train of thought. 

"I wonder what the woman's game is? 'A hundred pound lyin' idle'--andHocken around with the same tale this forenoon. . . . Ten per cent, andat a moderate risk. . . . She's shrewd, too, by all accounts. . . . Damme, if this isn't a queer cross-runnin' world! A woman like that, ifI'd had the luck to meet her a three-four year ago--before _this_happened!" . . . He eyed his palsied hand as it reached out, shaking, for the tea-cup. 

"When we get to the door, " said 'Bias heavily, as he and Fancy turnedout of the street into the narrow entry of Union Place, "you're to stepback and run away home. "

"No fear, " she assured him. "I'm doin' you a favour, an' don't youforget it. "

"But you can't come inside with me. "

"_That's_ all right. Nobody said as I wanted to, in my hearin'. I can see all I want to see. There's a flight o' steps runnin' up closeoutside the window. "

She pointed it out and quite candidly indicated the point at which sheproposed to perch herself. "And there's another window at the back, "she added: "so's you can see all that's happenin' inside. "

"Better fit you ran away home, " he repeated. 

"You can't _make_ me, " retorted Fancy. "Unless, o' course, you chooseto use force, here in broad daylight. As a friend of mine said, onlythe other day, " she went on, snatching at a purple patch from'Pickerley, ' "the man as would lift his hand against a woman deserveswhatever can be said of him. Public opinion will condemn him in thislife, and, in the next, worms are his portion. So there!"

"I dunno what you're talkin' about, " said 'Bias, preoccupied with thethought of coming vengeance. 

"Who's meanin' to lift his hand against a woman?"

"Well, mind you don't, that's all!"

She left him standing on the doorstep, and skipped away up the steps. Having reached a point which commanded a view over the blinds of MrPhilp's front window, she gave a glance into the room, and at once herarms and legs started to twitch as though in the opening movement ofsome barbaric war-dance. 

'Bias, still inattentive, took no heed of these contortions. After amoment's pause he rapped sharply on the door with the knob of hiswalking-stick, then boldly lifted the latch and strode into the passage. 

On his right the door of the front parlour stood ajar. He thrust itwide open and entered. And, as he entered, a female figure arose from achair on the far side of the room. 

"I--I beg your pardon, ma'am!" stammered 'Bias, falling back a pace. 

"Polly wants a kiss!" screamed a voice. It did not seem to proceed fromthe lady. . . . Somehow, too, it was strangely familiar. . . . 'Bias stared wildly about him. 

At the same moment, and just as his eyes fell on the parrot-cage on thetable, the lady--But was it a lady? Heavens! what did it resemble--thisfigure in female attire?

"Drat your bird! He won't say no worse! And this is the third mornin'I've sat temptin' him!"

Mr Philp--yes, it was Mr Philp--in black merino frock, Paisley shawl andribboned cap on which a few puce-coloured poppies nodded--Mr Philp, witha handful of knitting, and a ball of worsted trailing at his feet--But it is impossible to construct a sentence which would do justice toMr Philp as he loomed up and swam into ken through 'Bias's awed surmise;and the effort shall be abandoned. 

Mr Philp slowly unwound the woollen wrap that had swathed his beard outof sight. 

"Clever things, birds, " said Mr Philp, and his voice seemed to regainits identity as the folds of the bandage dropped from him. "I wonderwhether shavin' would help! . . . I don't like to be beat. "

'Bias, who had come with that very intent, lifted a hand--but let itfall again. No, he could not!

"Good Lord!" he ejaculated, and fled from the house. 

Outside, Fancy--who had seen all--was executing a fandango on the step. 

"Help!" she called, taunting him. "_Who_ talked o' liftin' a handagainst a woman?"

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE AUCTION. 

One result of the paragraph in 'The Troy Herald' was to harden the twofriends' estrangement just at the moment when it promised to melt. Troy with its many amenities has a deplorable appetite for gossip; andto this appetite the contention of Captain Hocken and Captain Hunken forMrs Bosenna's hand gave meat and drink. (There was, of course, nodifficulty in guessing what Mr Shake Benny would have called "the_inamorata's_ identity. ") Malicious folk, after their nature, assumedthe pair to be in quest of her money. The sporting ones laid bets. Every one discussed the item with that frankness which is socharacteristic of the little town, and so engaging when you arrive atknowing us, though it not infrequently disconcerts the newcomer. Barber Toy--having Cai at his mercy next morning, with a razor close tohis throat--heartily wished him success. 

"Not, " added Mr Toy, "that I bear any ill-will to Cap'n Hunken. But Iback a shaved chin on principle, for the credit of the trade. "

A sardonic and travelled seaman, waiting his turn in the corner, hereupon asked how he managed when it came to the Oxford and Cambridgeboat-race. 

"I'll tell you, " answered Mr Toy. "I wasn't at Oxford myself--_nor_ atCambridge; and for years I'd back one or 'nother, 'cordin' to thenewspapers. But that isn't a satisfactory way. When you're dealin'with an honest event--_honest_, mind you--as goes on year after yearbetween two parties both ekally set on winnin', the only way to get realsatisfaction is to pick your fancy an' go on backin' it. That gives yea different interest altogether, like with Liberal or Conservative at aGeneral Election. If you don't win this time, you look forward to next. . . . Well, one day Mr Philp here came into the shop wearin' a dark bluetie, and says I, 'You're Oxford. ' 'Am I?' says he--'It's the first I'veheard tell of it. ' 'You're Oxford, ' says I: 'and I'm Cambridge, forhalf-a-crown. ' Odd enough, Cambridge won that year by eight lengths. "

"I wonder you have the face to tell this story, " put in Mr Philp. 

The barber grinned. "Well, I thought as we'd both settled 'pon ourfancy, in a neighbourly way. But be dashed if, soon after the followin'Christmas, Mr Philp didn't send his tie to the wash, and it came backany blue you pleased. 'Make it one or t'other--_I_ don't care, ' said I:and he weighed the choice so long, bein' a cautious man, that we missedto make up any bet at all. If you'll believe me, that year they rowed adead heat. "

"Very curious, " commented Cai. 

"But that isn' the end, " continued the barber. "Next year he'd washedhis necktie again, and that 'twas Cambridge he couldn' dispute. So weput on another half-crown, and Oxford won by two lengths. . . . 'Twas apity I could never induce him to bet again, for his tie went on gettingCambridger and Cambridger, while Oxford won four years out o' five. "

"If you believe there was any honesty in it!" said Mr Philp. "'Twas only my suspicious natur' as saved me. "

The whole town, indeed, was watching the rivals, and with an openinterest very difficult to resent. Nay, since it was impossible to tellevery second man in the street to mind his own business, Cai and 'Biasaccepted the publicity perforce and turned their resentment upon oneanother. 

They continued, of course, to live apart, and Mrs Bowldler soon learnedto avoid playing the intermediary, even to the extent of suggesting(say) some concerted action over the coal supplies. After the firstfortnight no messages passed between them--

 "They stood aloof, the scars remaining, Like cliffs that had been rent asunder. "

If they met, in shop or roadway, they nodded, but exchanged no othergreeting. They never met at Rilla Farm. How it was agreed I know not, though Mrs Bosenna must have contrived it somehow; but they nowprosecuted their wooing openly on alternate days. Sunday she reservedfor what Sunday ought to be--a day of rest. 

"The artfulness!" exclaimed Mrs Bowldler on making discovery of thisarrangement. "But the men are no match for us, my dear"--this toFancy--"an' the oftener they marry us the cleverer they leave us. "

"Then 'tis a good job Henry the Eighth wasn' a woman, " commented Fancy. 

"There was some such case in the Scriptures, if you'll remember; and itsays that last of all the woman died also. If she did, you may be sureas 'twasn't till she chose. "

"I heard Mr Rogers say t'other day, 'Never marry a widow unless herfirst husband was hanged. '"

"Pray let us change the subjeck, " said Mrs Bowldler hastily. 

"Why? . . . What did Mr Bowldler die of? I've often meant to ask, " saidFancy, "and then again I've wondered sometimes if there ever was anysuch person. "

"There _was_ such a person. " Mrs Bowldler half-closed her eyes indreamy reminiscence. "Further than that I would not like to commitmyself. "

"He's dead, then?"

"He was a fitter in a ladies' tailorin', and naturally gay bytemperament. It led to misunderstandin's. . . . Dead? No, not that Iam aware of. For all I know he's still starrin' it somewhere in theprovinces. "

She protested that for the moment she must drop the subject, whichinvariably affected her with palpitations; but promised to return to itin confidence when she felt stronger. 

Throughout these days, however, and for many days to come, shediscoursed at large on the diplomacy of widows; warning Palmerston toshape his course in avoidance of them. And that budding author--who hadalready learnt to take his good things where he found them--boldlytransferred her warnings to the pages of 'Pickerley, ' which therebyarrived at resembling 'Pickwick' in one respect if in no other. 

From these generalities she would hark back, at shortest notice, to thepractical present. 

"It behoves us--seein' as how a tempory cloud has descended betweenthese two establishments--it behoves us, I say, to watch out for itssilver lining in one form or another. Which talking of silver remindsme of electro, and I'll ask you, Palmerston, if that's the way to leavea mustard-pot and call yourself an indoor male?"

Their estrangement had endured some three months before the rivals cameagain into public collision. 

The beginning of it happened through a very excusable misunderstanding. 

Is Christmas Day to be reckoned as an ordinary day of the week, or as aSunday, or as a _dies non?_ The reader must decide. 

Christmas Day that year fell on a Friday--one of the three week-daystacitly allotted to Cai, who may therefore be forgiven that he chose toreckon it as coming within the ordinary routine. He did so, and atabout three o'clock in the afternoon (which was bright and sunny) hereached the small gate of Rilla, to be aware of 'Bias striding up thepathway ahead of him. 

He gave chase in no small choler. 

"Look here, " he protested, panting; "haven't you made some mistake?This is Friday. "

"Christmas Day, " answered 'Bias, wheeling about. 

"I can't help that. 'Tis Friday. "

"An' next year 'twill be Saturday, " retorted 'Bias with a sour grin;"it that'll content you, when it comes. None of us can't help it. Th' almanack says 'tis Christmas Day, and ord'nary days o' the weekdon't count. Besides, 'tis quarter-day, and I've brought my rent. "

"I've brought mine, too, " replied Cai. "Well, we'll leave it to MrsBosenna to settle. "

They walked up to the house in silence. Dinah, who answered the bell, appeared to be somewhat upset at sight of the two on the doorsteptogether. (Yet we know that Dinah never opened the front door without aprecautionary survey. ) She admitted them to the front parlour, andopining that her mistress was somewhere's about the premises, departedin search of her. 

'Bias took up a position with his back to the fire and his legsa-straddle. Cai stuck his hands in his pockets and stared gloomily outof window. For some three minutes neither spoke, then Cai, of a sudden, gave a start. 

"There's that Middlecoat!" he exclaimed. 

"Hey?" 'Bias hurried to the window, but the young farmer had alreadypassed out of sight. 

"Look here, " suggested Cai, "it's just an well we turned up, one orboth. That man's a perfect bully, so she tells me. "

"She've told me the same, more than once. "

"Always pickin' some excuse for a quarrel. It ain't right for a womanto live alongside such a neighbour unprotected. "

"So I've told her. "

"Well, he's in the devil of a rage just now, --to judge by the look ofhim, an' the way he was smackin' his leg with an ash-plant as he wentby. "

"Was he now?" 'Bias considered for a moment. "You may depend he tookadvantage, not expectin' either of us to turn up to-day. . . . I shouldn't wonder if the maid properly scared him with news we werehere. "

Sure enough Dinah returned in a moment to report that her mistress wasin her rose-garden; and following her thither, they found Mrs Bosenna, flushed of face and evidently mastering an extreme discomposure. 

"I, --I hardly expected you, " she began. 

"It's Friday, " said Cai. 

"It's Christmas Day, " said 'Bias. "I reckon he counted on that, --thatMiddlecoat, I mean. "

"Eh? . . . Mr Middlecoat--"

"Saw him takin' his leave, not above three minutes ago. "

"You, --you saw him taking his leave?"

"Stridin' down the hill, angry as a bull, " Cai assured her. 

"He's a dreadful man to have for a neighbour, " confessed Mrs Bosenna, recovering grip on her composure. "The way he threatens and bullies!"

"I'll Middlecoat him, if he gives me but half a chance!" swore 'Bias. 

"If I'd known either of you was in hail. . . . But I reckoned you'd bothbe countin' this for a Sunday. "

"Christmas Day isn't Sunday, not more'n once in seven years, " objected'Bias. 

"It's Friday this year, " said Cai, with simple conviction. 

"Fiddlestick!" retorted 'Bias. "You can't make it out to be like anordinary Friday--I defy you. There's a--a _feelin'_ about the day. "

"It feels like Friday to me, " maintained Cai. 

But here Mrs Bosenna interposed. "'Twon't feel like Christmas to _me_then if you two start arguin'. 'Peace and goodwill' was the motto, as Ithought; but I don't see much of either abroad this afternoon. "

The pair started guiltily and avoided each other's eyes. Many a time indistant ports they had talked together of Christmas in England and ofChristmas fare--the goose, the plum-pudding. They had promisedthemselves a rare dinner to celebrate their first Christmas in England, and it had come to--what? To a dull meal eaten apart, served by a MrsBowldler on the verge of tears, and by a Palmerston frankly ravaged bywoe. It had happened--happened past recall, and as Mrs Bowldler hadmore than once observed in the course of the morning, the worst was notover yet. "For, " as she said, "out of two cold geese and two coldpuddings I'll trouble you this next week for your entrays and what-not. "

"What was Middlecoat's business, ma'am?--makin' so bold, " inquired'Bias. 

"Oh!" she answered quickly, "he's a terrible young man! Wants his ownway in everything, like most farmers, and turns violent when he can'tget it. . . . He came about next week's sale, among other things. "

"What sale, ma'am?"

"Why, surely you must have seen? The bills have been out for days. Squire Willyams is gettin' rid of his land this side of the stream, right down from here to the railway station. Fifty acres you may callit; the most of it waste or else coppice, --and coppice don't pay forcuttin'. You've almost to go down on your knees before anybody willcart it away. "

"I _did_ hear some word of it down in Toy's shop, now I come to think, "said Cai. "But if the land's worthless--"

"It's worth little enough to any one but me and Mr Middlecoat. You see, it marches right alongside our two farms, between them and the RailwayCompany's strip along the waterside, and--well, Rilla's freehold andMiddlecoat's is freehold, and it's nature, I suppose, to be jealous ofany third party interlopin'. But I don't want the land, and so I'vetold him; nor I won't bid against him and run up the price, --thoughthat's what they're aimin' at by an auction. "

"Then what in thunder does the fellow want?" demanded 'Bias. 

"If you'll climb 'pon the hedge yonder--that's my boundary--you'll see alittle strip of a field, not fifty yards wide, runnin' down this side ofthe plantation. It widens a bit, higher up the hill, but 'tis scarcelymore than a couple acres, even so. Barton's Orchard, they call it. "

"But what about it?" asked Cai, craning his neck over to examine theplot. 

"Why, to be sure I want to take it in for my roses. It lies rather toonear the trees, to be sure; but one could trench along the far side andfill the trench with concrete, to check their roots from spreadin' thisway; and all the soil is good along this side of the valley. "

"Then why not buy it, ma'am, since 'tis for sale? Though for my part, "added Cai, looking round upon the beds which, just now, were unsightlyenough, with stiff leafless shoots protruding above their winter mulch, "I can't think what you want with more roses than you have already. "

"One can never have too many roses, " declared Mrs Bosenna. "Let be thatthere's new ones comin' out every year, faster than you can keep countwith them. Folks'll never persuade me that the old H. P. 's don't do bestfor Cornwall; but when you go in for exhibition there's the judges andtheir fads to be considered, and the rage nowadays is all for Teas andhigh centres. . . . When first I heard as that parcel of ground waslikely to come in the market, I sat down and planned how I'd lay it outwith three long beds for the very best Teas, and fence off the top witha rose hedge--Wichurianas or Penzance sweet briars--and call it myJubilee Garden; next year bein' the Diamond Jubilee, you know. All theplants could be in before the end of February, and I'll promise myselfthat by June, when the Queen's day came round, there shouldn't be aloyaller-bloomin' garden in the land. "

"Well, " allowed Cai, "that's sensibler anyway than puttin' up arches andmottoes. But what's to prevent ye?"

"'Tis that nasty disagreeable Mr Middlecoat, " answered Mrs Bosennapettishly. "He comes and tells me now as that strip has always been theapple of his eye. . . . It's my belief he wants to grow roses againstme; and what's more, it's my belief he'd swallow up all Rilla if hecould; which is better land than his own, acre for acre. It angers himto live alongside a woman and be beaten by her at every point o'farmin'. "

"But you've the longer purse, ma'am, as I understand, " suggested 'Bias. "Talkin' o' which--" He fumbled in his breast-pocket and produced anenvelope. 

"My rent, ma'am. "

"Ay, to be sure: and mine, ma'am, " Cai likewise produced his rent. 

"You are the most punctual of tenants!" laughed Mrs Bosenna, taking thetwo envelopes. "But after all, they say, short reckonin's make longfriends. "

She divided a glance between them, to be shared as they would. 

"But as I was suggestin' ma'am--why not attend the sale and outbid thefellow?"

"So I can, of course: and so I will, perhaps. Still it's not pleasantto live by a neighbour who thinks he can walk in and hector you, justbecause you're a woman. "

"You want protection: that's what you want, " observed 'Bias fatuously. 

"In your place, " said Cai with more tact, "I should forbid him thepremises. "

For some reason Mrs Bosenna omitted to invite them to stay and drinktea: and after a while they took their leave together. At the foot ofthe descent, as they gained the highroad, Cai faced about and asked, "Which way?"

"I was thinkin' to stretch my legs around Four Turnin's, " answered'Bias, although as a matter of fact the intention had that instantoccurred to him. 

"Well, so long!" Cai nodded and turned towards the town. "Complimentsof the season, " he added. 

"Same to you. "

They walked off in opposite directions. 

On his way home through the town Cai took occasion to study the Bill ofAuction on one of the hoardings. It advertised the property in separatesmall lots, of which Barton's Orchard figured as No. 9. The bill gaveits measurement as 1 acre, 1 rood, 15 perches. The sale would takeplace at the Ship Hotel, Troy, on Monday, January 4, 1897, at 2. 30 P. M. Messrs Dewy and Moss, Auctioneers. 

