only perturbed person in town that night. Mrs. Cyrus hada headache, so it was necessary for Cyrus to hold her hand and assureher that Willy King said a headache did not mean brain-fever.
"Willy King doesn't know everything. If he had headaches like mine, hewouldn't be so sure. I am always worrying about things, and I believe mybrain can't stand it. And now I've got your father to worry about!"
"Better try and sleep, Gussie. I'll put some Kaliston on your head."
"Kaliston! Kaliston won't keep me from worrying. Oh, listen to thatharmonicon!"
"Gussie, I'm sure he isn't thinking of Mrs. North."
"Mrs. North is thinking of him, which is a great deal more dangerous.Cyrus, you _must_ ask Dr. Lavendar to interfere."
As this was at least the twentieth assault upon poor Cyrus'scommon-sense, the citadel trembled.
"Do you wish me to go into brain-fever before your eyes, just fromworry?" Gussie demanded. "You _must_ go!"
"Well, maybe, perhaps, to-morrow--"
"To-night--to-night," said Augusta, faintly.
And Cyrus surrendered.
"Look under the bed before you go," Gussie murmured.
Cyrus looked. "Nobody there," he said, reassuringly; and went on tiptoeout of the darkened, cologne-scented room. But as he passed along thehall, and saw his father in his little cabin of a room, smokingplacidly, and polishing his sextant with loving hands, Cyrus's heartreproached him.
"How's her head, Cy?" the Captain called out.
"Oh, better, I guess," Cyrus said. ("I'll be hanged if I speak to Dr.Lavendar!")
"That's good," said the Captain, beginning to hoist himself up out ofhis chair. "Going out? Hold hard, and I'll go 'long. I want to call onMrs. North."
Cyrus stiffened. "Cold night, sir," he remonstrated.
"'Your granny was Murray, and wore a black nightcap!'" said the Captain;"you are getting delicate in your old age, Cy." He got up, and plungedinto his coat, and tramped out, slamming the door heartily behindhim--for which, later, poor Cyrus got the credit. "Where you bound?"
"Oh--down-street," said Cyrus, vaguely.
"Sealed orders?" said the Captain, with never a bit of curiosity in hisbig, kind voice; and Cyrus felt as small as he was. But when he left theold man at Mrs. North's door, he was uneasy again. Maybe Gussie wasright! Women are keener about those things than men. And his uneasinessactually carried him to Dr. Lavendar's study, where he tried to appearat ease by patting Danny.
"What's the matter with you, Cyrus?" said Dr. Lavendar, looking at himover his spectacles. (Dr. Lavendar, in his wicked old heart, alwayswanted to call this young man Cipher; but, so far, grace had been givenhim to withstand temptation.) "What's wrong?" he said.
And Cyrus, somehow, told his troubles.
At first Dr. Lavendar chuckled; then he frowned. "Gussie put you up tothis, Cy--_rus_?" he said.
"Well, my wife's a woman," Cyrus began, "and they're keener on suchmatters than men; and she said, perhaps you would--would--"
"_What?_" Dr. Lavendar rapped on the table with the bowl of his pipe, soloudly that Danny opened one eye. "Would what?"
"Well," Cyrus stammered, "you know, Dr. Lavendar, as Gussie says,'there's no fo--'"
"You needn't finish it," Dr. Lavendar interrupted, dryly; "I've heard itbefore. Gussie didn't say anything about a young fool, did she?" Thenhe eyed Cyrus. "Or a middle-aged one? I've seen middle-aged fools thatcould beat us old fellows hollow."
"Oh, but Mrs. North is far beyond middle age," said Cyrus, earnestly.
Dr. Lavendar shook his head. "Well, well!" he said. "To think thatAlfred Price should have such a-- And yet he is as sensible a man as Iknow!"
"Until now," Cyrus amended. "But Gussie thought you'd better cautionhim. We don't want him, at his time of life, to make a mistake."
"It's much more to the point that I should caution you not to make amistake," said Dr. Lavendar; and then he rapped on the table again,sharply. "The Captain has no such idea--unless Gussie has given it tohim. Cyrus, my advice to you is to go home and tell your wife not to bea goose. I'll tell her, if you want me to?"