In the course of the next week he made one or two attempts to sound MrsBosenna and assure himself that she meant to attend the sale and secureLot 9; but she spoke of it with an irritating carelessness. Almost itmight have persuaded him--had he been less practised in her waywardmoods--that she had dismissed the affair from her mind. But on Friday(New Year's Day) as he took leave of her, she recurred to it. "Dear me, " said she meditatively, "I shall not be seeing you for severaldays, shall I?"

"Eh? Why not?"

"To-morrow's Saturday; then Sunday's our day of rest, as Dinah calls it. On Monday's the auction--"

"Ah, to be sure!" Cai had forgotten this consequence of it, and wasdashed in spirits for the moment. "But I shall see you there?"

"Perhaps, " she answered negligently. "Shall you be attendin'?Really, now!"

With an accent of reproach he asked how she could imagine that abusiness so nearly concerning her could find him other than watchful. On leaving he repeated his good wishes for the twelvemonth to come, andwith a warmth of intention which she perversely chose to ignore. 

To be sure he meant to attend the sale. Nor was he surprised onentering the Ship Inn next Monday, some ten minutes ahead of theadvertised time, to find 'Bias in the bar with a glass of hot brandy andwater at his elbow. Cai ordered a rum hot. 

"Where's the auction to be held?" he inquired of Mr Oke, the landlord. 

"Long Room as usual. " Mr Oke jerked a thumb towards the stairs; andCai, having drained his glass, went up. 

In the Long Room, which is a handsome apartment with waggon roof andcurious Jacobean mouldings dating from the time when The Ship was builtto serve as "town house" for one of Troy's great local families, Caifound a sparse company waiting for the sale to open, and noted withmomentary dismay that Mrs Bosenna had not yet arrived. But after all, he reflected, there was no need for extreme punctuality, it would takethe auctioneer some time to reach Lot 9. 

The company included young Mr Middlecoat, of course; and, equally ofcourse, Mr Philp, who had no interest in the sale beyond that ofcuriosity; some three or four farmers from the back-country, who hadapparently come for no purpose but to lend Mr Middlecoat their moralsupport, since, as it turned out, not one of them made a serious bid;Squire Willyams' steward, Mr Baker, --a tall, clean-shaven man with awatchful non-committal face; one or two frequenters of The Ship'sbar-parlour; and the Quaymaster, by whom (as Barber Toy remarked) anynew way of neglecting his duties was hailed as a godsend. 

Mr Dewy, the auctioneer, sat with his clerk at the end of the table, arranging his papers and unrolling his map of the property. He was afussy little man, and made a great pother because the map as soon asunrolled started to roll itself up again. He weighted one corner withthe inkpot, and for a second weight reached out a hand for one of threehyacinth vases which decorated the centre of the table. The bulbtoppled over and, sousing into the inkpot, sent up a _jet d'encre_, splashes of which distributed themselves over the map, over the clerk, over Mr Baker's neat pepper-and-salt suit, and over Mr. Dewy's own fancywaistcoat. Much blotting-paper was called into use, and many apologieswere hastily offered to Mr Baker; in the midst of which commotion 'Biasstrolled into the room, and took a seat near the door. 

Having mopped the worst of the damage on the map and offered hishandkerchief to Mr Baker (who declined it), Mr Dewy picked up a smallivory hammer, stained his fingers with an unnoticed splash of ink on itshandle, licked them, wiped them carefully with his handkerchief, pickedup the hammer again, and announced that the sale had begun. 

"Lot I. --All that Oak Coppice known as Higher Penpyll. Eighteen acres, one rood, eleven perches. Aspect south and south-west. . . . But there, gentlemen, you are all acquainted with the property, I makeno doubt. . . . Any one present not possessed of the sale catalogue?Yes, I see a gentleman over there without one. Mr Chivers, would youoblige?"

The clerk, still attempting to remove some traces of ink from hisperson, distributed half a dozen copies of the printed catalogue. He gave one to Cai. 'Bias, too, held out a hand and received one. 

"Lot I. , " resumed Mr Dewy. "All that desirable woodland (oak coppice)known as Higher Penpyll. Eighteen acres and a trifle over. _Now_, whatshall we say, gentlemen?"

"Fifty pounds, " said Mr Middlecoat promptly. 

The auctioneer glanced at Mr Baker, who frowned. 

"Now, Mr Middlecoat! Now really, sir! . . . This is serious business, and you offer me less than three pounds an acre! The coppice is goodcoppice, too. "

"'Twill hardly pay to clear, " answered Mr Middlecoat. "But why can't yelump this lot in with the two next? . . . That's my suggestion. If Mr Baker is agreeable? They all run in one stretch, so to speak;and, in biddin' for the whole, a man would know where he's _to_. "

Mr Dewy, speaking in whispers behind his palm, held consultation with MrBaker. 

"Very well, " he announced at length. "Mr Baker, actin' on behalf ofSquire Willyams, consents to the three lots bein' put up together--_ong block_, as the French would say. No objection? Very well, then. Lot 1, Higher Penpyll, eighteen acres, one rood, eleven perches: Lot 2, Lower Penpyll, forty-two acres, three perches--forty-two almost exact:Lot 3, Wooda Wood, forty acres, one rood, one perch; all in oak coppice, two to five years' growth. What offers, gentlemen, for this verydesirable timbered estate?"

"Three-fifty!"

"Come, Mr Middlecoat!" protested the auctioneer, after another glance atMr Baker. "Indeed, sir, you will not drive me to believe as you'rejokin'?"

Mr Middlecoat, whose gaze had rested on Mr Baker, faced about, and, looking down the table, caught the eye of one of his supporters, whonodded. 

"Three-seven-five!" called out the supporter. 

"Four hundred!" Mr Middlecoat promptly cappedthe bid. 

"That's a little better, gentlemen, " Mr Dewy encouraged them. 

Apparently, too, it was the best. For some three minutes he exhortedand rebuked them, but could evoke no further bid. There was a prolongedpause. The auctioneer glanced again at Mr Baker, who, while seeminglyunaware of the appeal, slightly inclined his head. Mr Middlecoat's eyeshad rested on Mr Baker all the while. 

"One hundred acres, as you may say, at less than four pounds the acre!Well, if any man had prophesied this to me on the day when I enteredbusiness--" Mr Dewy checked himself, and let fall the hammer. "Mr Middlecoat, sir, you're a lucky man. " He announced, "Lot 4--Twoarable fields, known as Willaparc Veor and Willapark Vear respectively:the one of six acres, one rood, and six perches; the other of three anda half acres. "

As the auction proceeded, even the guileless Cai could not helpdetecting an air of unreality about it. Mr Middlecoat bid foreverything. Now and again, if Mr Middlecoat miscalculated, a friendhelped and raised the price by a very few pounds for Mr Middlecoat totry again: which Mr Middlecoat duly did. It became obvious that MrMiddlecoat had somehow possessed himself of a pretty close guess at whatprice Squire Willyams would part with each lot instead of "buying in";that Mr Baker knew it; that the auctioneer knew it; that everyone in theroom knew they knew; and that nobody in the room was disposed to preventMr Middlecoat's acquiring whatever was offered. 

Under these conditions the sale proceeded swiftly, pleasantly, andwithout a hitch. Cai cast frequent glances back at the door. But theminutes sped on, and still Mrs Bosenna did not appear. 

"Lot 9--A field known as Barton's Orchard. Two perches only short oftwo acres--"

"Say twenty-five, " said Mr Middlecoat carelessly. 

Again Cai glanced back. The farm land had been fetching on an averagesome twenty to twenty-five pounds an acre. . . . Why was Mrs Bosenna nothere?

On an impulse--annoyed, perhaps, by the young farmer'stake-it-for-granted tone--he called out "Thirty!"

The auctioneer and Mr Baker--who had just signified, by a slight frown, that he could not accept the young farmer's bid--glanced up incuriously. Mr Middlecoat, too, turned about, not recognising the voice of his new"bonnet, "--to use a term not unfamiliar in auctioneering. 

But Cai did catch their glances: for at the same moment he, too, wheeledabout at the sound of a deep voice by the door. 

"Forty!"

"Eh?" murmured Mr Dewy and Mr Baker, together taken by surprise. And "Hullo, what the dev--" began Mr Middlecoat, when Cai promptlychimed "Fifty!"

For the new bidder was 'Bias, of course: and well, in a flash, Caiguessed his game. Since Mrs Bosenna chose to tarry, 'Bias was biddingagainst him. It was a duel. Should 'Bias win and present her withthese coveted two acres? Never!

"Sixty!"

"Here, I say!" Mr Middlecoat was heard to gasp in protest. But he toobegan to suspect a game. "Sixty-five!" The duel had become triangular. 

"Seventy!"

"Eighty!" intoned 'Bias. 

"A hundred!" Cai's jaw was set. 

By this time all heads were turned to the new competitors. Two or threeof the farmers were whispering, asking if by any chance there wasmineral in dispute. One had heard--or so he alleged--that "manganese"had been discovered somewhere up the valley--before his time--but hecould remember his father telling of it. 

Mr Middlecoat stepped to the window and glanced out in to the square fora moment. He returned, and nervously bid "Ten more!"

"Excuse me, " the auctioneer corrected him blandly; "the gentleman at thefar end of the room--I didn't catch his name--"

"Hunken, " said 'Bias. 

"_Captain_ Hunken, " prompted Mr Philp. 

"Er--excuse me, Mr Middlecoat, but Captain Hunken has just offered ahundred-and-twenty. "

"And thirty!" chimed Cai. 

"Fifty!" intoned back the voice by the door. 

Mr Middlecoat passed a hand over his brow. "Another ten, " he murmuredto the auctioneer. "Is there a boy handy? I--I want to send out amessage?"

"Certainly, Mr Middlecoat, " agreed the accommodating but bewilderedauctioneer, and turned to his clerk. 

"Mr Chivers, would you oblige?"

The young farmer scribbled a word or two on a piece of paper, which hefolded and gave to Mr Chivers with some hurried instruction; and MrChivers steered his way out with agility. But meanwhile the bidding forBarton's Orchard had risen to two hundred. 

"Say another ten, to keep it going, " proposed Mr Middlecoat, wiping hisbrow although the weather was chilly. To gain time, he suggested thatmaybe there was some mistake; that the gentlemen, maybe, had notexamined the map of the property and might be bidding for some other lotunder a misapprehension. 

Mr Baker objected to this. The description of the lots on the cataloguewas precise and definite. The two gentlemen obviously knew what theywere about. The field was a small field, but the soil was undeniably ofthe best, and in the interests of the vendor--

"Two hundred and thirty!" interrupted 'Bias. 

"--and fifty!" bid Cai. 

There was a pause. Mr Dewy looked at Mr Middlecoat, who under his gazeadmitted himself willing to stake two hundred and sixty. "Though 'tisthe price of building land!"

"Apparently you are willing to give it rather than let the purchase go, "observed Mr Baker drily. "For aught you know both these gentlemen maybe desiring it for a building site. Did I hear one of them saytwo-seventy-five? Captain--er--Hunken, if I caught the name?"

"Two-eighty, " persisted Cai. 

"Two-ninety!"

"Well, make it three hundred, and I've done!" groaned Mr Middlecoatcollapsing. 

"Three--"

"What's all this?" interrupted a voice, very sweet and cool in thedoorway. 

"Mrs Bosenna?--Your servant, ma'am!" Mr Dewy rose halfway in his seatand made obeisance. "We are dealing with a lot which may concern you, ma'am; for it runs "--he consulted his map--"Yes--I thought so--rightalongside your property at Rilla. A trifle over two acres, ma'am, andMr Middlecoat has just bid three hundred for it. "

"And"--began Cai: but Mrs Bosenna (taken though she must have been bysurprise) was quick and frowned him to silence. 

"And a deal more than its value, as Captain Hocken was about to say. Will any fool bid more for such a patch?"

Cai and 'Bias stared together, interrogating her. But there was nofurther bid, and Mr Dewy knocked down the lot at 300 pounds. 

"Which, " said Mrs Bosenna meditatively to Dinah that night, "you maycall two hundred and fifty clean thrown into the sea. And the worst isthat though Captain Hocken and Captain Hunken are a pair of fools and MrMiddlecoat a bigger fool than either--as it turns out, I'm the biggestfool of all. "

"How, mistress?"

"Why, you ninny! They were buying, one against the other, to make me apresent, and I stepped in and saved young Middlecoat's face. Yet, " shemused, "I don't see what else he could have done. . . . Well, thank theLord! he'll be humble now, which the others were and he wasn't. "

"He's young, anyway, " urged Dinah. 

"That's something, " her mistress conceded. "It gives the more time torub in his foolishness, and he'll never hear the last of it. "

"Three hundred pounds, too!" ejaculated Dinah. "The very sound of itfrightens me. A terrible sum to throw to waste!"

"I wouldn't say that altogether. . . . Yes, you may unlace me. What fools men are!"

CHAPTER XXII. 

THE LAST CHALLENGE. 

Next Lady-day, which fell on a Thursday, 'Bias called upon Mrs Bosennawith his rent and with the pleasing announcement that in a week or so heproposed to pay her a further sum of seven pounds eight shillings andfourpence; this being the ascertained half-year's dividend earned by thehundred pounds she had entrusted to his stewardship. 

She warmly commended him. "Close upon fifteen per cent! I wonder--But there! I suppose you won't tell me how it's done, not if I ask everso?"

'Bias looked knowing and reminded her that to ask no questions was apart of her bargain. As a matter of fact it was also a part of hisbargain with Mr Rogers, and he could not have told had he wished totell. 

"I suppose you've heard the latest news?" said he. "They've chosen meon the Harbour Board--Ship-owners' representative. "

"I didn't even know there had been an election. "

"No more there hasn't. Rogers made the vacancy, and managed it for me;retired in my favour, as you might say. "

"Seems to me Mr Rogers must be weakenin' in his head. "

"Oh no, he's not!" 'Bias assured her with a chuckle. "But he's prettyfrail in the body. At his time o' life and with his infirmity a man maybe excused, surely?"

"I reckon, " said Mrs Bosenna, "there's few would have wept if Mr Rogershad superannuated himself years ago. Now if you'd told me he was_turned_ out--"

"You're hard on Rogers!" he protested, tasting the joke of it. 

"Well, I don't think he took on these jobs for his health, as they say;and so it comes hard to believe as he goes out o' them for that reason. But there! he may be an honester man than I take him for. . . . Well, and so you're becomin' a public man too! I congratulate you. "

"I wouldn' call myself _that_, " said 'Bias modestly. "But one or twohave suggested that a fellow like me, with plenty of time on his hands, might look after a few small things and the way public money's spent on'em. " He might have claimed that at any rate he knew more of harbouraffairs than Cai could possibly know of education: but he did not. To their honour, neither he nor Cai--though they ruffled when face toface before folks--ever spoke an ill word behind the other's back. "There's the dredgin', for one thing; and, for another, the way they'reallowed to lade down foreign-goin' ships is a scandal. "

"Is it the Harbour's business to stop that?"

"It ought to be somebody's business. "

"You'll get nicely thanked, " she promised, "if you interfere--and as aship-owners' representative too!"

"There's another matter, " confessed 'Bias. "They've asked me to put upfor the Parish Council next month. There's a notion that, with thishere Diamond Jubilee comin' on, the town ought to rise to the occasion. "

"And you're the man to give it the lift!" said Mrs Bosenna gaily. "Is Captain Hocken standin' too?"

"They say so. "

"Then I'll plump for both of you. Wait, though--I won't promise: orwhen the canvass starts you'll both be neglectin' me. "

The next day Cai called in turn with his rent. "And there's anotherlittle matter, " said he after handing it to her. "You remember thathundred pounds? Well there's a half-year's dividend declared and due onit, and the cheque's to arrive some time next week. What's the amount, d'ye guess?"

"Satisfactory?"

"Seven pounds eight shillings and fourpence. . . . Eh? I _thought_ itmight astonish you. "

"It's--it's such an odd amount, " she murmured. 

"It's close upon fifteen per cent. "

"Yes. You took my breath away for the moment. I wonder at the way youmen--I mean, I wonder how _you_ do it--turnin' money to such goodaccount? 'Tis a gift I suppose; and you couldn' teach me, even if youwould. "

Cai received the compliment with a somewhat guilty smile. 

"They tell me too, " she continued, "that you are standin' for the ParishCouncil next month. "

"Who told you?"

"Oh . . . A little bird!"

Cai did not guess at 'Bias under this description. "Well, you see, withthis here Diamond Jubilee in the offing, there's a feelin' abroad thatthe town ought to sit up, as the sayin' is--"

"And you're the man to make it sit up!" said Mrs Bosenna gaily. 

"Well now, I want you to help me. "

Mrs Bosenna started, alert at once and on her guard; for the game offence she had chosen to play with these two demanded a constantwariness. 

But it seemed that for the moment Cai had no design to press his suit--or no direct design. 

"It's this way, " he explained. "You know the stevedores, down at thejetties, are givin' their usual Whit-Monday regatta--Passage Regatta, assome call it? Well, they've made me President this year. "

"More honours?"

"And I've offered a Cup; which seemed the proper thing to do, under thecircumstances. 'A silver cup, value 5 pounds, presented by thePresident, Caius Hocken, Esquire': it'll look fine 'pon the bills, andit's to go with the first prize of two guineas for sailin' boats notexceedin' fourteen feet over-all. There's what they call a one-designClass o' these in the harbour: which is good sport and worthencouragin'. There's no handicap in it either: the first past the linetakes the prize--always the prettiest kind o' race to watch. Now thefavour I ask is that, when the time comes, you'll hand the Cup to thewinner. "

"It--it'll look rather marked, won't it?" hesitated Mrs Bosenna. She had as small a disinclination as any woman to find herself thecentral figure in a show, and Cai (had he known it) was attacking one ofthe weakest points in her siege-defences. But to accept this offer--or(if you prefer it) to grant the favour--meant a move on the board whichmight too easily lead to a trap. "Besides, " she objected, "you can't dothat sort o' thing without a few words, and I've never made a publicspeech in my life. "

"You leave the speechifyin' to me, " said Cai reassuringly: but it didnot reassure her at all. ("Good gracious!" she thought. "He's not thesort to take advantage of it--but if he _did!_ . . . You can never trustmen. ")

Cai, misinterpreting the frown on her brow, went on to assure herfurther that he could manage a speech all right; at any rate, he wouldbe able by Whit-Monday. He had--he would tell her in confidence--beentaking some lessons in elocution of (or, as he put it, "off") Mr PeterBenny. 

"Did you ever hear tell of a man called Burke?" he asked. 

"'Course I did, " answered Mrs Bosenna, albeit the question startled her. "My old nurse told me about him often. He used to go about snatchin'bodies. "

Cai considered a moment, and shook his head. "I don't think mine can bethe same, or Benny wouldn't have recommended him so highly. There wasanother fellow that learned to be a speaker by practisin' with his mouthfull of pebbles, which struck me as too thoroughgoin' altogether, and'specially when you're aimin' no higher than a Parish Council. To be sure, " he confessed, "I did make a start with a brace ofpeppermint bull's-eyes, and pretty nigh choked myself. But Benny saysthat, for English public speakin', there's no such master as this Burke, and so I've sent for him. "

"Gracious!" exclaimed Mrs Bosenna. "Won't he charge a terrible lot?--with travellin' expenses too!"

"His works, I mean. The man's dead, and they're in six volumes. "

"You'll never get through 'em then, between this and Whitsuntide. If I was you, I'd keep on at the peppermints. "

Although the six volumes of Edmund Burke duly arrived, and Cai made abold attempt upon their opening tractate, "A Vindication of NaturalSociety, "--thereby hopelessly bemusing himself, since he accepted itsironical arguments with entire seriousness--in the end he took a shorterway and procured Mr Benny to write his speeches for him. 

These he got by heart in the course of long morning rambles; these herehearsed with their accomplished author; these he declaimed in thesolitude of his bed-chamber--until, one day, Mrs Bowldler (whom terrorarresting, had held spellbound for some minutes on the landing) knockedin to know if Palmerston should run for the doctor. 

By dint (or in spite) of them at the election of Parish Councillors Caiheaded the poll with a total of 411 votes. 'Bias, who received 366, came fourth on the list of elected: but this was no disgrace--a triumphrather--for one who had omitted to be born in the town. By generalconsent the honours stood easy; though, on the strength of his poll, thenew Council began by choosing Cai for its chairman. On him Troy laidthereby the chief responsibility for the Jubilee festivities now but twomonths ahead. 

At this first Council meeting, and at the meetings of many committeessubsequently called to make preparation for the great day, 'Bias saidvery little. Those--and they were many--who had looked for "ructions"between the two rivals, and had taken glee of the prospect, sufferedcomplete disappointment. 

"You see, " he explained to Mr Rogers, "I don't hold by several thingsCai Hocken and the Committee are doin'. But they be doin' 'em in theQueen's honour, after their lights: and 'tisn't fitly to use theoccasion for quarrellin'. There's only one way o' forcin' a quarrel onme where Queen Victoria's consarned, and that is by speakin' ill ofher. "

"That's right, " agreed Mr Rogers. "You've common ground in theWidow-woman. "

"The--?"

"The Widow at Windsor, as they call her. "

"Oh! I thought for a moment--"

"There's widows and widows, " Mr Rogers blinked mischievously. "But lookhere--what's this I'm told about your interferin' down at the HarbourBoard, tryin' to get the Commissioners to regylate the ladin' o'vessels?"

"Well, and why not?" asked 'Bias. 

"Why not? For one thing you bet it isn' the Commissioners' business. "

"It ought to be somebody's business to stop what's goin' on. Say 'tis mine, if you like. "

"Look 'ee here, Cap'n Hunken, " said Mr Rogers, showing his teeth. "If that's your game, better fit you was kickin' up a rumpus on theParish Council than puttin' a spoke into honest trade. I didn' makeroom 'pon the Board for you to behave in that style. "

"I don't care whether you did or you didn', " retorted 'Bias sturdily. "And 'honest trade' d'ye call it? robbin' the underwriters and puttin'seamen's lives in danger. "

"Eh? . . . _You_'re a nice man to talk, I must say! Come to me, you do, and want me to get you anything up to twenty per cent without risk. How d'ee think that's done in these days, with every one cuttin'freights? I gave you credit for havin' more sense. "

'Bias stared. "See here, " he said slowly, "if I'd known that hundredpound was to be put into any such wickedness, I'd have seen you furtherbefore trustin' you with it. As 'tis, I'll trouble you--"

"Hold hard, there!" Mr Rogers interrupted. "You're in a tarnation hurryevery way, 'twould seem. Who told you as I'd put that hundred into anyvessel below Plimsoll mark?"

"I thought you hinted as much. "

"Then you thought a long sight too fast. If you must know, your money'sin the old _Saltypool_, and old as she is, that steamship might be mychild, the way I watch over her. "

"The _Saltypool!_ Why, she's the most scand'lous case as has gone outof harbour these three months!"

"Eh?"

"I saw her with my own eyes alongside No. 3 jetty, the evenin' beforeshe sailed. A calm night it was too; and she with her Plimsoll wellunder and a whole line o' trucks waitin' to be shot into her. She wentout before daybreak, if you remember, and God knows how low she was bythat time. "

Mr Rogers's jaw dropped. 

"The idiots!" he muttered. "When I told 'em--" He broke off. "I say, you're not pullin' my leg?"

"Saw her with my own eyes, I tell you, " 'Bias assured him, wondering alittle; for the old sinner's dismay was clearly honest. 

"Then all I say is, you can call Fancy and tell her to fetch me a Bible, if there's one in the house, an' I'll swear to you I never knew it, an'I never seen it. What's more, I'll sack the captain, an' I'll sack themate. What's more, I'll cable dismissal out to Philadelphy. What's more--"

"There, there!" interposed 'Bias. "You didn' know, and enough said!I don't want any man thrown out of employ. 'Tis the system I'm out tospoil. "

"Skippers are a trouble-without-end in these days, " Mr Rogers mutteredon, staring gloomily at the fire in the grate; "specially to a mancrippled like me. . . . You spend years sarchin' for a fool, an' you nosooner get the treasure, as you think--one you can trust for a plainord'nary fool in all weathers--than he turns out a _dam_ fool!"

On his way from the ship-chandler's 'Bias ran against Mr Philp, whopaused in the roadway and eyed him, chewing a piece of news andchuckling. 

"That friend o' yours is a wonnur!" preluded Mr Philp. 

"Meanin' Caius Hocken?"

"Who else? . . . He's goin' a great pace in these days; but you won'ttell me he has flown out o' _that_ range? Yes, 'tis Cap'n Hocken Imean; our Mayor, as you may call him; and there's some as looks to see asilver cradle yet in his mayoralty. "

"What's the latest?" 'Bias could not help putting the question, yetdespised himself for it. 

"He's President of the Stevedores' Regatta this year. "

"Get along with your news--I heard it ten days ago. "

"So you did, for I told you myself. But he's giving a silver cup forthe fourteen-foot race. "

"And I heard that, too. "

"Ay: but what you don't know, maybe, is that he's been up to Rilla Farmtryin' to persuade Mrs Bosenna to attend on the Committee-ship an' handthe cup--his _cup_--to the winner. "

"She's never consented?"

"Now I call that a master-stroke. That's the bold way to win a woman. 'Come along o' me, my dear, an' find yourself the lady patroness, life-size. . . . Madam, you'll excuse the liberty, --but may I have theigstreme honour to request you to take my arm in the full view of allthis here assembled rabble?' So arm-in-arm it is, up the deck, and'Ladies an' Gentlemen'--meanin' 'Attention, pray, all you scum o' theearth'--'I'll trouble you to observe strick silence while this lady, with whom you are all familiar--'"

"Steady on!"

"Well, 'familiar' is too strong a word, as you say. 'While this lady, with whom you're all acquainted, presents the gallant winner with a cup, value Five Pounds, which you may have reckoned as an igstravagance whenyou heard I was the donor, 'but will now reckernise as a sprat to catcha whale--that is, unless you're even bigger fools than I take ye for. 'Twas with the greatest difficulty I indooced Mrs Bosenna--'"

"She never would!" swore 'Bias. 

"Well, as a matter o' fact, she hasn't. But you'll allow the trick wasclever, and nothin' more left for the woman, if she'd yielded, but to becarried straight off to the altar. 'Twould have been expected of her, and no less. "

"What has she done?"

"Taken a wise an' womanly course, as I hear. 'No, ' says she, 'I'll goto bottomless brimstone before lendin' myself to such a dodge'--or wordsto that effect. 'But I'll tell 'ee what I will do, ' says she, 'I'lloffer this here silver cup on my own account, an' give it with my ownhands to the winner. And you can stand by, ' says she, 'an' look aspompous as you please. ' Either that, or that in so many words. I'm givin' you the gist of it, as it reached me. "

"Thank 'ee, " said 'Bias, perpending and digging up the roadway with thepoint of his stick. "'Tis to be her own prize, you say?"

"Yes, an' presented with her own hands. If I was you--bein' a triflelate as you are on the handicap--I'd sail in an' collar that prize. 'Twould be a facer for him. "

"No time. "

"Whit-Monday's not till the seventh o' June. Four clear weeks: an'Boatbuilder Wyatt could knock you up a shell in half that time. He getscleverer with every boat of the class; and with a boat built to raceonce only he could make pretty well sure. "

Later that afternoon Mr Philp, who never lost an occasion to advertisehimself, paid a call on Mr Wyatt, boatbuilder. 

"I found a new customer for you this afternoon, " he announced, winkingmysteriously. "If Cap'n Hunken should call along you'll know what Imean. "

On his homeward road the industrious man had a stroke of good luck. He espied Captain Hocken, and made haste to overtake him. 

"Good evenin', Cap'n Cai!"

"Ah--Mr Philp? Good evenin' to 'ee. "

"It's like a providence my meetin' you; for as it chances you was thelast man in my mind. I happened down to Wyatt's yard just now, and--ifyou'll believe me--there's reason to believe he'll get an orderto-morrow for another 14-footer, "

"Ay? . . . What for?"

"Why, to enter for the cup you're givin' on Whit-Monday. "

"You're mistaken, " said Cai. "'Tis Mrs Bosenna that's givin' the cup, not I. "

"What? With her own hands?"

"_To_ be sure. Why not?"

"Then that accounts for it, " said Mr Philp gleefully, rubbing his hands. "He's a deep one, is your friend Hunken! It did strike me as odd, too--his givin' an order to Wyatt in all this hurry: but now I understand. "

"Drat the man! what _is_ it you understand?"

"Why, as you know, Wyatt can knock him a shell together that'll win therace under everybody's nose. 'Tis a child's play, if you don't mindcastin' the boat next day an' content yourself with scantlin' like apackin' case. At least, 'twould be child's play to any one but Wyatt, who can't help buildin' solid, to save his life. If the man hadconsulted me, I'd have recommended Mitchell. Mitchell never had alength o' seasoned wood in his store: he can't afford the capital. But to my mind he can--take him as a workman--shape a boat better thanWyatt ever did yet. "

"And to mine, " Cai agreed. 

"The cunning of it, too! He to take the prize from her under your noseand you standin' by and lookin' foolish. For, let alone the craft, theysay Cap'n Hunken can handle a small boat to beat any man in thisharbour. He cleared a whole prize-list out in Barbadoes, I've heard. "

"What, 'Bias? Don't you be afraid. He can't steer a small boat fornuts. "

"Dear me! Then I must have been misinformed, indeed. "

"You have been, " Cai assured him. "I reckon Mitchell can knock up aboat to give fits to anything of Wyatt's; and if 'Bias--if Cap'n Hunkenis countin' on Wyatt to help him put the fool on me, it may happen he'lllearn better. "

CHAPTER XXIII. 

PASSAGE REGATTA. 

"'Tis good to wear a bit of colour again, " said Mrs Bosenna on Regattamorning, as she stood before her glass pinning to her bodice a huge bowof red, white, and blue ribbons. "Black never did become me. "

"It becomes ye well enough, mistress, and ye know it, " contradictedDinah. 

"'Tis monotonous, anyway. I can't see why we poor widow-women should becondemned to wear it for life. "

"_You_ bain't, " Dinah contradicted again, and added slily, "d'ye wish meto fetch witnesses?"

Her mistress, tittivating the ribbons, ignored the question. "I do think we might be allowed to wear colours now and again--say onSundays. As it is, I dare say many will be pickin' holes in mycharacter, even for this little outbreak. "

"There's a notion, now! Why, 'tis Queen Victory's Year--and a prettybusiness if one widow mayn't pay her respects to another!"

"It do always seem strange to me, " Mrs Bosenna mused. 

"What?"

"Why, that the Queen should be a widow, same as any one else. "

"Low fever, " said Dinah. "And I've always heard as the Prince Consorthad a delicate constitution. "

"It happened before I was born, " said Mrs Bosenna vaguely. "Think o'that, now! . . . And yet 'twasn't the widowin' I meant so much as themarryin'. I can't manage to connect it in my mind with folks sohigh up in the world as Kings and Queens. 'Tis so intimate. "

"You may bet Providence tempers it to 'em somehow, " opined Dinah. "If they didn' have families, what'd become o' English history?"

If any tongues wagged against Mrs Bosenna for wearing the patrioticcolours that day, they were not heard in the holiday crowd at thePassage Slip when, with nicely calculated unpunctuality, she arrived, at11. 32 (the time appointed having been 11. 15), to be conveyed on boardthe Committee vessel. (It should be explained here that the aquatichalf of Troy's Passage Regatta is compressed within the forenoon: atmidday Troy dines, and even on holidays observes Greenwich time forthat event. Moreover, the afternoon sports of bicycle racing, steeplechasing, polo-bending, &c. , were preluded in those days--beforean electric-power station worked the haulage on the jetties--by aprocession of huge horses, highly groomed and bedecked with ribbons: andthis procession, starting at 1 P. M. , allowed the avid holiday-keepersmall margin for dallying over his meal. )

Mrs Bosenna reached the slip to find Cai waiting below in a four-oaredboat which he had borrowed from the Clerk of the Course. A large redensign drooped from a staff and trailed in the water astern: the crewwore scarlet stocking-caps: bright cushion disposed in the stern-sheetadded a touch of luxury to this pomp and circumstance. It might notrival the barge of Cleopatra upon Cydnus; but the shore-crowd, underwhose eyes it had been waiting for close upon twenty minutes, voted itto be a very creditable turn out; and Cai, watch in hand, was at leastas impatient as Mark Antony. Off the Committee Ship, a cable's lengthup the river, the penultimate race (ran-dan pulling-boats) was finishingamid banging of guns and bursts of music from the "Troy Town Band, "saluting the winner with "See the Conquering Hero Comes, " the secondboat with strains consecrated to first and second prize-winners in Troyharbour since days beyond the span of living memory, even as all racesstart to the less classical but none the less immemorial air of "Off Shegoes to Wallop the Cat. "

The crowd parted and made passage for Mrs Bosenna to descend theslip-way: for Troy is always polite. Its politeness, however, seldomtakes the form of reticence; and as she descended she drew a doublebroadside of neighbourly good-days and congratulations, with audiblecomments from the back rows on her personal appearance. 

"Mornin', Mrs Bosenna--an' a brave breast-knot you're wearin'!"

"Han'some, id'n-a?"

"Handsome, sure 'nough!"

"Fresh coloured as the day she was wed. . . . Good mornin' ma'am!Good mornin', Mrs Bosenna--an' a proper Queen o' Sheba you be, allglorious within. "

"What a thing 'tis to have money!" remarked a meditative voice deep inthe throng. 

"Eh, Billy, my son, it cures half the ills o' life, " responded another. 

"'Tis a mysterious thing, " hazarded a woman--"a dispensation you maycall it, how black suits some complexions while others can't look atit. "

"An' 'tis your sex's perversity, " spoke up a male, "that them it don'tsuit be apt to wear it longest"--whereat several laughed, for whereeverybody is good-humoured the feeblest witticism will pass. 

Mrs Bosenna heard these comments, but acknowledged them only by ascarcely perceptible heightening of colour. She went down the slip-wayroyally, with Dinah in close attendance: and Cai, catching sight of herand pocketing his watch, snatched up a boat-hook to draw the boat'squarter alongside the slip, while with his disengaged hand he lifted thebrim of a new and glossy top-hat. 

"Am I disgracefully late?" Without waiting for his answer, as he handedher aboard she exclaimed:

"Oh! and what a crowd of boats! . . . I never felt so nervous in all mylife. "

"There's no need, " said Cai--who himself, two minutes before, had beendesperately nervous. He seated himself beside her and took the tiller. "Push her out, port-oars! Ready?--Give way, all! . . . There's noneed, " he assured her, sinking his voice; "I never saw ye look aproperer sight. Maybe 'tis the bunch o' ribbon sets 'ee off--'Tis thefirst time ye've worn colour to my recollection. "

"Dead black never suited me. "

"I wouldn' say that. . . . But, " added Cai upon a happy thought, "if that's so, you know where to find excuse to leave off wearin' it. "

"Hush!" she commanded. "How can you talk so with all these hundreds ofeyes upon us?"

"I don't care. " Cai's voice rose recklessly. 

"Oh, hush! or the crew'll hear us?"

"I don't care, I tell you. "

"But I do--I care very much. . . . You don't pay me compliments whenwe're alone, " she protested, changing the subject slightly. 

"I mean 'em all the time. "

"Well, since compliments are flyin' to-day, that's a fine new hat you'rewearin'. And I like the badge in your buttonhole: red with goldletters--it gives ye quite a smart appearance. What's the writin' onit?"

"'President. ' 'Tis the only red-and-gold badge in the show. Smart? I tell 'ee I'm feelin' smart. "

It was indeed Cai's day--his hour, rather--of triumph. He had played awinning stroke, boldly, under the public eye: and a hundred comments ofthe sightseers, as he steered through the press of boats to theCommittee Ship, testified to his success. Though he could not hear, hefelt them. 

 --"Well!"