"Oh no, no!" said Cyrus, very much frightened. "I'm afraid you'd hurther feelings."
"I'm afraid I should," said Dr. Lavendar, grimly.
"She's so sensitive," Cyrus tried to excuse her; "you can't think howsensitive she is, and timid. I never knew anybody so timid! Why, shemakes me look under the bed every night, for fear there's somebodythere!"
"Well, next time, tell her 'two men and a dog'; that will take her mindoff your father." It must be confessed that Dr. Lavendar was out oftemper--a sad fault in one of his age, as Mrs. Drayton often said; buthis irritability was so marked that Cyrus finally slunk off,uncomforted, and afraid to meet Gussie's eye, even under its bandage ofa cologne-scented handkerchief.
However, he had to meet it, and he tried to make the best of his ownhumiliation by saying that Dr. Lavendar was shocked at the idea of theCaptain being interested in Mrs. North. "He said father had been, untilnow, as sensible a man as he knew, and he didn't believe he would thinkof such a dreadful thing. And neither do I, Gussie, honestly," Cyrussaid.
"But Mrs. North isn't sensible," Gussie protested, "and she'll--"
"Dr. Lavendar said 'there was no fool like a middle-aged fool,'" Cyrusagreed.
"Middle-aged! She's as old as Methuselah!"
"That's what I told him," said Cyrus.
* * * * *
By the end of April Old Chester smiled. How could it help it? Gussieworried so that she took frequent occasion to point out possibilities;and after the first gasp of incredulity, one could hear a faint echo ofthe giggles of forty-eight years before. Mary North heard it, and herheart burned within her.
"It's got to stop," she said to herself, passionately; "I must speak tohis son."
But her throat was dry at the thought. It seemed as if it would kill herto speak to a man on such a subject, even to as little of a man asCyrus. But, poor, shy tigress! to save her mother, what would she notdo? In her pain and fright she said to Mrs. North that if that old mankept on making her uncomfortable and conspicuous, they would leave OldChester!
Mrs. North twinkled with amusement when Mary, in her strained andquivering voice, began, but her jaw dropped at those last words; Marywas capable of carrying her off at a day's notice! The little old ladytrembled with distressed reassurances--but Captain Price continued tocall.
And that was how it came about that this devoted daughter, after days ofexasperation and nights of anxiety, reached a point of tensedetermination. She would go and see the man's son, and say ... Thatafternoon, as she stood before the swinging glass on her high bureau,tying her bonnet-strings, she tried to think what she would say. Shehoped God would give her words--polite words; "for I _must_ be polite,"she reminded herself desperately. When she started across the street herpaisley shawl had slipped from one shoulder, so that the point draggedon the flagstones; she had split her right glove up the back, and herbonnet was jolted over sidewise; but the thick Chantilly veil hid thequiver of her chin.
Gussie met her with effusion, and Mary, striving to be polite, smiledpainfully, and said:
"I don't want to see you; I want to see your husband."
Gussie tossed her head; but she made haste to call Cyrus, who cameshambling along the hall from the cabin. The parlor was dark, for thoughit was a day of sunshine and merry May wind, Gussie kept the shuttersbowed--but Cyrus could see the pale intensity of his visitor's face.There was a moment's silence, broken by a distant harmonicon.
"Mr. Price," said Mary North, with pale, courageous lips, "you muststop your father."
Cyrus opened his weak mouth to ask an explanation, but Gussie rushed in.
"You are quite right, ma'am. Cyrus worries so about it (of course weknow what you refer to). And Cyrus says it ought to be checkedimmediately, to save the old gentleman!"
"You must stop him," said Mary North, "for my mother's sake."
"Well--" Cyrus began.
>
"Have you cautioned your mother?" Gussie demanded.
"Yes," Miss North said, briefly. To talk to this woman of her mothermade her wince, but it had to be done. "Will you speak to your father,Mr. Price?"