 --"Proper cuttin'-out expedition, as you might call it. "

 --"And she with a great bunch o' ribbons pinned on her, that no-one shan't miss the meanin' of it. "

 --"Well, I always favoured Cap'n Hocken's chance, for my part. An', come to think, 'tis more fitty 't should happen so. When all's said an' done, t'other's a foreigner, as you might say, from the far side o' the Duchy: an' if old Bosenna's money is to go anywhere, why then, bein' Troy-earned, let it go to a Troy man. "

 --"But 'tis a facer for Cap'n Hunken, all the same. Poor chap, look at 'en. "

 --"Where? . . . I don't see 'en. "

 --"Why, forward there, on the Committee Ship: leanin' up against the bulwarks an' lookin' as if he'd swallowed a dog. "

 --"There, there! . . . And some plucky of the man to stand up to it, 'stead of walkin' off an' drownin' hisself. I like a man as can take a knock-down blow standing up. 'Tis a rare occurrence in these days. "

Mrs Bosenna, too, whose wealth (pleasant enough for the comforts itprocured, pleasanter, perhaps, for an attendant sense of security, pleasantest of all, it may be, for a further sense of power andimportance, secretly enjoyed) had, as yet, of public acknowledgmenttaken little toll beyond the deference of tradesmen when she wentshopping, felt herself of a sudden caught up to an eminence the verygiddiness of which was ecstasy. It is possible that, had Cai claimedher there and then, before the crowd, she would have yielded with but afaint protest. You must not think that she lost her head for a moment. On the contrary during her triumphal convoy she saw everything withremarkable distinctness. She knew well enough that some scores ofwomen, all around, were envying her, yet admiring in spite of theirenvy. Without hearing them, she could almost tell what comments wereuttered in boat after boat as she passed. But what mattered their envy, so long as they admired? Nay, what mattered their envy, so long as theyenvied? The tonic north wind, the sunshine, the sparkle of the water, the gay lines of bunting flickering from stem to stern of the CommitteeShip, the invigorating blare of the Troy Town Band, now throwing itssoul into "Champagne Charlie, " the propulsion of the oars that seemed tosnatch her and sweep her forward past wondering faces to high destiny--all these were wings, and lifted her spirit with them. She began tounder stand what it must feel like to be a Queen, or (at least) a PrimeMinister's wife. 

"Ea-sy all! In oars! . . . Bow, stand by to check her!"

Cai called his orders clearly, sharply, in the tone of a master of men. A score of boats hampered approach to the accommodation ladder; butthose that had occupants were obediently thrust wide to make way, andeasily as in a barge of state Mrs Bosenna was brought alongside. A dozen hands checked the way of the boat, now abruptly. Other handswere stretched to help her up the ladder, which she ascended withsmiling and graceful agility. On the deck, at the head of it, stood theHon. Secretary, with the silver cup ready, nursed in the crook of hisarm. It was a handsome cup, and it flashed in the sunlight. The Hon. Secretary doffed his yachting cap. A dozen men close behind him doffedtheir caps at the signal. They were the successful competitors of thedinghy race, mixed up with committee-men: they had come to receive theirprizes. The competing boats, their sails lowered, had been broughtalongside, and lay tethered, trailing off from the ship's quarter, rubbing shoulders in a huddle. 

Cai, mounting to the deck close behind Dinah, who had followed hermistress, was met by the Hon. Secretary with the announcement thateverything had been ready these ten minutes. 

Almost before she could catch her breath, Mrs Bosenna found the cupthrust into her hands; the band in the fore part of the vessel ceased--or, to speak more accurately, smothered--"Champagne Charlie"; the groupbefore her fell back to form a semicircle and urged forward the abashedfirst-prize winner, who stood rubbing one ankle against another andawkwardly touching his forelock, while a silence fell, broken only byvoices from the boats around calling "Order! Or-der for the speech!"

Mrs Bosenna, recognising the champion in spite of his blushes, collectedher courage, smiled, and said--

"Why, 'tis Walter Sobey!"

"Servant, ma'am!" Mr Sobey touched his forelock again and grinned, aswho should add, "You and me, ma'am, meets in strange places. "

"Well, I never! . . . How things do turn out!" It crossed Mrs Bosenna'smind that on the last occasion of her addressing a word to Walter Sobeyhe had been employed by her to cart manure for her roses: and acrossthis recollection floated a sense of money wasted--for to what servicecould Walter Sobey, inhabitant of a three-roomed cottage, put atwo-handled loving-cup embossed in silver?

There was no time, however, for hesitation. . . . With the most graciousof smiles she took the cup in both hands, and presented it to thechampion. 

"'Tis good, anyhow, to feel it goes to a neighbour: and--and if theworst comes to the worst, Walter, you can always take it back to theshop and change it for something useful. "

"Thank 'ee, ma'am, " said Mr Sobey, taking the cup respectfully. He backed a pace or two, gazed around, and caught the eye of the Hon. Secretary. "There's a money prize, too, attached to it--ain't there?"he was heard to ask. "Leastways, 'twas so said 'pon the bills. "Mr Sobey was proud of his victory; the prouder because he had built thewinning boat with his own hands. (Very luckily for him, at the lastmoment Captain Hocken had judged it beneath the dignity of a RegattaPresident to compete; and Captain Hunken, missing his rival at thestarting-line, had likewise withdrawn from the contest. )

"Certainly, " agreed the Hon. Secretary. "Two guineas. Hi, there, aft!Where's Mr Willett?"

Other voices carried back the call, and presently the Treasurer, MrWillett--a pursey little man with enormous side-whiskers, --came hurryingforward from the after-companion, where he had been engaged in hearing aprotest from an excited disputant--a competitor in the 16-foot class--who had in fact come in last, even on his handicap, but with a clearnotion in his own mind, and an array of arguments to convince others, that he was entitled to the prize. Such misunderstandings were frequentenough at Passage Regatta, and mainly because . Mr Willett, whom nobodycared to cashier--he had been Treasurer for so many years, --had as arule imbibed so much beer in the course of the forenoon that any oneargument appeared to him as cogent as any other. He seemed, in fact, todelight in hearing a case from every point of view; and by consequenceit could be securely predicted of any given race in Passage Regatta that"You had never lost till you'd won. "

Now, on Cai's secret recommendation the Committee had engaged the boyPalmerston--who was quick at sums--to stand by Mr Willett during theforenoon and count out the cash for him. The Treasurer (it was argued)would be suspicious of help from a grown man; whereas he could order aboy about, and even cuff his head on emergency. So Palmerston, seatedby the after-companion, had spent a great part of the morning inlistening to disputes, and counting out money as soon as the disputeswere settled. Nor was objection taken--as it might have been at moregenteel fixtures--to a part of the prize being produced fromPalmerston's mouth, in which he had a knack of storing petty cash, forconvenience of access--and for safety too, to-day, since he haddiscovered a hole in one of his pockets. 

Mr Willett then, rising and cutting short an altercation between twolate competitors in the 16-foot race, came hurrying forward withPalmerston, ever loyal, in his wake. For the boy, without blaminganyone, anxious only to fulfil a responsibility that weighed on him, wasaware that Mr Willett--whether considered as a man or as a treasurer--had taken in overmuch beer, and might need support in either capacity orin both. 

But while Mr Willett advanced, in a series of hasty plunges, --as thoughthe Committee vessel were ploughing the deep with all sail set, --voicesaround Mrs Bosenna had already begun to call for a speech; and the crywas quickly taken up from the many boats overside, now gathered in aclose throng. 

"A speech! a speech!"

Mrs Bosenna laughed, and turned about prettily. 

"I did not bargain for any speech, " she protested. "I--in fact I nevermade a speech in my life. If--if Captain Hocken would say a fewwords--"

"Ay, Cap'n, " exhorted a voice, "speak up for her, like a man now!Seems to us she've given you the right. "

There was a general laugh, and it brought a heightened flush to MrsBosenna's cheek. Cai, not noting it, cleared his throat and doffed histall hat. "Here, hold this, " said he, catching sight of Palmerston, andcleared his throat again. 

"Friends and naybours, " said he, and this opening evoked loud applause. As it died down, he continued, "Friends and naybours, this here has beena most successful regatta. _Of_ which, as a fitting conclusion, theBrave has received his reward at the hands of the Fair. "

"Lord! he means hisself!" interrupted a giggling voice from one of theboats. 

This interruption called forth a storm of applause. Oars were rattledon rowlocks and feet began stamping on bottom boards. 

"By the Brave, " continued Cai, pitching his voice higher, "I mean, ofcourse, our respected fellow-citizen, Mr Walter Sobey, whose handling ofhis frail craft--"

("Hear! Hear!")

"--Whose handling of his frail craft to-day was of a natur' to surpriseand delight all beholders. "

At this point Mr Willett, the Treasurer, who had for some seconds beenstaring at the speaker with glazed uncertain eye, interrupted in a voicethick with liquor--

"The question is, Who wants me?"

"Nobody, you d--d old fool!" snapped the Hon. Secretary. "Can't you seeCap'n Hocken is makin' a speech?"

"_I_ see, " answered Mr Willett with drunken deliberation, "and, what'smore, I don't think much of it. . . . Gentlemen over there 'pears t'agree with me, " he added: for from the rear of the group a scornfullaugh had endorsed his criticism. 

"Any one can tell what _hasn't_ agreed with you this mornin', " retortedthe Hon. Secretary, still more angrily. "Go home, and--"

But Cai had lifted a hand. "No quarrelling, please!" he commanded, andresumed, "As I was sayin', ladies and gentlemen--or as I was about tosay--the handlin' of a small boat demands certain gifts or, er, qualities; and these gifts and, er, qualities bein' the gifts and h'mqualities what made England such as we see her to-day, --a sea-farin'nation an' foremost at that, --it follows that we cannot despise them ifwe wish her to occupy the same position in the futur'--which to my mindis education in a nutshell. "

Again the scornful laugh echoed from the back of the crowd, and thistime Cai knew the voice. It stung him the more sharply, as in a flashhe recollected that the phrase "education in a nutshell" belongedproperly to a later paragraph, and in his flurry he had dragged it inprematurely. His audience applauded, but Cai swung about in wrath. 

"My remarks, " said he, "don't seem to commend themselves to one o' myhearers. But I'm talkin' now on a subjec' about which I know som'at, --not about _ploughin'_. "

The thrust was admirably delivered, --the more adroitly in that, on theedge of delivering it, he had paused with a self-depreciatory smile. Its point was taken up on the instant. The audience on deck sent up aroar of laughter: and the roar spread and travelled away from the shipin a widening circle as from boat to boat the shrewd hit was reported. Distant explosions of mirth were still greeting it, when Cai, findingvoice again, and wisely cutting out his prepared peroration, concludedas follows:--

"Any way, friends and naybours, I can wind up with something as'llcommend itself to everybody: and that is by wishin' success to PassageRegatta, and askin' ye to give three cheers for Mrs Bosenna. Hip--hip--"

"Hoo-ray! hoo-ray! hoo-ray!" The cheers were given with a will andpassed down the river in rolling echoes. But before the last echo diedaway--while Mrs Bosenna smiled her acknowledgment--as the band formed upfor "God Save the Queen"--as they lifted their instruments and thebandmaster tapped the music-stand with his baton, --at the top of hisvoice 'Bias delivered his counter-stroke. 

"And one more for Peter Benny!"

There was a momentary hush, and then--for Troy's sense of humour isimpartial, and everyone knew from what source Captain Hocken derived hispublic eloquence--the air was rent with shout upon shout of merriment. Even the band caught the contagion. The drummer drew a long applausiverattle from his side-drum; the trombone player sawing the air with hisinstrument, as with a fret-saw, evoked noises not to be described. 

In the midst of this general mirth--while Cai stood his ground, red tothe ears, and Mrs Bosenna plucked nervously at the tassel of hersunshade--'Bias came thrusting forward, shouldering his way through thepress. But 'Bias's face reflected none of the mirth he had awakened. 

"I mayn't know much about ploughin', Cai Hocken--" he began. 

"Ah? Good day, Captain Hunken!" interposed Mrs Bosenna. 

"Good-day to you, ma'am. " He raised his hat without answering hersmile. Then, with a gesture that dismissed the tactful interruption, "I mayn't know much about ploughin', though it sticks in my mind that asbetween us the judges handed me the stakes, even at _that_. But athandlin' a boat--one o' these here dingheys if you will, an' if you careto make good your words--"

"What _was_ my words?"

"Oh, I beg pardon. " 'Bias corrected himself with a snort of contempt. "'Peter Benny's words, ' maybe I should have said: but 'education in anutshell' was the expression. "

"I'll take you up--when and where you please, and for any money, "Cai challenged, white to the lips and shaking with rage. 

"A five-pound note, if you will. "

"As you please. . . . I haven't five pound here, upon me. "

"Nor I, as it happens. But here's a sovereign for earnest. "

"Here's another to cover it, anyway. Who'll hold the stakes? . . . Will you, ma'am?" Cai appealed to Mrs Bosenna. 

"Certainly not, " she answered, tapping the deck angrily with the ferruleof her sunshade. "And I wonder how you two can behave so foolish, before folks. "

But for the moment they were past her control. 

"Here . . . Pam! Pam will do, eh?"

"Well as another. "

"Right. Here Pam, take hold o' this sovereign and keep it careful!"

"Mine too. . . . That makes the wager, eh?"

"For five pounds?"

"Five pounds. Right. 

"Boats?"

"I don't care. Our own two, or draw lots for any two here, as youplease. "

"But--gentlemen!" interposed the Hon. Secretary. 

"Now, don't you start interferin'"--Bias turned on him sullenly. "Else you might chance to get what you don't like. "

"Oh, they're mad!" wailed Mrs Bosenna, and Dinah was heard to murmur, "You've pushed' em too far, mistress: an' don't say as I didn' warnyou!"

"I--I was only goin' to suggest, gentlemen, " urged the Hon. Secretary, "it bein' already ten minutes past noon, and everybody waitin' for'God Save the Queen. '"

"Hullo!" hailed a voice alongside, at the foot of the accommodationtable; and Mr Philp's top hat, Mr Philp's deceptively jovial face, Mr Philp's body clad in mourning weeds, climbed successively into view. "There, naybours!" he announced. "I'm in the nick of time, after all, itseems, --though when I heard the church clock strike twelve it sent myheart into my mouth. " He stood and panted. 

"Ah! good-day, Mr Philp!" Mrs Bosenna turned, hailing his intervention, and advanced to shake hands. 

"Good-day to you, ma'am. Been enjoy in' yourself, I hope?" said MrPhilp, somewhat taken aback by the warmth of her greeting. 

"A most successful Regatta . . . Don't you agree?"

"I might, ma'am, " answered Mr Philp solemnly. "I don't doubt it, ma'am. But as a matter of fact I have just come from a funeral. "

"Oh! . . . I--I beg your pardon--I didn't know--"

"There's no call to apologise, ma'am. . . . The deceased was not arelative. A farm-servant, ma'am--female--at the far end of the parish:Tuckworthy's farm, to be precise: and the woman, Sarah Jane Collins byname. Probably you didn't know her. No more did I except by sight: buta very respectable woman--a case of Bright's disease. In the midst oflife we are in death, and, much as I enjoy Passage Regatta--"

"You have missed it then?"

"The woman had saved money, ma'am. There was a walled grave, byrequest. " Mr Philp sighed over this remembered consolation. "She couldnot help it clashin', poor soul. "

"No, indeed!"

"And you may or may not have noticed it, ma'am, but when a man sets dutybefore pleasure, often as not he gets rewarded. Comin' back along thetown before the streets filled, I picked up a piece o' news, and hurriedalong with it. I reckoned it might be of interest if I could reach hereahead of 'God Save the Queen. '"

"Gracious! What has happened?" Mrs Bosenna clasped her hands. Indeed Mr Philp, big with his news and important, had somehow contrivedto overawe everyone on deck. 

"The news is, " he announced slowly, "that the _Saltypool_ has gone down, within fifty miles of Philadelphia. Crew saved in the boats. Cable reached Mr Rogers at eleven o'clock, and"--he paused impressively, "there and then Rogers had a second stroke. Point o' death, they say. "

Above the sympathetic murmur of Mr Philp's audience there broke, on theinstant, a gasping cry--followed by a yet more terrible sound, as of onein the last agony of strangulation. 

All turned, as Palmerston--dashing forward between the music-stands ofthe band and scattering them to right and left--flung himself betweenCai and 'Bias at their very feet. 

"Masters--masters! I've a-swallowed the stakes!"

CHAPTER XXIV. 

FANCY BRINGS NEWS. 

"Which, " Mrs Bowldler reported to Fancy, who had left her master'ssick-bed to pay a fleeting visit to Palmerston's, "the treatment wasdrastic for a growin' child. First of all Mrs Bosenna, that never had achild of her own, sent down to the cabin for the mustard that had beenleft over from the Sailin' Committee's sangwidges, and mixed up a drinkwith it and a little cold water. Which the results was _nil_; that isto say, pecuniarily speakin'. Then somebody fetched along Mr Clogg thevet. From Tregarrick, that had come over for the day to judge thehorses, and _he_ said as plain salt-and-water was worth all the mustardin the world, so they made the poor boy swallow the best part of a pint, and he brought up eighteenpence. "

"Saints alive! But I thought you told me--"

"So I did: two solid golden sufferins. And _that_, " said Mrs Bowldler, "was for some time the most astonishin' part of the business. Two solidgolden sufferins: and low!--as the sayin' is--low and behold, eighteenpence in small silver!"

"Little enough too, for a miracle!" mused Fancy. 

"It encouraged 'em to go on. Captain Hocken--he's a humane gentleman, too, and never graspin'--no, never in his life!--but I suppose he'dbegun to get interested, --Captain Hocken ups and suggests as they werewastin' time, mixin' table-salt and water when there was the wide oceanitself overside, to be had for the dippin'. So they tried sea-water. "

"My poor Pammy. '"

"Don't you start a-pityin' me, " gasped a voice, faint but defiant, fromthe bed. "If I die, I die. But I got the account to balance. "

"I disremember what sum--er--resulted that time, " confessed MrsBowldler; "my memory not bein' what it was. "

"Ninepence; an' two threepennies with the soap--total two-and-nine, which was correct. If I die, I die, " moaned Palmerston. 

"'Ero!" murmured Fancy, stepping to the bedside and arranging hispillow. 

"You take my advice and lie quiet, " counselled Mrs Bowldler. "You're not a-goin' to die this time. But there's been a shock to thesystem, you may make up your mind, " she went on, turning to Fancy. "I'd most forgotten about the soap. That was Philp's suggestion, as Iheard. They found a cake of Monkey Brand in the ship's fo'c'sle, and bythe time Doctor Higgs arrived with his stomach-pump--"

"They'd sent for _him?_ What, for two pounds?"