"Well, I--"
"Of course he will!" Gussie broke in; "Cyrus, he is in the cabin now."
"Well, to-morrow I--" Cyrus got up and sidled towards the door. "Anyhow,I don't believe he's thinking of such a thing."
"Miss North," said Gussie, rising, "_I_ will do it."
"What, _now_?" faltered Mary North.
"Now," said Mrs. Cyrus, firmly.
"Oh," said Miss North, "I--I think I will go home. Gentlemen, when theyare crossed, speak so--so earnestly."
Gussie nodded. The joy of action and of combat entered suddenly into herlittle soul; she never looked less vulgar than at that moment. Cyrus haddisappeared.
Mary North, white and trembling, hurried out. A wheezing strainfrom the harmonicon followed her into the May sunshine, then ended,abruptly--Mrs. Price had begun! On her own door-step Miss North stoppedand listened, holding her breath for an outburst.... It came: a roar oflaughter. Then silence. Mary North stood, motionless, in her own parlor;her shawl, hanging from one elbow, trailed behind her; her other glovehad split; her bonnet was blown back and over one ear; her heart waspounding in her throat. She was perfectly aware that she had done anunheard-of thing. "But," she said, aloud, "I'd do it again. I'd doanything to protect her. But I hope I was polite?" Then she thought howcourageous Mrs. Cyrus was. "She's as brave as a lion!" said Mary North.Yet, had Miss North been able to stand at the Captain's door, she wouldhave witnessed cowardice....
"Gussie, I wouldn't cry. Confound that female, coming over and stirringyou up! Now don't, Gussie! Why, I never thought of--Gussie, I wouldn'tcry--"
"I have worried almost to death. Pro-promise!"
"Oh, your granny was Mur-- Gussie, my dear, now _don't_."
"Dr. Lavendar said you'd always been so sensible; he said he didn't seehow you could think of such a dreadful thing."
"What! Lavendar? I'll thank Lavendar to mind his business!" CaptainPrice forgot Gussie; he spoke "earnestly." "Dog-gone these people thatpry into-- Oh, now, Gussie, _don't_!"
"I've worried so awfully," said Mrs. Cyrus. "Everybody is talking aboutyou. And Dr. Lavendar is so--so angry about it; and now the daughter hascharged on me as though it is my fault! Of course, she is queer, but--"
"Queer? she's queer as Dick's hatband! Why do you listen to her? Gussie,such an idea never entered my head--or Mrs. North's either."
"Oh yes, it has! Her daughter said that she had had to speak to her--"
Captain Price, dumfounded, forgot his fear and burst out: "You're a packof fools, the whole caboodle! I swear I--"
"Oh, don't blaspheme!" said Gussie, faintly, and staggered a little, sothat all the Captain's terror returned. _If she fainted!_
"Hi, there, Cyrus! Come aft, will you? Gussie's getting white around thegills--Cyrus!"
Cyrus came, running, and between them they got the swooning Gussie toher room; Afterwards, when Cyrus tiptoed down-stairs, he found theCaptain at the cabin door. The old man beckoned mysteriously.
"Cy, my boy, come in here"--he hunted about in his pocket for the key ofthe cupboard--"Cyrus, I'll tell you what happened; that female acrossthe street came in, and told poor Gussie some cock-and-bull story abouther mother and me!" The Captain chuckled, and picked up his harmonicon."It scared the life out of Gussie," he said; then, with sudden angrygravity,--"these people that poke their noses into other's people'sbusiness ought to be thrashed. Well, I'm going over to see Mrs. North."And off he stumped, leaving Cyrus staring after him, open-mouthed.
* * * * *
If Mary North had been at home, she would have met him with all theagonized courage of shyness and a good conscience. But she had fled outof the house, and down along the River Road, to be alone and regain herself-control.
The Captain, however, was not seeking Miss North. He opened the frontdoor, and advancing to the foot of the stairs, called up: "Ahoy, there!Mrs. North!"
Mrs. North came trotting out to answer the summons. "Why, Alfred!" sheexclaimed, looking over the banisters, "when did you come in? I didn'thear the bell ring. I'll come right down."