"Less two-an'-nine, by this--as they thought. But, of course, there wasthe child's health to be considered . . . I ought to mention that beforeDr Higgs came Captain Hunken remembered how he'd treated a seaman once, that had swallowed carbolic by mistake. He recommended tar: but therewasn't any tar to be found--which seems strange, aboard a ship. "

"It was lucky, anyhow. "

"There was a plenty of hard pitch about, and one or two reckoned themarine glue in the deck-seams might be a passable substitute. They werediggin' some out with their penknives when Doctor Higgs arrived with hispump. "

"And did he use it?"

"He did not. He asked what First Aid they had been applyin', an' whenthey told him, his language was not to be repeated. 'D'ye think, ' saidhe, 'as I'd finish the child for--'well, he named the balance, whatever'twas. "

"One-seventeen-three, " said the voice from the bed. 

"That's so. And 'Monkey Brand?' says he. 'Why, you've scoured hislittle stummick so, you might put it on the chimbly-piece and see yourface in it! Fit an' wrap what's left of him in a blanket, ' says DoctorHiggs; 'an' take him home an' put him to bed, ' says he--which they doneso, " concluded Mrs Bowldler, "an' if you'll believe it, when I come toput him to bed an' fold his trowsers across the chair, out trickles thetwo sufferins!"

"You don't say!"

"He's been absent-minded of late. It they'd only turned his pockets outinstead of--well, we won't go into details: but the two pounds was thereall the time. 'Twas the petty cash he'd swallowed, in the shock athearin' about Mr Rogers. . . . And how's _he_, by the way?"

"Bad, " answered Fancy, "dreadful bad. I don't think he's goin' to die, not just yet-awhile: but he can't speak, and his mind's troubled. "

"Reason enough why, if all's truth that they tell of him. "

"But it isn't. "

"He brought your own father to beggary. "

"Well, you may put it that way if you choose. It's the way they all putit that felt for Dad without allowin' their feelin's to take 'emfurther. Not that he'd any claim to more'n their pity. He speckilatedwith Mr Rogers, and Mr Rogers did him in the eye, that's all. And I'mvery fond of Dad, " continued the wise child; "but the longer I live themore I don't see as one man can bring another to beggary unless theother man helps. The point is, Mr Rogers didn' leave him there. . . . We've enough to eat. "

"Ho! If _that_ contents you--" Mrs Bowldler shrugged her shoulders. 

"Who said it did? We don't ezackly make Gawds of our bellies, Dad andI; but there's a difference between that and goin' empty. Ask Pammy!"she added, with a twitch and a grin. 

"I've heard you say, anyway, that you was afraid Mr Rogers'd go to thenaughty place. A dozen times I've heard you say it. "

"Rats!--you never did. What you heard me say was that he'd go to hell, and I was sure of it. . . . And you may call it weak, but I can't bearit, " the child broke out with a cry of distress, intertwisting herfingers and wringing them. "It's dreadful--dreadful!--to sit by andwatch him lyin' there, with his mind workin' and no power to speak. All the time he's wantin' to say something to me, and--and--Where'sCap'n Hocken?"

"In his parlour. I heard his step in the passage, ten minutes ago, an'the door close. "

"I'm goin' down to him, if you'll excuse me, " said Fancy, rising fromthe bedroom chair into which she had dropped in her sudden access ofgrief. 

"Why?"

"I dunno. . . . He's a good man, for one thing. You haven't noticed anydifference in him?"

"Since when?" The question obviously took Mrs Bowldler by surprise. 

"Since he heard--yesterday--"

"Me bein' single-handed, with Palmerston on his back, so to speak, Ihev' not taken particular observation, " said Mrs Bowldler. "Last night, as I removed the cloth after supper, he passed the remark that it hadbeen a very tirin' day, that this was sad news about Mr Rogers, but we'dhope for the best, and when I mentioned scrambled eggs for breakfast, heleft it to me. Captain Hunken on the other hand chose haddock: he didmention--come to think of it and when I happened to say that a secondstroke was mostly fatal--he did go so far as to say that all flesh wasgrass and that Palmerston would require feedin' up after what he'd gonethrough. "

"He--Cap'n Hunken--didn' seem worried in mind, either?"

"Nothing to notice. Of course, " added Mrs Bowldler, "you understandthat our appetites are not what they were: that there has been a distinkdroppin' off since--you know what. They both eats, in a fashion, butwhere's the pleasure in pleasin' 'em? Heart-renderin', I call it, whena devilled kidney might be a plain boiled cabbage for all the heedtaken, and you knowin' all the while that a woman's at the bottom ofit. "

Fancy moved to the door. "Well, " said she, "I'm sorry for the cause ofit: but duty's duty, and I reckon I've news to make 'em sit up. "

She went downstairs resolutely and knocked at Cai's parlour door. 

"Come in! . . . Eh, so it's you, missy? No worse news of the invalid, Ihope?"

"He isn' goin' to die to-day, nor yet to-morrow, if that's what youmean. May I take a chair?"

"Why, to be sure. "

"Thank you. " Fancy seated herself. "If you please, Cap'n Hocken, I gota very funny question to ask. "

"Well?"

"You mustn't think I'm inquisitive--"

"Go on. "

"If you please, Cap'n Hocken, are you very fond indeed of Mrs Bosenna?"

Cai turned about to the hearth and stooped for the tongs, as if to placea lump of coal on the fire. Then he seemed to realise that, the seasonbeing early summer, there was no fire and the tongs and coal-scuttle hadbeen removed. He straightened himself up slowly and faced about again, very red and confused (but the flush may have come from his stooping). 

"So we're not inquisitive, aren't we? Well, missy, appearances aredeceptive sometimes--that's all I say. "

"But I'm not askin' out o' curiosity--really an' truly. And pleasedon't turn me out an' warn me to mind my own business; for it _is_ mybusiness, in a way. . . . I'll explain it all, later on, if only you'lltell. "

"I admire Mrs Bosenna very much indeed, " said Cai slowly. "There now, --will that satisfy you?"

Fancy shook her head. "Not quite, " she confessed, "I want to know, Areyou so fond of her that you wouldn' give her up, not on any account?"

Cai flushed again. "Well, missy, since you put it that way, we'll makeit so. "

Still the answer did not appear to satisfy the child. She fidgetted inher chair a little, but without offering to go. 

"Not for no one in the wide world?" she asked at length. 

"Why, see here, "--Cai met her gaze shyly--"isn't that the right way tofeel when you want to make a woman your wife?"

"Ye-es--I suppose so, " admitted Fancy with a sigh. "But it makes thingsso awkward--" She paused and knit her brows, as one considering a hardproblem. 

"What's awkward?"

Her response to this, delayed for a few seconds, was evasive when itcame. 

"I used to think you an' Cap'n Hunken was such friends there was nothin'in the world you wouldn' do for him. "

"Ah!" Cai glanced at her with sharp suspicion. "So that's the latestgame, is it? He's been gettin' at you--a mere child like you!--andsends you off here to work on my feelin's! . . . I thought better of'Bias: upon my soul, I did. "

"An' you'd better go on thinkin' better, " retorted Fancy with spirit. "Cap'n Hunken sent me? What next? . . . Why, he never spoke a word tome!"

"Then I don't see--"

"Why I'm here? No, you don't; but you needn't take up with guesses o'_that_ sort. "

"I'm sorry if I mistook ye, missy. "

"You ought to be. Mistook me?--O' course you did. And as for Cap'nHunken's sendin' me, he don't even know yet that he's lost his money:and if he did he'd be too proud, as you ought to know. "

"Lost his money?" echoed Cai. "What money?"

"Well, to start with, you don't suppose Mr Rogers got his stroke fornothin'? 'Twas the news about the _Saltypool_ that bowled him out: an'between you an' me, in a few days there's goin' to be a dreadful mess. He always was a speckilator. The more money he made--and he made a lot, back-along--the more he'd risk it: and the last year or two his luck hasbeen cruel. In the end, as he had to tell me--for I did all hiswritin', except when he employed Peter Benny, --he rode to one anchor, and that was the _Saltypool_. He ran her uninsured. "

"Uninsured?" Cai gave a low whistle. "But all the same, " said he, "an' sorry as I am for Rogers, I don't see how that affects--"

"I'm a-breakin' it gently, " said Fancy, not without a small air ofimportance. "Cap'n Hunken had a small sum in the _Saltypool_--a hundredpounds only. "

"I wonder he had a penny. 'Tisn't like 'Bias to put anything into anuninsured ship. "

"Mr Rogers did it without consultin' him. Cap'n Hunken didn' know, and_I_ didn' know, for the money didn' pass by cheque. Some time back inlast autumn--I've forgot the date, but the books'll tell it--the old manhanded me two hundred pound in notes, not tellin' me where they camefrom, with orders to pay it into his account: which I took it straightacross to the bank--"

"Belay there a moment, " interrupted Cai. "A moment since you mentioned_one_ hundred. "

"So I did, because we're talkin' of Cap'n Hunken. Two hundred therewere, and all in bank notes: but only one hundred belonged to _him_--andI only found _that_ out the other day, when he heard that Mr Rogers hadput it into the _Saltypool_, and there was a row. As for the other--Lawks, you don't tell me 'twas yours!" exclaimed Fancy, catching at thesudden surmise written on Cai's face. 

"Why not? . . . If he treated 'Bias that way? Sure enough, " said Cai. "I took him a hundred pounds to invest for me, about that time. "

"Did he pay you a dividend this last half-year?"

"To be sure--seven pound, eight-an'-four. "

"That was on the _Saltypool_, " Fancy nodded. "And oh! Cap'n Hocken, Iam so sorry! but that hundred pound o' yours is at the bottom of thesea. "

"Well, my dear, " said Cai after a pause, pulling a wry face, "to do yourmaster justice, he warned me 'twas a risk. There's naught to do but payup un' look pleasant, I reckon. 'Twon't break me. "

"Cut the loss, you mean. The shares was paid up in full, and therecan't be no call. "

"You're knowledgeable, missy: and yet you're wrong this time, as ithappens. For (I may tell you privately) the money didn' belong to me, but to Mrs Bosenna, who asked me to invest it for her. "

"Oh!--and Cap'n Hunken's hundred too?"

Cai reached a hand to the mantelpiece for the tobacco-jar, filled a pipevery deliberately, lit it, and drawing a chair up to the table, seatedhimself in face of her. 

"I shouldn't wonder, " said he, resting both arms on the table and eyeingher across a cloud of tobacco-smoke. "Though I don't understand whatshe--I mean, I don't understand what the game was. "

"Me either, " agreed the child, musing. "No hurry, though: I'll be awidow some day, please God--which is mor'n _you_ can hope. But now weget to the point: an' the point is, you can pay the woman up. Cap'n Hunken can't. "

"Why not?"

"He don't know it yet, but he can't. "

"So you said: an' Why not? I ask. Within a thousand pound 'Bias owns asmuch as I do. "

The child stood up, pulled her chair across to the table, and reseatingherself, gazed steadily across at him through the tobacco-smoke. 

"Where d'ye keep your bonds an' such like?" she asked. 

"In my strong box, for the most part: two or three in the skivet of mysea-chest. "

"You got 'em all?"

"All. That's to say all except the paper for this hundred pounds, which'twas agreed Rogers should keep. "

"You're a lucky man. . . . Where did Cap'n Hunken keep his?"

"Darn'd if I know. Somewheres about. He was always a bit careless overhis securities--and so I've told him a dozen times, "

"When did you tell him last?"

This was a facer, and it made Cai blink. "We haven't discussed thesethings much--not of late, " he answered lamely. 

"I reckoned not. He don't keep 'em in his strong-box?"

"He hasn't one. "

"In his chest?"

"Maybe. "

"But he don't. He's left 'em with Mr Rogers from the first, or I'mmistaken. I used to see the two bundles, his and yours, lyin' side byside on the upper shelf o' the safe when the old man sent me to unlockit an' fetch something he wanted--which wasn't often. Then, about sixmonths back, I noticed as one was gone. I mentioned it to him, and hesaid as 'twas all his scrip--that was his word--made up in a parcel an'docketed by you, and that some time afterwards you'd taken it away. "

"Quite correct, missy. And t'other one is 'Bias's, as I know. I had'em in my hands together when I opened the safe as Mr Rogers told me todo, givin' me the key. I took out the two, not knowing t'other fromwhich, made sure, docketed mine careful--to take away--and put 'Bias'sback in the safe afore lockin' it. That would be back sometime inOctober last. "

Fancy nodded. "That's what he told me: and up to this mornin' Ireckoned Cap'n Hunken's bonds was still there, though it must be a monthsince I opened the safe. This mornin' I had a talk with Dad--he doesn'tknow the half about the master's affairs, nor how they've been these twoyears, and I didn' let on: but I allowed as we ought to look into thingsand call in Peter Benny--knowin' that Peter Benny was made execlator, ifanything happened. So we agreed, and called him in: and I told PeterBenny enough to let him see that things were serious. In the end Ifetched the keys, and he unlocked the safe. There was a good few papersin it, which he overhauled. But there wasn' no parcel 'pon the topshelf where I'd seen it last. "

"Then you may depend he'd given it to 'Bias unbeknown to you, same as hehanded mine over to me. Wasn' that Benny's opinion?"

"Oh, you make me tired!" exclaimed the wise child frankly. "As if I'dno more sense than to go there an' then an' frighten him--an' him withall those papers to look over!"

"Then if you're so shy about worriting Benny--and I don't blame you--whybe in such a hurry to worrit yourself? 'Bias has the papers--that youmay lay to. "

Fancy tapped her small foot on the floor, which it just reached. "As if I should be wastin' time, botherin' you! On my way here I ranagainst Cap'n Hunken, and of course he wanted to hear the latest ofmaster--said he was on his way to inquire. So I told him that matterswas bad enough but while there was life there was hope--the sort o'thing you _have_ to say: and I went on that the business would be all ina mess for some time to come, and I hoped he'd got all his papers athome, which would save trouble. 'Papers?' said he. 'Not I!'--and Iwonder I didn' drop: you might have knocked me down with a feather. 'Papers?' said he. 'I haven't seen 'em for months. _I_ don't troubleabout papers! But you'll find 'em in the safe all right, though Ihaven't seen 'em for months. ' Those were the very words he used: andnothin' would interest him but to hear how the invalid was doin'. He went off, cheerful as a chaffinch. It's plain to me, " Fancy woundup, "that he hasn't the papers. He trusted you, to start with, and he'sgone on trustin' you and the master. Didn' you intejuce him?"

"Sure enough I did, " Cai allowed. "But--confound it, you know!--'BiasHunken isn't a child. "

"Oh! if that contents you--" But well she knew it did not. 

"Mr Rogers never would--"

"I've told you, " said Fancy, "more'n ever I ought to have told. There's no knowin', they say, what a man'll do when he's in QueerStreet: _and_ the papers have gone: _and_ Cap'n Hunken thinks they're inthe safe, where they ain't: _and_ I come to you first, as used to be hisfriend. "

"Good Lord '" Cai stood erect. "If--if--"

"That's so, " assented Fancy, seated and nodding. "If--"

"But it can't be!"

"But if it _is?_" She slipped from her chair and stood, still facinghim. 

He stared at her blankly. "Poor old 'Bias!" he murmured. "But it can'tbe. "

"Right O! if you _will_ have it so. But, you see, I didn' put thequestion out o' curiosity altogether. "

"The question? What question?"

"Why, about Mrs Bosenna. "

"What has Mrs Bosenna to do with--Oh, ay, to be sure! You're meanin'that hundred pounds. " His wits were not very clear for the moment. 

"No, I'm not, " said Fancy, moving to the door. In the act of opening itshe paused. "'Twas through you, I reckon, he first trusted master withhis money. "

"I--I never suggested it, " stammered Cai. 

"I'm not sayin' you did, " the girl answered back coldly. "But he wentto master for your sake, because you was his friend and he had such abelief in you. Just you think that out. "

With a nod of the head she was gone. 

Before leaving the house she visited the kitchen, to bid good-night toMrs Bowldler. But Mrs Bowldler was not in the kitchen. 

She mounted the stairs and tapped at the door of Palmerston's atticchamber. 

"Hullo!" said she looking in, "what's become of Geraldine?"(Mrs Bowldler's Christian name was Sarah, but the two children vied ininventing others more suitable to her gentility). 

"If by Geraldine you mean Herm-Intrude, " said Palmerston, sitting up inbed and grinning, "she's out in the grounds, picking--"

"Culling, " corrected Fancy. "Her own word. "

"Well then--culling lamb mint. "

"I should ha' thought sage-an'-onions was the stuffin' relied on by thisestablishment. "

"Seasonin', " corrected Palmerston. "But what have _you_ been doin' allthis time?"

"My dear, don't ask!" Fancy seated herself at the foot of the bed. "If you _must_ know, I've been playin' Meddlesome Matty life-size. . . . These grown-ups are all so _helpless_--the men especially! . . . Feelin' better?"

"Heaps. 'Tis foolishness, keepin' me in bed like this, and I wishyou'd tell her so. _I'm_ all right--'xcept in my mind. "

"What's wrong with your mind?"

"'Shamed o' myself: that's all--but it's bad enough. "

"There's no call to be ashamed. You did it in absence o' mind, and allthe best authors have suffered from that. It's well known. "

"To go through what I did, " said Palmerston bitterly, "just to bring uptwo-an'-nine! 'Tis such a waste of material!"

"That's one way of puttin' it, to be sure. "

"I mean, for a book--for' Pickerley. ' I s'pose there's not one man in athousand--not one liter'y man, anyhow--has suffered anything like it. And I can't put it into the book!"

"No, " agreed Fancy meditatively. "I don't suppose you could: not in'Pickerley' anyhow. You couldn' make your 'ero swallow anything under adi'mund tiyara, and that's not easy. "

"I'll have to write the next one about low life, " said Palmerston. "If only I knew a bit more about it! Mrs Bowldler says it can berendered quite amusin', and I wouldn' mind makin' myself the 'ero. "

"Wouldn't you? Well, _I_ should, and don't you let me catch you at it!The man as I marry'll have to keep his head up and show a proper respectfor his-self. "

Poor Palmerston stared. The best women in the world will neverunderstand an artist. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

CAI RENOUNCES. 

If this thing had happened--?

After Fancy left him Cai dropped into his armchair, and sat for a longwhile staring at the paper ornament with which Mrs Bowldler haddecorated his summer hearth. It consisted of a cascade of papershavings with a frontage of paper roses and tinsel foliage, and wasremarkable not only for its own sake but because Mrs Bowldler had chosento display the roses upside down. But though Cai stared at it hard, heobserved it not. 