"It didn't ring; I walked in," said the Captain. And Mrs. North camedown-stairs, perhaps a little stiffly, but as pretty an old lady as youever saw. Her white curls lay against faintly pink cheeks, and her lacecap had a pink bow on it. But she looked anxious and uncomfortable.
("Oh," she was saying to herself, "I do hope Mary's out!)--Well,Alfred?" she said; but her voice was frightened.
The Captain stumped along in front of her into the parlor, and motionedher to a seat. "Mrs. North," he said, his face red, his eye hard, "somejack-donkeys have been poking their noses (of course they're females)into our affairs; and--"
"Oh, Alfred, isn't it horrid in them?" said the old lady.
"Darn 'em!" said the Captain.
"It makes me mad!" cried Mrs. North; then her spirit wavered. "Mary isso foolish; she says she'll--she'll take me away from Old Chester. Ilaughed at first, it was so foolish. But when she said that--oh _dear_!"
"Well, but, my dear madam, say you won't go. Ain't you skipper?"
"No, I'm not," she said, dolefully. "Mary brought me here, and she'lltake me away, if she thinks it best. Best for _me_, you know. Mary is agood daughter, Alfred. I don't want you to think she isn't. But she'sfoolish. Unmarried women are apt to be foolish."
The Captain thought of Gussie, and sighed. "Well," he said, with thesimple candor of the sea, "I guess there ain't much difference in 'em,married or unmarried."
"It's the interference makes me mad," Mrs. North declared, hotly.
"Damn the whole crew!" said the Captain; and the old lady laugheddelightedly.
"Thank you, Alfred!"
"My daughter-in-law is crying her eyes out," the Captain sighed.
"Tck!" said Mrs. North; "Alfred, you have no sense. Let her cry. It'sgood for her!"
"Oh no," said the Captain, shocked.
"You're a perfect slave to her," cried Mrs. North.
"No more than you are to your daughter," Captain Price defended himself;and Mrs. North sighed.
"We are just real foolish, Alfred, to listen to 'em. As if we didn'tknow what was good for us."
"People have interfered with us a good deal, first and last," theCaptain said, grimly.
The faint color in Mrs. North's cheeks suddenly deepened. "So theyhave," she said.
The Captain shook his head in a discouraged way; he took his pipe out ofhis pocket and looked at it absent-mindedly. "I suppose I can stay athome, and let 'em get over it?"
"Stay at home? Why, you'd far better--"
"What?" said the Captain.
"Come oftener!" cried the old lady. "Let 'em get over it by getting usedto it."
Captain Price looked doubtful. "But how about your daughter?"
Mrs. North quailed. "I forgot Mary," she admitted.
"I don't bother you, coming to see you, do I?" the Captain said,anxiously.
"Why, Alfred, I love to see you. If our children would just let usalone!"
"First it was our parents," said Captain Price. He frowned heavily."According to other people, first we were too young to have sense; andnow we're too old." He took out his worn old pouch, plugged some shaginto his pipe, and struck a match under the mantel-piece. He sighed,with deep discouragement.
Mrs. North sighed too. Neither of them spoke for a moment; then thelittle old lady drew a quick breath and flashed a look at him; openedher lips; closed them with a snap; then regarded the toe of her slipperfixedly. The color flooded up to her soft white hair.
The Captain, staring hopelessly, suddenly blinked; then his honest redface slowly broadened into beaming astonishment and satisfaction. "_Mrs.North_--"
"Captain Price!" she parried, breathlessly.
"So long as our affectionate children
have suggested it!"
"Suggested--what?"
"Let's give 'em something to cry about!"
"Alfred!"
"Look here: we are two old fools; so they say, anyway. Let's live up totheir opinion. I'll get a house for Cyrus and Gussie--and your girl canlive with 'em, if she wants to!" The Captain's bitterness showed then.
"She could live here," murmured Mrs. North.
"What do you say?"
The little old lady laughed excitedly, and shook her head; the tearsstood in her eyes.
"Do you want to leave Old Chester?" the Captain
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