For some minutes his mind refused to work beyond the catastrophe. "If _it_ had happened--if 'Bias had indeed lost all his money. . . . "

He arose, lit a pipe, and dropped back into his chair. 

It may be that the tobacco clarified his brain. . . . Of a sudden thechild's words recurred and wrote themselves upon it, and stood out, asif traced in fire--"_He went to master for your sake, because you washis friend and he had such a belief in you. _"

Ay, that was true, and in a flash it lit up a new pathway, down which hefollowed the thought in the child's mind only to lose it and standaghast at his own reflections. 

''Bias went to Rogers through his belief in me. '

--'I did not encourage him. On the other hand, I said nothing to hinderhim. '

--'Yet, afterwards and in practice, I did encourage him, going to Rogerswith him and discussing our investments together. '

--'In a dozen investments we acted as partners. '

--'He was my friend, and in those days entirely open with me. He let meread all his character. I knew him to be strict in paying his debts, uneasy if he owed a sixpence, yet careless in details of business, andtrustful as a child. '

--'Then this quarrel sprang up between us, and I let him go his way. I had no right to do that, having led him so far. In a sense, he hasgone on trusting me; that is, he has gone on trusting Rogers for mysake. To be quit of responsibility, I should have given him fairwarning. 

--'I ought to have gone to him and said, "Look here; Rogers is a friendof mine, and known to me from childhood. There's honesty in him, but'tis like streaks in bacon; and for some reason or another he choosesthat all his dealin's with me shall keep to the honest streak. If youask me how I know this, 'twouldn't be easy to answer: I _do_ know it, and I trust him as I'd trust myself, a'most. But Rogers isn't a man foreveryone's money, and there's many as don't scruple to call him a knave. He hasn't known you from a child, and you haven't known him. You'll besafe in putting it that what he's done honest for you he's done as myfriend--"'

Here Cai was seized by a new apprehension. 

--'Ay, and--the devil take it!--I've let Rogers see, lately, that 'Biasand I had dissolved partnership and burnt the papers! 'Twouldn't takemore than that to persuade Rogers he was quit of the old obligationtowards 'Bias--himself in difficulties too, and 'Bias's money under hishand. '

--'Good Lord! . . . Suppose the fellow even allowed to himself that hewas _helping_ me! If Mrs Bosenna--?'

At this point Cai came to a full stop, appalled. Be it repeated thatneither he nor 'Bias had wooed Mrs Bosenna for her wealth; nor until nowhad her wealth presented itself to either save in comfortableafter-thought. 

Cai sat very still for a while. Then drawing quickly at his pipe, hefound that it was smoked out. He arose to tap the bowl upon the bars ofthe grate. But they were masked and muffled by Mrs Bowldler's screen ofshavings, and he wandered to the open window to knock out the ashes uponthe slate ledge. Returning to the fireplace, he reached out a hand forthe tobacco-jar, but arrested it, and laying his pipe down on the table, did something clean contrary to habit. 

He went to the cupboard, fetched out decanter, water-jug, and glass, andmixed himself a stiff brandy-and-water. 

"Hullo!" said a voice outside the window. "I didn' know as you indulgedbetween meals. "

It was Mr Philp, staring in. 

"I heard you tappin' on the window-ledge, and I thought maybe you hadcaught sight o' me, " suggested Mr Philp. 

"But I hadn't, " said Cai, somewhat confused. 

"I said to myself, 'He's beckonin' me in for a chat': and no wonder if'tis true what they're tellin' down in the town. "

"Well, I wasn't, " said Cai, gulping his brandy-and-water hardily. "But what are they tellin'?"

"There's some, " mused Mr Philp, "as don't approve of solitary drinkin'. Narrow-minded bodies _I_ call 'em. When a man is in luck's way, who'sto blame his fillin' a glass to it--though some o' course prefers tocall in their naybours; an' _that's_ a good old custom too. "

Cai ignored the hint. "What are they tellin' down in the town?"

"All sorts o' things, from mirth to mournin'. They say, for instance, as you and the Widow have fixed it all up to be married this side o'Jubilee. "

"That's a lie, anyway. "

"And others will have it as the engagement's broken off by reason ofyour losin' all your money in Johnny Rogers's smash?"

"And that, " said Cai, "is just as true as the other. But who says thatRogers has gone smash?"

"Everyone. I tackled Tabb upon the subject this mornin', and he couldn'deny it. The man's clean scat. He's been speckilatin' for years:I always looked for this to be the end, and when they told me the_Saltypool_ wasn't insured, why, I drew my conclusions. As I was sayin'to Cap'n Hunken just now--"

"Eh? . . . Where is he?"

"Who?"

"'Bias Hunken. You said as you been speakin' with him--"

"Ay, to be sure, over his garden wall. I looked over and saw himweedin' among the rose-bushes, an' pulled up to give him the time o'day. "

"You didn' tell him about the _Saltypool?_"

"As it happens, that's just what I did. He'd heard she was lost, buthe'd no notion Rogers hadn't taken out an insurance on her, and heseemed quite fetched aback over it. "

"The devil!"

"I'm sorry you feel like that about him. As I was tellin' him, when Iheard your tap here at the window--"

"But I don't--and I wasn' tappin' for you, either. "

"Appears not, " said Mr Philp, with a glance at the empty glass in Cai'shand. 

"Where is he? Still in the garden, d'ye say?"

"Ay: somewheres down by the summer-house. Says _I_, when I heard youtappin', 'That's Cap'n Hocken, ' says I, 'signallin' me to come an wishhim joy, an' maybe to join him in a drink over his luck. And why not?'says I. 'Stranger things have happened. '"

"You'll excuse me. . . . If he's in his garden, I want a chat with him. "Cai hurried out to the front door. 

"Maybe you'd like me to go with you, " suggested Mr Philp, ready for him. 

"Maybe I'd like nothin' of the sort, " snapped Cai. "Why should I?"

"Well, if you ask _me_, he didn' seem in the best o' tempers, and itmight come handy to take along a witness. "

"No, thank'ee, " said Cai with some asperity. "You just run along andannoy somebody else. "

He descended the garden, to find 'Bias at the door of his summer-house, seated, and puffing great clouds of tobacco-smoke. 

"Good evenin'!"

"Good evenin', " responded 'Bias in a tone none too hospitable. 

"You don't mind my havin' a word with you?"

"Not if you'll make it short. "

"I've just come from Philp. He's been tellin' you about the_Saltypool_, it seems. "

"Well?"

"She was uninsured. "

"And on top o' that, the fools overloaded her. "

"And 'tis a serious thing for Rogers. "

"Ruination, Philp tells me--that's if you choose to believe Philp. "

"I've better information than Philp's, I'm sorry to say. "

"Whose?"

"Fancy Tabb's. "

"She didn' tell me so when I saw her to-day. "--(And good reason for why, thought Cai. )--"Still, if she told you, you may lay there's some truthin it. That child don't speak at random. I don't see, though, as itmakes much difference, up _or_ down?"

"No difference?"

"I didn' say 'no difference. ' I said 'not much. ' Ruination's not muchto a man already down with a stroke. "

"Oh, . . . _him?_" said Cai. "To tell the truth, I wasn't thinkin'about Rogers, not at this moment. "

"No?" queried 'Bias sourly. "Then maybe I'm doin' you an injustice. I thought you might be pushin' your way in here to suggest our doin'something for the poor chap. " Before Cai had well recovered from this, 'Bias went on, "And if so, I'd have answered you that I didn' intend tobe any such fool. "

"I--I'm afraid, " owned Cai, "my thought wasn' anything like sounselfish. It concerned you and me, rather. "

"Thinkin' of me, was you?" 'Bias stuffed down the tobacco in his pipewith his forefinger. "I reckon that's no game, Caius Hocken, to betakin' up again after all these months; and I warn you to drop it, for'tis dangerous. "

Whatever his faults, Cai did not lack courage. "I don't care a cuss forthreats, as you might know by this time. What I owe I pay, --and there'smy trouble. I introduced you to Rogers, didn't I?"

"That's true, " agreed 'Bias slowly. "What of it?"

"Why, that I'm in a way responsible that you took your affairs to him. "

"Not a bit. "

"But it follows. Surely you must see--"

"No, I don't. I ain't a child, and I'll trouble you not to hang abouthere suggestin' it. I didn' trust Rogers till I saw for myself he was agood man o' business and the very sort I wanted. He sarved me, wellenough; and, well or ill, I don't complain to you. "

"See here, 'Bias, " said Cai desperately. "You may take this tone withme if you choose. But you don't choke me off by it, and you'll have todrop it sooner or later. I was your friend, back along--let's startwith that. "

"And a nice friend you proved!"

"Let's start with _that_, then, " pursued Cai eagerly--so eagerly that'Bias stared willy-nilly, lifting his eye-brows. "Put it, if youplease, that I was your friend and misled you to trust in Rogers, thatyou lost money by it--"

"Who said so?"

"I say so. Put it at the lowest--that you sunk a hundred pound' in the_Saltypool_--"

"Eh?"

"In the _Saltypool_--" Cai met his stare and nodded. "And not your ownmoney, neither. Mrs Bosenna--"

'Bias started and laid down his pipe. "Drop that!" he interjected witha growl. 

"Nay, you don't frighten _me_, " answered Cai valiantly. "We're goin' totalk a lot of Mrs Bosenna, afore we've done. Present point is, she gaveyou a hundred pound, to invest for her. She gave me the like. "

"What!" 'Bias clutched both arms of his chair in the act of rising. But Cai held up a hand. 

"Steady! She gave me the like. . . . You handed the money over toRogers, and close on fifteen per cent he was makin' on it--in the_Saltypool_. "

"Who--who told you?"

"Wait! I did the like. . . . Seven pounds eight-and-four was mydividend, whatever yours may have been--eh? You may call it a--acoincidence, 'Bias Hunken: but some would say as our minds worked on thesame lines even when--even when--" Cai seemed to swallow something inhis throat. "Anyhow, the money's gone, and we'll have to make it good. "

"Well, I should hope so!"

"I'll see to _that_, 'Bias--whatever happens. "

"So will I, o' course. " 'Bias turned to refill his pipe. 

Cai was watching him narrowly. "Happen that mightn't be none too easy, "he suggested. 

"Why so?"

"Heark'n to me now: I got something more serious to tell. The Lord sendwe may be mistaken, but--supposin' as Rogers has played the rogue?"

'Bias, not at all discomposed, went on filling his pipe. "I see whatyou're drivin' at, " said he. "'Tis the same tale Philp was chantin' justnow, over the wall; how that Rogers had lost his own money and ours aswell, and 'twas in everybody's mouth. Which I say to you what I said tohim: ''Tis the old story, ' I says, 'let a man be down on his back, andevery cur'll fly at him. '"

"But suppose 'twas true? . . . Did Rogers ever show the bonds and papersfor your money?"

"'Course he did. Showed me every one as they came in, and seemed tomake a point of it. 'Made me count 'em over, some time back. 'Wouldn' let me off 'till I'd checked 'em, tied 'em up in a parcel, docketed 'em, sealed 'em, and the Lord knows what beside. Very drywork. I claimed a glass o' grog after it. "

"And then you took 'em away?" asked Cai with a sudden hope. 

"Not I. For one thing, they're vallyble, and I don't keep a safe. I put 'em back in the old man's--top shelf--alongside o' yours. "

Cai groaned. "They're missin' then!"

"Who told you?"

"The child--Fancy Tabb. "

'Bias looked serious. "Why didn' she come to me, I wonder?"

"I reckon--knowing what friends we'd been--she left it to me to breakthe news. "

"I won't believe it, " declared 'Bias slowly. But he sat staringstraight at the horizon, and after each puff at the pipe Cai could hearhim breathing hard. 

"The child's not given to lyin'. And yet I don't see--Rogers bein'helpless to open the safe on his own account. At the worst 'tis a badjob for ye, 'Bias. "

"Eh? . . . 'Means sellin' up an' startin' afresh: that's all--alwayssupposin' there's jobs to be found, at our age. I don't know as therewouldn't be consolations. This here life ashore isn't all I fanciedit. "

Now Cai had in mind a great renunciation: but unfortunately he could notfor the moment discover any way to broach it. He played to gain time, therefore, awaiting opportunity. 

"As for getting a job, " he suggested, "there's no need to be downcast;no need at all. If the worst came to the worst, there's the _HannahHoo_, f'r instance, and a providence she never found a buyer. "

"Ay, to be sure--I'd forgot the bark'nteen. "

"Come!" said Cai with a quick smile, playing up towards his grand_coup_. "What would you say to shippin' aboard the _Hannah Hoo?_"

"What?--as mate under _you_? . . . I'd say, " answered 'Bias slowly, "as I'd see you damned first. "

"But"--Cai stared at him in bewilderment--"who was proposin' any suchthing? As skipper I thought o' you--what elst? Leastways--"

"And you?"

"Me? . . . But why? There's no call for _me_ goin' to sea again. "

"Ah, to be sure, " said 'Bias bitterly, "I was forgettin'. You'll stayashore and make up your losses by marryin'!"

"But I haven't _had_ any losses!" stammered Cai. "Not beyond thehundred pound in the _Saltypool_. . . . Didn't I make that plain?"

"No, you didn't. " 'Bias laid down his pipe. "Are you standin' thereand tellin' me that _your_ papers are all right and safe?"

"To be sure they are. Rogers handed 'em over to me, and I took 'em homeand locked 'em in my strong-box--it may be four months ago. "

"Ay, that would be about the time. . . . Well, I congratulate you, " said'Bias, with deepening bitterness of accent. "The luck's yours, everyway, and that there's no denyin'. "

"Wait a bit, though. You haven't heard me finish. "

"Well?"

"Since this news came I've been thinkin' pretty hard over one or twothings . . . Over our difference, f'r instance, an' the cause of it. To be plain, I want a word with you about--well, about Mrs Bosenna. "

"Stow that, " growled 'Bias. "If you've come here to crow--"

"The Lord knows I've not come here to crow. . . . I've come to tell you, as man to man, that I don't hold 'twas a pretty trick she played us overthem two hundreds. You may see it different, and I hope you do. I don't bear her no grudge, you understand? . . . But if you've still amind to her, and she've a mind to you, I stand out from this moment, andwish 'ee luck!"

'Bias stood up, stiff with wrath. 

"And the Lord knows, Cai Hocken, how at this moment I keep my hands offyou! . . . Wasn't it bad enough before, but you must stand patronisin'there, offerin' me what you don't want? First I'm to ship in yoursarvice, eh? When that won't do, I'm to marry the woman you've no usefor? And there was a time I called 'ee friend! Hell! if you mustpoison this garden, poison it by yourself! Let me get out o' this. Stand aside, please, ere I say worse to 'ee!"

He strode by, and up the garden path in the gathering twilight. 

Poor 'Bias!

Poor Cai, too! His renunciation had cost him no small struggle, and hehad meant it nobly; but for certain he had bungled it woefully. 

His heart was sore for his friend: the sorer because there was now noway left to help. The one door to help--reconcilement--was closed andbolted! closed through his own clumsiness. 

It had cost him much, a while ago--an hour or two ago, no more--toresign his pretensions to Mrs Bosenna's hand. The queer thing was howlittle--the resolutions once taken--Mrs Bosenna counted. It was 'Biashe had lost. 

As he sat and smoked, that night, in face of Mrs Bowldler's fire-screen, staring at its absurd decorations, it was after 'Bias that his thoughtsharked--always back, and after 'Bias--retracing old friendshipfaithfully as a hound seeking back to his master. 

'Bias would never think well of him again. As a friend, 'Bias was lost, had gone out of his life. . . . So be it! Yet there remained a 'Bias inneed of help, though stubborn to reject it: a 'Bias to be saved somehow, in spite of himself, an unforgiving 'Bias, yet still to be rescued. Cai smoked six pipes that night, pondering the problem. He was arousedby the sound of the clock in the hall striking eleven. Before retiringto bed he had a mind to run through his parcel of bonds and securitieson the chance--since he and 'Bias had made many small investments byconsent and in common--of finding some hint of possible salvage. 

His strong-box stood in a recess by the chimnney-breast. A stuffedgannet in a glass case surmounted it--a present from 'Bias, who had shotthe bird. The bird's life-like eye (of yellow glass) seemed to watchhim as he thrust the key into the lock. 

He took out the parcel, laid it on the table under the lamp, and--withscarcely a glance at the docket as he untied the tape--spread out thepapers with his palm much as a card-player spreads wide a pack of cardsbefore cutting. . . . He picked up a bond, opened it, ran his eye overthe superscription and tossed it aside. 

So he did with a second--a third--a fourth. 

On a sudden, as he took up the fifth and, before opening it, glanced atthe writing on the outside, his gaze stiffened. He sat upright. 

After a moment or two he unfolded the paper. His eyes sought and foundtwo words--the name "Tobias Hunken. "

He turned the papers over again. Still the name not his--"TobiasHunken!"

He pushed the paper from him, and timorously, as a man possessed bysuperstitious awe, put out his fingers and drew forward under thelamplight the four documents already cast aside. 

The name on each was the same. The bonds belonged to 'Bias. By mistake, those months ago, he had carried them off and locked them upfor his own. 

Should he arouse 'Bias to-night and tell him of the good news?He gathered up the bonds in his hand, went to the front door, unbarredit, and stepped out into the roadway. Not a light showed anywhere inthe next house. 

Cai stepped back, barred the door, and sought his chamber, after puttingout the lamp. He slept as soundly as a child. 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

'BIAS RENOUNCES. 

"Is Cap'n Hunken upstairs?"

"Ay, ay, sir, " answered Mr Tabb from behind his pile of biscuit tins andsoapboxes. The pile had grown--or so it seemed to Cai--and blocked outmore of the daylight than ever. "Won't you step up? You'll be kindlywelcome. "

"I was told I should find him here. " Cai, on requesting Mrs Bowldlerthat morning to inform him how soon Captain Hunken would be finishingbreakfast, had been met with the information that Captain Hunken hadbreakfasted an hour before, and gone out. ("Which, " said Mrs Bowldler, "it becomes not one in my position to carry tales between oneestablishment and another: but he bent his steps in the direction of thetown. I beg, sir, however, that you will consider this to be stricklybetween you and me and the gatepost, as the saying is. ") Cai at oncesurmised the reason of this early sallying forth, and, following inchase, ran against the Quaymaster, from whom he learnt that 'Bias hadentered the ship-chandler's shop half an hour ago. "He has not sinceemerged, " added the Quaymaster Bussa darkly, as doubtful that in theinterim Captain Hunken might have suffered forcible conversion into oneof the obscurer "lines" of ship-chandlery, wherein so much purports tobe what it is not. 

--"I was told I should find him here, " said Cai. "But would ye mindfetchin' him down to me? The fact is, I want him on a matter of privatebusiness. "

Mr Tabb considered for a moment. "If I may advise, sir, " he suggestedmeekly, "you'll find it as private up there as anywhere. The master'spast hearin' what you say--or, if he hears, he's past takin' notice:whereas down here, you're liable to be interrupted by customers--letalone that I mustn't leave the shop. And, " concluded Mr Tabb, "I wouldhardly recommend the Quay. Mr Philp's just arrived there. "

On recovering from his previous stroke, Mr Rogers had given orders that, if another befell him, his bed was to be fetched downstairs and laid inthe great bow-window of the parlour. There Cai found him with Fancy inattendance, and 'Bias seated on a chair by the bedside. 

"Good-mornin', " Cai nodded, hushing his voice, and advanced towards thebed almost on tiptoe. "He won't reckernise me, I suppose?"

The invalid reclined in a posture between lying and sitting, his backpropped with pillows, his eyes turned with an expressionless staretowards the harbour. Save for its rigidity and a slight drawing down ofthe muscles on the left side of the mouth, there was nothing to shock orterrify in the aspect of the face, which kept, moreover, its customaryhigh colour. 

"He can't show it, if that's what you mean, " answered Fancy. "But heknows us, somewhere at the back of his eyes--of that I'm sure. I got tobe very clever watchin' his eyes, the last stroke he had, and there wasquite a different look in 'em when he was pleased, or when he wastroubled or wanted something. If you go over quiet and stand by thewindow, right where he must see you if he sees at all, maybe you'llnotice what I mean. "

But Cai, though he obeyed, and stood for a moment in the direct line oftheir vision, could detect no change in the unwinking eyes. 

"Cap'n Hunken will even have it that he hears what's said, or scraps ofit. But that I don't believe. . . . I believe 'tis but a buzzin' in hisears, with no sense to it, an' 'twould be jus' the same if we was theband of the R'yal Lifeguards. "

"Well, whether he hears or not, I've a piece o' news for 'Bias Hunken, here. . . . P'raps he'd like to step outside an' discuss it?" suggestedCai awkwardly, remembering how he and 'Bias had parted overnight. 

"I don't want to hear anything you can say, " growled 'Bias. 

"Oh, yes, you do! . . . I reckoned as you'd be down here, first thingafter breakfast, sarchin' for them papers we talked about. "

"Did you, now?"

"And I tried to catch you afore you started; but you'd breakfastedearly. . . . Well, the long and short is, they're not lost after all!"Cai produced the bundle triumphantly. 

"Eh! Where did you find 'em?" asked Fancy, while 'Bias took the parcelwithout a word of thanks, glanced at it carelessly, and set it down onthe little round table beside the bed. 

"In my strong-box. . . . There was two parcels, pretty much alike, onthe top shelf of the safe yonder, and I must have taken 'Bias's bymistake. I'm glad, anyway, " he went on, turning with moist eyes upon'Bias, who appeared to have lost interest in the conversation. "I'm glad, anyway, t'have eased your mind so soon, let alone to have cutshort your sarchin' which must ha' been painful enough--in a house o'sickness. "

"Who was sarchin'?" asked 'Bias curtly. "Not me. "

"And that's true enough, " corroborated Fancy. "Why, Cap'n Hunken hasnever mentioned the papers! I guessed as you hadn' told him they wasmissin'. "

"Eh? . . . I thought--I made sure, by his startin' down here so early--"

"Not a word of any papers did he mention, " said Fancy. "He just comeearly to sit an' keep master company, havin' a notion that his poor oldmind takes comfort from it somehow. Seven hours he sat here yesterday, an' never so much as a pipe of tobacco the whole time. Doctor said as abit o' tobacco-smoke wouldn' do any harm in the room: but Cap'n Hunkenallows as he'll be on the safe side. "

Cai started. . . . For aught 'Bias knew then--as indeed 'Bias had reasonto suspect--this husk of a man, helpless on the bed, had robbed him ofhis all, ruined him, left him no prospect but to begin life over againwhen late middle-age had sapped his vigour, attenuated the springs ofaction, left sad experience in the room of hope. And 'Bias's thought, ignoring it all, had been to sit beside this man's calamity, on themerest chance of piercing it with one ray of comfort!

Whereupon, as goodness takes inspiration from goodness, in Cai's heart, too, a miracle happened, He forgot himself, forgot his loss which was'Bias's gain: forgot that, keeping his surly attitude, 'Bias had utteredneither a "thank you" nor a word of pity. Old affection, oldadmiration, old faith, and regard came pouring back in a warm tide, thrilling, suffusing his consciousness, drowning all but one thought--one proud thought that stood like a sea-mark above the flood, justifyingall--"Even such a man I made my friend!"

For a long time Cai stared. Then, as 'Bias made no sign of lifting hissullen gaze from the strip of carpet by the bed, he turned half-abouttowards the door. 

"'Bias Hunken, " said he gently, "you're a good man, an' deserved thisluck better'n me. . . . If you can't put away hard thoughts just yet, maybe you'll remember, some day, that I wished 'ee long life to enjoyit. "

His hand was on the door. "Here, though--hold hard!" put in Fancy, whohad picked up the bundle of papers. "I don't think Cap'n Hunkenunderstands; nor I don't clearly understand myself. Was it _both_packets you carried home, sir? or only this one?"

"I thought as I'd made it clear enough, " answered Cai. His eyes werestill on his friend, and there was weariness as well as pain in hisvoice. "There's only one packet--'Bias's--what you have in your hand. I must have carried it home by mistake. "

"Then your's is missin'?"

"That's so, " said the broken man quietly. 

The child turned and walked to the window. On her way she halted amoment and peered earnestly into the invalid's eyes, as if the riddlemight possibly be read there. But they were vacant and answered hernothing. Then for some twenty seconds, almost pressing her forehead tothe window-pane, she stood and gazed out upon the glancing waters of theharbour. 

"There's only one thing to be done--" She wheeled about sharply. "Why, wherever _is_ the man? . . . You don't mean to tell me, " shedemanded of 'Bias indignantly, "that you sat there an' let him go!"

"I couldn' help his goin', could I?" muttered 'Bias, but his eyes wereuneasy under the wrath in hers. 

"You couldn' help it?" she echoed in scorn, and pointed to the figure onthe bed. "Here you come playin' the Early Christian over a man that, for aught you knew, had robbed you to a stair: and when 'tis your triedfriend fetchin' back riches to you--fairly bringin' you back to life atthe cost o' bein' a beggar hisself--you let him go without so much as athank'ee!"

"Cai Hocken don't want my thanks. "

"Didn't even want politeness, I suppose--after runnin' here hot footwith the news that made you rich an' him a poor man! Oh, you're pastall patience! . . . Who should know what he wanted an' didn't get--I, that had my eyes on his face, or you, that sat like a stuck pig, glowerin' at the carpet?"

"Gently, missy! . . . There--there didn' seem anything to say. "

"There was one thing to say, " answered the girl sternly, "and there'sone thing to be done. "

"What's that?"

"It mayn't be an easy thing, altogether. But you'll be glad of itafterwards, and you may as well make up your mind to it. "

"Out with it!"

"Mrs Bosenna--Why, what's the matter?"--for 'Bias had interrupted with ashort laugh. 

"I'd forgot Mrs Bosenna for the moment. "

"Right. Then go on forgettin' her, an' give her up. When you come tothink it over, " urged Fancy with the air of a nurse who administersmedicine to a child, "you'll find 'tis the only fit an' proper thing todo. "

Again 'Bias laughed, and this time his laugh was even shorter andgrimmer than before. 

"Well and good--but wait one moment, missy! D'ye know what Cai Hockensaid to me, last night in the garden, when he reckoned as I'd lost mymoney? No, you don't. 'Look here, ' he said, 'if you've still a mind tothat woman and she've a mind to you, I'll stand aside. ' That's what hesaid: and d'ye know what I answered? I told him to go to hell. "

"I see. " Fancy stood musing. 

"Makes it a bit awkward, eh?--Cai bein' a man of spirit, with all hisfaults. "

"Well, " she decided, "unless we can find his money for him, he'll haveto marry her, whether or no. 'Faults, ' indeed? I believe, " went on thewise child, "you two be more to one another than that woman ever was toeither, or ever will be. "

"We won't discuss that, " said 'Bias, "now that Cai's got to marry her. "

Cai retired to bed early that night, wearied in all his limbs with muchand aimless walking. If, as he trudged highroad or lane in the earlysummer heat, any thought of Mrs Bosenna arose for a moment and conqueredthe anodyne of bodily exercise, it was not a thought of grudging her to'Bias. By the turn of Fortune's wheel 'Bias would win her now. To _him_, at all events, she was lost. Cai had never courted her forher money: but he had courted without distrust, on the strength of hisown security in a competence. At the back of his mind there may havelurked a suspicion that Mrs Bosenna, as a business woman, was not in theleast likely to bestow her hand on a penniless sailor: but there was noreason why he should allow this suspicion to obtrude itself, sinceself-respect would have forbidden him, being penniless, to pursue thecourtship. 

No; if he thought of Mrs Bosenna at all, it was in a sort of dull rageagainst her sex: not specially against her, who happened to be her sex'sdelegate to work this particular piece of mischief, but generallyagainst womankind, that with a word or two, a look or two, it could roba man of a friend--and of such a friend as 'Bias!

'Bias was undemonstrative, Cai had always prided himself on recognisinga worth in him which did not leap to the eyes of other men--which hiditself rather, and shunned the light. It had added to his sense ofpossession that he constantly detected what others overlooked. In thismatter of his behaviour to Rogers, 'Bias had eclipsed all previousrecords. It was (view it how you would) magnificent in 'Bias--a highChristian action--to tend, as he had tended, upon a man who presumablyhad robbed him of his all. 

And at the same moment 'Bias could behave so callously to a once-dearfriend--to a friend bringing glad tidings--to a friend, moreover, rejoicing to bring them, though they meant his own undoing! It wasalmost inconceivable. It was quite unintelligible unless you supposedthe man's nature to be perverted, and by this woman. 

Cai's heart was bruised. It ached with a dull insistent pain that mustbe deadened at all costs, even though his own wrecked prospects calledout to be faced promptly, resolutely, and with a practical mind. He would face them to-morrow. To-day he would tire himself out:to-night he would sleep. 

And he slept, almost as soon as his head touched the pillow. His sleepwas dreamless too. 

"_Dame, get out and bake your pies--bake your pies--bake your pies--_"

"_Whoo-oo-sh!_"

He sat up in bed with a jerk. . . . What on earth was it? A squall ofhail on the window? Or a rocket?--a ship in distress, perhaps, outsidethe harbour? . . . 

"_Dame, get out and bake your pies--_" piped a high childish voice. Some one was unbarring a door below. A voice--'Bias's voice--spoke outgruffly, demanding what was the matter?

Was the house on fire? . . . No: outside the half-open window lay spreadthe moonlight, pale and tranquil. The night wind entering, scarcelystirred the thin dimity curtains. This was no weather for suddenhail-storms or for shipwreck. Cai flung back the bedclothes, jumpedout--and uttered a sharp cry of pain. His naked foot had trodden on agritty pebble, small but sharp. 

Someone had flung a handful of gravel at the window. 

He picked his way cautiously across the floor, and looked out. . . . In the moonlit roadway, right beneath, a girl--Fancy Tabb--was dancing afandango, the while in her lifted hand she waved a white parcel. 

"Ah, there you be!" she hailed, catching sight of him. "I've found'em!"

"Found what?"

"Your papers! . . . I couldn' sleep till I told you: and I had to fetchMr Benny along--here he is!"

"Good evening, Captain, " spoke up Mr Peter Benny, stepping out into theroadway from the doorway where he had been explaining to 'Bias. "It's all right, sir. Your papers are found. "

"Good evening, Benny! Tis kind of you, surely, "--Cai's voice trembled alittle. "What's the hour?" he asked. 

"Scarce midnight yet. I reckoned maybe you might be sittin' up, frettin' over this--'Twas the child here, though, that found it out andinsisted on bringing me. "

"After we'd locked up, " broke in Fancy, "and just as I was packin' Dadoff to bed, it came into my head to ask him--'I suppose you don't know, 'said I, 'of anyone's havin' been to master's safe without my bein'told?' He thought a bit, and 'No, ' says he; 'nobody 'cept myself, an'that but once. '_You?_' says I, 'and whoever sent _you_ there?''Why, the master hisself, ' says Dad. --Who else?' 'But what for?' Iasks, feelin' as you might have knocked me down with a feather. 'I meant to ha' told you, ' says Dad, 'but it slipped my mind. 'Twas oneafternoon, when you was out on your walk. I heard Master's stick tap onthe plankin' overhead so I went up, thinkin' as he might be wantin' histea in a hurry. He told me to open the safe an' take out a packet o'papers from the top shelf; which I did. ' 'What papers?' said I'How should I know?' says Dad: 'I don't meddle with his business--I'veseen too much of it in _my_ life. I didn' even glance at 'em, butlocked the safe again, an' put 'em where he told me--which was in thejapanned box by his chair!' 'Why, ' says I, ' that's his Insurance Box ashe called it--the same as I handed to Mr Benny only yesterday, to takeaway and sort through!' . . . After that, as you may guess, I was like amad person till we'd taken down the bolts again and I'd run to MrBenny's. "

"Ay, " chimed in Mr Benny, "I was upstairs and half-undressed: but shehad me dressed again an' down as if 'twas a matter of life and death. . . . And when we got out the box, there the papers were, sure enough. After that--for I saw their value to you--no one with a human heartcould help running along with her, to bear the news. . . . So here weare. "

"'Bias!" called Cai softly. "Didn' I hear 'Bias's voice below there, awhile since?"

"Ay, here I be. "--It was 'Bias's turn to step out from the shadow of hisdoorway into the broad moonlight. "And glad enough to hear this news. "

"Would ye do me a favour? . . . Dressed, are you?"

"Ay--been sittin' up latish to-night. "

"Well, I'm not azackly in a condition to step down--not for a minute ortwo; and I doubt Mrs Bowldler, if I called her, wouldn' be in nocondition either. . . . 'Twould be friendly of you to ask Mr Benny inand offer him a drink; and as for missy--"

"No thank 'ee, Cap'n, " interposed Mr Benny. "Bringin' you this peace o'mind has been cordial enough for me--and for the child too, I reckon, Good-night, gentlemen!"

"Cap'n Hunken, " said Fancy, "will you take the papers up to him?Then we'll go. "

"May I bring the papers to 'ee?" asked 'Bias, lifting his face to thewindow. 

"Ay, do--if they won't come in. . . . I'll step down and unbar thedoor. "

He lit a candle and hurried downstairs, his heart in his mouth. By the time he had unbarred and opened, Mr Benny and Fancy had takentheir departure; but their "good-nights" rang back to him, up themoonlit road, and his friend stood on the threshold. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

MRS BOSENNA GIVES THE ROSE. 

"It's a delicate thing to say to a woman, " suggested Cai; "'speciallywhen she happens to be your land-lady. "

"You do the talkin', of course, " said 'Bias hurriedly. 

"Must I? Why?"

"Well, to begin with, you knew her first. "

"I don't see as that signifies. "

"No? Well, you used to make quite a point of it, as I remember. But anyway you're a speaker, and it'll need some gift, as you say. "

They had reached the small gate at the foot of the path. The day washot, the highroad dusty. Cai halted and removed his hat; drew out ahandkerchief and wiped his brow; wiped the lining of the hat;wiped his neck inside the collar. 

"There's another way of lookin' at it, " he ventured. "Some might say as'twas more tactful to let your feelin's cool off by degrees. "

"That's no way for me, " said 'Bias positively. "Short and sharp's ourmotto. "

"'Tis the best, no doubt, " Cai agreed. "But there's the trouble ofputtin' it into words. . . . I wish, now, I'd thought of consultin'Peter Benny. There'd be no harm, after all, in steppin' back and askin'his advice. "

"No, you don't, " said 'Bias shortly. "In my belief, if we hadn't madeso free wi' consultin' Peter Benny in the past, we shouldn't be where webe at this moment. "

If Cai's thought might be read in his face, he would not have greatlyminded _that_, just now. 

"In the matter of these letters for instance--"

"I wonder if she ever got 'em?"

"You bet she did. She's been playin' us off, one against t'other, eversince. "

"We let our feelin's carry us away. "

"We let Peter Benny's feelin's carry us away, " 'Bias corrected him. "That's the worst of these writin' chaps. Before you know where you arethey'll harrow you up with feelin's you wasn't aware you entertained. Now I don't mind confessin' that, afore Benny had started to make out afair copy I found myself over head an' ears in love with the woman. "

"Me too, " agreed Cai, musing. 

"You're _sure_ you're not any longer?"

"Eh? . . . Of course I am sure. I was only thinkin' how queer it was heshould have pumped it out of us, so to say, with the same letters--almost to a syllable. "

"There's two ways o' lookin' at that, " said 'Bias thoughtfully. "You may put it that marryin's as common as dirt. Nine out o' tenindulges in it; and, that bein' so, the same form o' words'll do foreverybody, more or less, in proposin' it; just as (when you come tothink) the same Marriage Service does for all when they come to thescratch. If all men meant different to all women, there wouldn't beenough dictionary to go round. "

Cai shook his head. "I'm the better of it now, " he confessed; "but Igot to own that, at the moment, though Benny did well enough, theredidn't seem enough dictionary to go round. "

"I felt something of a rarity myself at the time, " owned 'Bias. "But there's another explanation I like better, though you'll think itfar-fetched. . . . You and me--until this happened, there was never across word atween us, _nor_ a cross thought?"

"That's so, 'Bias. "

"Well, and that bein' so, if Benny hit the note for one, how could ithelp bein' the note for both? . . . I've had pretty rash thoughts aboutBenny: but--put it in that way--who's to blame the man? Or the woman, for that matter?"

"I like that explanation better, " said Cai. 

"--Or the woman? She can't help bein' a two-headed nightingale. "

"To be sure she can't. . . . We might leave it at that and say no moreabout it. She'd be sure to understand in time. "

"The agreement was, last night, " insisted 'Bias with great firmness, "to put it to her straight and get it over. "

They resumed their walk and mounted the pathway over which--from thefirst angle of the outbuildings to the garden-gate--Banksian roses hungfrom the wall in heavy honey-coloured clusters of bloom. These werescentless and already past their prime; but by the gate at thesouth-east end of the house the white Banksian, throwing far widershoots, saluted them with a scent as of violets belated. And within thegate the old roses were coming on with a rush--Provence and climbingChina; Moschata alba, pouring over an arch in a cascade of bloom thathid all its green as with shell-pink foam; crimson and striped Damaskalong the border; with Paul Neyron eclipsing all in size, moss-rosesbursting their gummy shells, Gloire de Dijon climbing and assertingitself above the falsely named "pink Gloire"; Reine Marie Henriette--which, grown by everybody, is perhaps the worst rose in the world. Gloire de Dijon rampant smothered the pretender and covered the most ofits mildewing buds from sight; to be conquered in its turn by the sheerbeauty of Marechal Niel, whose every yellow star, bold on its stalk asgreenhouses can grow it, shamed all feebler yellows. Devoniensis flungits sprays down from the thatch. La France and Ulrich Brunnercompeted--silver rose against cherry rose--on either side of the porch. Yet the fragrance of all these roses had to yield to that of the Cottageflowers, mignonette, Sweet-William, lemon verbena, Brompton stocks--annuals, biennials, perennials, intermixed--that lined the border, withblue delphiniums and white Madonna lilies breaking into flower abovethem. 

Dinah, answering their ring at the bell after the usual delay forreconnaissance, opined that her mistress would probably be found in thenew rose-garden. She said it, as they both observed, with a demure, half-mischievous smile. 

"Amused to see us in company again, I reckon, " said Cai to 'Bias as theywent up through the old rose-garden, where the June-flowering H. P. 's ranriot in masses of colour from palest pink to deepest crimson. 

"Ay, " assented 'Bias, "we'll have to get used to folks smilin', thesenext few days. . . . Between ourselves, I never fancied that woman, though I couldn' give you any particular reason for it. "

"Sly, " suggested Cai. 

"'Tis more than that. Slyness, you may say, belongs to the whole sex, and I've known men say as they found it agreeable, in moderation. "

"I never noticed that in her mistress, to do her justice. "

'Bias halted. "Look here. . . . You're _sure_ you ain't weakenin'?"

"Sure. "

"Because, as I told 'ee last night--and I'll say it again, here, at thelast moment--she's yours, and welcome, if so be--"

"--'If so be as I didn' speak my true mind last night, when I said thesame to you '--is that what you mean? Here, let's on and get it over!"said Cai, mopping his brow anew. 

"'Tis a delicate business to broach, as you mentioned just now, " said'Bias dallying. "We'll have to be very careful how we put it. "

"Very. As I told 'ee before, if you like to take it over--"

"Not at all. You're spokesman--only we don't want to put it so's shecan round on us with 'nobody axed you. ' And you gave me a turn, justthen, by sayin' as you never noticed she was sly; because as I reckon, that's the very point we've come to make. "

"As how?"

'Bias stared at him in some perturbation. "Why, didn't she put thattrick on us over the investment? And ain't we here to give her back hermoney? And wasn't it agreed as we'd open on her reproachful-like? an'then, one thing leadin' to another--"

"Ay, to be sure--I got all that in my mind really. " Cai wiped the backof his neck and pocketed his handkerchief with an air of decision--or ofdesperation. "What you don't seem to know--though with any experienceo' speakin' you'd understand well enough--is that close upon the lastmoment all your thoughts fly, and specially if folks _will_ keepchatterin': but when you stand up and open your mouth--provided asnobody interrupts you . . . "

"I declare! If it isn't Captain Hocken--_and_ Captain Hunken with him!"

At the creaking of the small gate, as Cai opened it, Mrs Bosenna hadlooked up and espied them. She dropped the bundle of raffia, with thehelp of which she had been staking such of her young shoots as wereoverlong or weighted down by their heavy blooms, and came forward with asmile of welcome. 

"Come in--come in, the both of you! What lovely weather! You'll excusemy not taking off my gloves? We are busy, you see, and some of my newbeauties have the most dreadful thorns! . . . By the way"--she glancedover her shoulder, following Cai's incredulous stare. "I believe youknow Mr Middlecoat? Yes, yes, of course--I remember!" She laughed andbeckoned forward the young farmer, who dropped his occupation among therosebuds and shuffled forward obediently enough, yet wearing anexpression none too gracious. 

"'Afternoon, gentlemen, " mumbled Farmer Middlecoat, and his sulky toneseemed to show that he had not forgotten previous encounters. "Won't offer to shake hands. 'Cos why?" He showed the backs of hisown, which were lacerated and bleeding. "Caterpillars, " added MrMiddlecoat in explanation. 

"There now!" cried Mrs Bosenna in accents of genuine dismay. "I'd noidea you were tearin' yourself like that--and so easy to ask Dinah tofetch out a pair o' gloves!"

"Do you mean to say, sir, " asked Cai in his simplicity, "thatcaterpillars bite?"

"No, I don't, " answered Mr Middlecoat. "But you can't get at 'em andavoid these pesky thorns. "

Said Mrs Bosenna gaily, --"Mr Middlecoat called on me half an hour agowi' the purpose to make himself disagreeable as usual--though I forgetwhat his excuse was, this time--and I set him to hunt caterpillars. "

"Dang it, look at my hands!" growled the young farmer, holding them out. 

"And last month, wi' that spell of east wind, 'twas the green-fly. But I reckon we've mastered the pests by this time. Didn't find manycaterpillars, eh?"

"No, I didn', " answered Mr Middlecoat, still sulkily. "But them as Idid you bet I scrunched. "

"Well, they deserved it, for the last few be the dangerousest. They give over the leaves to eat the buds. But 'tis labour well spenton 'em, and we'll have baskets on baskets now, by Jubilee Day. "

"'Tis the Queen's flower--the royal flower--sure enough, " said Cai, looking about him in admiration. He had not visited the new garden forsome weeks, and on the last visit it had been but an unpromising patchstuck about with stiff, thorny twigs, all leafless, the most of themprojecting but a few inches above the soil. The plants were short yet, and the garden itself far from beautiful; but the twigs had thrown upshoots, and on the shoots had opened, or were opening, roses that dreweven his inexperienced eye to admire them. 

"I'm afraid there's no doubt of it, " said Mrs Bosenna. "I love the oldH. P. 's: but you must grow the Teas and Hybrid Teas nowadays, if you wantto exhibit. Yet I love the old H. P. 's, and I've planted a few, to holdtheir own and just show as they won't be shamed. See this one now--there's a proper Jubilee rose, and named _Her Majesty!_ Brought out, they tell me, in 'eighty-five: but the Yankees bought up all the stock, and it didn't get back into this country until 'eighty-seven, the lastJubilee year. See the thorns on her, _and_ the stiff pride o' stem, _and_ the pride o' colour--fit for any queen! She's not the best, though. . . . She'll do for last Jubilee--not for this. Wait tillyou've seen the best of all!"

She led them to a plant--stunted by the secateurs, yet vigorous--whichshowed, with three or four buds as yet closed and green, one solitarybloom, pure white and of incomparable shape. 

"There!" said she proudly. "That's a tea, and the finest yet grown, to_my_ mind. That's the rose for this Diamond Jubilee, and white as adiamond. A proper royal Widow's rose!"

"Is that its name?" asked Cai. 

Mrs Bosenna laughed and plucked the bloom. 

"On the contrary, " said she with a mischievous twitch of the mouth, "'tis called _The Bride!_ There's only one bloom, you see, and I can'toffer to part it. Now which of you two 'd like it for a buttonhole?"

She held out the rose, challenging them. 

"I--I--" stammered Cai, backing against 'Bias's knuckles which dug himin the back--"I grant ye, ma'am, 'tis a fine rose--a lovely rose--butfor my part, a trace o' colour--"

"Bright red, " prompted 'Bias. 

"Bright red--for both of us--"

"And now I've plucked it, " sighed Mrs Bosenna. 

"Well, if you won't, perhaps Mr Middlecoat will, rather than waste it. "

Mr Middlecoat stepped forward and allowed the enormous bloom to beinserted in his buttonhole, where its pure white threw up a finecontrast to his crimsoning face. 

"You won't think me forward, I hope?" said Mrs Bosenna, turning about. "The fact is--though I don't want it generally known yet--that yesterdayMr Middlecoat, in his disagreeable way, made me promise to marry him?"

Before the pair could recover, she had moved to another bush. 

"Red roses, you prefer? Red is rare amongst the Teas--there's but one, as yet, that can be called red--if this suits you? And, by luck, thereare two perfect buttonholes. "

She plucked the buds and held them out. 

"It's name, " said she, "is _Liberty. _"

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

JUBILEE. 

For the best part of a week before the great Day of Jubilee Cai and'Bias toiled together and toiled with a will, erecting the framework ofa triumphal arch to span the roadway. Within-doors, in the intervals ofhousehold duty, Mrs Bowldler measured, drew, and cut out a number ofcapital letters in white linen, to be formed into a motto and sewn uponred Turkey twill, while Palmerston industriously constructed and wiredgross upon gross of paper roses--an art in which he had been instructedby Fancy, who had read all about it in a weekly newspaper, 'The CosyHearth. ' The two friends talked little to one another during those busyJune days. Strollers-by--and it had become an evening recreation inTroy to stroll from one end of the town to the other and mark how thingswere getting along for the 22nd--found Captain Hocken and Captain Hunkenever at work but little disposed to chat; and as everyone knew of theold quarrel, so everyone noted the reconciliation and marvelled how ithad come to pass. Even Mr Philp was baffled. Mr Philp, passing andrepassing many times a day, never missed to halt and attemptconversation; with small result, however. 

"It's a wonder to me, " he grumbled at last, "how men of your age canrisk scramblin' about on ladders with your mouths constantly full o'nails. "

In the evenings they supped together. Mrs Bowldler had made free tosuggest this. 

"Which, " said Mrs Bowldler in magnificent anacoluthon, "if we see it aswe ought, this bein' no ordinary occasion, but in a manner of speakin'one of Potentates and Powers and of our feelin's in connectiontherewith; by which I allude to our beloved Queen, whom Gawd preserve!--Gawd bless her! I say, and He _will_, too, from what I know of 'im--andtherefore deservin' of our yunited efforts; and, that bein' the case, itwould distinkly 'elp, from the point of view of the establishment(meanin' Palmerston and me) if we (meanin' you, sir, and Captain Hunken)could make it convenient to have our meals in common. . . . The earlyChristians were not above it, " she added. "Not they! Ho, not, --if Imay use the expression--by a long chalk!"

She contrived it so delicately that afterwards neither Cai nor 'Biascould remember precisely at what date--whether on the Wednesday or onthe Thursday--they slipped back into the old comfortable groove. 

The arch occupied their thoughts. After supper, as they sat and smoked, their talk ran on it: on details of its construction; on the chances(exiguous indeed!) of its being eclipsed by rivals in the town, some incourse of construction, a few as yet existent only in the promises ofrumour. 

Cai would say, "I hear the Dunstans are makin' great preparations intheir back-yard. They mean to bring their show out at the last moment, and step it in barrels. "

"I don't believe in barrels, " 'Bias would respond. "Come a breeze o'wind, where are you? Come a strong breeze, and over you go, endangerin'life. It ought to be forbidden. "

"No chance of a breeze, though. " Cai had been studying the glass closelyall the week. 

"Fog, more like. 'Tis the time o' the year for fogs. "

Other matters they discussed more desultorily; meetings of theProcession Committee, of the Luncheon Committee (all the parish was tofeast together), of the Tree-planting Committee, of the Tea Committee;the cost of the mugs and the medals for the children, the latest returnshanded in by Mr Benny, who had undertaken the task of calling on everyhouseholder, poor or rich, and collecting donations. But to the archtheir talk recurred. 

--And rightly: for in the arch they were building better than they knew. In it, though unaware (being simple men), they were rebuildingfriendship. 

By Saturday evening the scaffolding was complete, firmly planted, firmlynailed, firmly clasped together by rope--in sailors' hitches such as donot slip. They viewed it, approved it, and soberly, having gathered uptools, went in to supper. On Sunday they attended morning service inchurch, and oh! the glow in their hearts when, in place of the usualvoluntary, the organ rolled out the first bars of "God Save the Queen"and all the worshippers sprang to their feet together!

On Monday the town awoke to the rumbling of waggons. They came in fromthe plantations where since the early June daybreak Squire Willyams'sforesters and gardeners had been cutting young larches, firs, laurels, aucubas. The waggons halted at every door and each householder took asmuch as he required. So, all that day, Cai and 'Bias packed their archwith evergreens; until at five o'clock Mr Philp, happening along, couldfind no chink anywhere in its solid verdure. He called hiscongratulations up to them as, high on ladders, they affixed flags tothe corner poles and looped the whole with festoons of roses. 

And now for the motto to crown the work! Fancy Tabb coming up theroadway and pausing while she conned the structure, shading her eyesagainst the sun-rays that slanted over it, beheld Mrs Bowldler andPalmerston issue from the doorway in solemn procession, bearing betweenthem a length of Turkey twill. Mrs Bowldler passed one end up toCaptain Hocken, high on his ladder: Captain Hunken reached down and tookthe other end from Palmerston. Between them, as they lifted the broadfillet above the archway, its folds fell apart, and she read:--

 MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VIRTUOUSLY BUT THOU EXCELLEST THEM ALL. 

"My! I'd like to be a Queen!"

"If I had my way, you WOULD, " whispered Palmerston, who, edging close toher, had overheard. 

"Eh? Is that Fancy Tabb?" interrupted Cai. He had happened to glanceover his shoulder and spied her from the ladder. "Well, and what d'eethink of it?" he asked, as one sure of the answer. 

"I was sayin' as I'd like to be a Queen, " said Fancy. "Queen ofEngland, I mean: none of your second-bests. "

"Well, my dear, " Cai assured her, bustling down the ladder and staringup at the motto to make sure that it hung straight, "_that_ you won'tnever be: but you're among the many as have done virtuously, and Godbless 'ee for it! Which is pretty good for your age. "

"_You_'re not, " retorted the uncompromising child. 

"Eh?"

"'Tis three days now since you've been near the old man, either one of'ee. How would _you_ like that, if you was goin' to hell?"

"Hush 'ee now! . . . 'Bias and me had clean forgot--there's so much todo in all these rejoicin's! Run back and tell 'n we'll be down inhalf-an-hour, soon as we've tidied up here. "

On their way down to visit the sick man, Cai and 'Bias had to pausehalf-a-score of times at least to admire an arch or a decoratedhouse-front. For by this time even the laggards were out and workingfor the credit of Troy. 

But no decorations could compare with their own. 

"That's a handsome bunch, missus, " called Cai to a very old woman, who, perched on a borrowed step-ladder, was nailing a sheaf of pink valerian(local name, "Pride of Troy") over her door-lintel. "Let me give 'ee ahand wi' that hammer, " he offered; for her hand shook pitiably. 

"Ne'er a hand shall help me--thank 'ee all the same, " the old ladyanswered. "There, Cap'n! . . . There's for Queen Victoria! an' it'sdone, if I die to-morrow. " She tottered down to firm earth and gazed upat the doorway, her head nodding. 

"She've _got_ to be in London to-morrow, of course. . . . But what apity she can't take a walk through Troy too! Main glad she'd be. . . . Oh, I know! She an' me was born the same year. "

Of the doings of next day--the great day; of the feasting, the cheering, the salvo-firing, the marching, the counter-marching, the speechifying, the tea-drinking, the dancing, the illuminations, the bonfires; the talemay not be told here. Were they not chronicled, by this hand, in a bookapart? And does not the chronicle repose in the Troy Parish Chest?And may not a photograph of the famous arch constructed by CaptainsHocken and Hunken be discovered therein some day by the curious?

To be sure, Queen Victoria herself did not pass beneath that arch. But there passed beneath that arch many daughters who since have growninto women and done virtuously, I hope. If not, I am certain there wasno lack of encouragement that day in the honest, smiling faces ofCaptain Hocken and Captain Hunken as they stood with proprietary mien, one on either side of the roadway, and each with an enormous red roseaglow in his button-hole. 

_Pulvis et umbra sumus_--"The tumult and the shouting dies. "--A littlebefore ten o'clock that night Mr Middlecoat and Mrs Bosenna walked upthrough the dark to Higher Parc to see the bonfires. The summitcommanded a view of the coast from Dodman to Rame, and inland to thehigh moors which form the backbone of the county. Mrs Bosenna countedeighteen fires: her lover could descry sixteen only. 

"But what does it matter?" said he. They had started the climbarm-in-arm: but by this time his arm was about her waist. 

"My eyes are sharper than yours, then, " she challenged. 

"Very likely, " he allowed. "Sure, they must be: for come to think Ireckoned 'em both in my list. "

She laughed cosily. 

"Shall we go over the ridge?" he suggested. "We may pick up one or twoinland from my place. "

"No, " she answered, and mused for a while. "It's strange to think ourtwo farms are goin' to be one henceforth. . . . The ridge has alwaysseemed to me such a barrier. But I'll not cross it to-night. Good-bye!"

"Nay, but you don't go back alone. I'll see you to the door. "

"Why? I'm not afraid of ghosts. "

But he insisted: and so, arm linked in arm, they descended to Rilla, where the roses breathed their scent on the night air. 

Cai and 'Bias--the long day over--sat in Cai's summer-house, overlookingthe placid harbour. Loyal candles yet burned in every window on the farshore and scintillated their little time on the ripple of the tide. Above shone and wheeled in their courses the steady stars, to whom ourroyalties are less than a pinch of dust in the meanest unseen planetthat spins within their range. 

The door of the summer-house stood wide to the night. Yet so breathlesswas the air that the candles within (set by Mrs Bowldler on the tablebeside the glasses and decanters) carried a flame as unwavering as anystar of the firmament. So the two friends sat and smoked, and betweentheir puffed tobacco-smoke penetrated the dewy scents of the garden. Both were out-tired with the day's labours; for both were growing old. 

"'Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all, '"murmured Cai. "'Twas a noble text we chose. "

"Ay, " responded 'Bias, drawing the pipe from his lips. "She've kept awidow just thirty-six years. An unusual time, I should say. "

"Very, " agreed Cai. 

They gazed out into the quiet night, as though it held all their futureand they found it good.