VI
Beyond seeing to it that the alluring picture of his sisters should notappear in any future issues of the magazines, Arthur did not refer tothe matter again. The girls, more particularly Lee and Gay, alwaysattributed the instant success of The Camp to the picture; but it issanely possible that an inn run upon such very extravagant principleswas bound to be a success anyway. America is full of people who will payanything for the comforts of home with the cares and exasperations leftout.
A majority of the early applications received at The Camp office, andpolitely rejected by Maud, were from old friends of the family, who wereeagerly willing to give its fallen finances a boost. But the girls weredetermined that their scheme should stand upon its own meritorious feetor not at all.
* * * * *
When Samuel Langham learned that the ice was going out of New Moon Lake,he wrote that he would arrive at Carrytown at such and such an hour,and begged that a boat of some sort might be there to meet him. Hisguests, he explained, would follow in a few days.
"Dear me," said Maud, "it will be very trying to have him alone--justlike a real guest. If he'd only bring his friends with him, why, theycould entertain him. As it is, we'll have to. Because, even if we areinnkeepers now, we belong to the same station in life that he does, andhe knows it and we know it. I don't see how we can ever have the face tosend in a bill afterward."
"I don't either," said Mary, "but we must."
"I've never pictured him," said Arthur, "as a man who would brave earlyspring in the Adirondacks for the sake of a few trout."
"I bet you my first dividend," said Lee, "that his coat is lined withsable."
It was.
As the _Streak_, which had gone to Carrytown to meet him, slid for thedock (his luggage was to follow in the _Tortoise_, a fatter, slowerpower-boat), there might have been seen standing amidships a tall, stoutgentleman of about thirty-six or more, enveloped in a handsome overcoatlined with sable.
He wore thick eye-glasses which the swiftness of the _Streak_'s goinghad opaqued with icy mist, so that for the moment Mr. Samuel Langhamwas blind as a mole. Nevertheless, determined to enjoy whatever theexperience had in store for him, he beamed from right to left, as if apair of keen eyes were revealing to him unexpected beauties anddelights.
Arthur, loathing the role, was on the float to meet him.
On hearing himself addressed by name, Mr. Samuel Langham removed one ofhis fur-lined gloves and thrust forward a plump, well-groomed hand.
"I believe that I am shaking hands with Mr. Darling," he said in a slow,cultivated voice; "but my glasses are blurred and I cannot see anything.Is my foot going for the float--or the water?"
"Step boldly," said Arthur; and, in a hurried aside, as he perceived thecorner of a neatly folded greenback protruding between two of Mr.Langham's still-gloved fingers: "You are not to be subjected to theannoyance of the tipping system. We pay our servants extra to make theloss up to them."
Mr. Langham's mouth, which was rather like a Cupid's bow, tightened. Andhe handed the greenback to the engineer of the _Streak_, just as ifArthur's remonstrance had not been spoken. On the way to the office heexplained.
"Whenever I go anywhere," he said, "I find persons in humble situationswho smile at me and wish me well. I smile back and wish them well. It isbecause, at some time or other, I have tipped them. To me the system hasnever been an annoyance but a delightful opportunity for the exercise oftact and judgment."
He came to a dead halt, planting his feet firmly.
"I shall be allowed to tip whomsoever I like," he said flatly, "or Ishan't stay."
"Our ambition," said Arthur stiffly, "is to make our guests comfortable.Our rule against tipping is therefore abolished."
They entered the office. Mr. Langham could now see, having wiped the fogfrom his glasses. He saw a lovely girl in black, seated at a tablefacing him. Beyond her was a roaring fire of backlogs. Arthur presentedMr. Langham.
"Are you frozen?" asked Maud. "Too cold to write your name in ourbrand-new register?"
He took the pen which she offered him and wrote his name in a large,clear hand, worthy of John Hancock.
"It's the first name in the book," he said. "It's always been a verylucky name for me. I hope it will be for you."
Arthur had escaped.
"There is one more formality," said Maud: "breakfast."
"I had a little something in my car," said Mr. Langham; "but if itwouldn't be too much trouble--er--just a few little eggs and things."
"How would it be," said Maud, "if I took you straight to the kitchen? Mysister Mary presides there, and you shall tell her exactly what youwant, and she will see that you get it."
A rosy blush mounted Mr. Langham's good-natured face.
"Oh," he said, with the deepest sincerity, "if I am to have the _entree_to the kitchen, I shall be happy. I will tell you a secret. At my club Ialways breakfast in the kitchen. It's against the rules, but I do it. Afriendly chef--beds of glowing charcoal--burnished copper--piping-hottidbits."
It was up-hill to Smoke House, and Mr. Langham, in his burdensomeovercoat, grew warm on the way, and was puffing slightly when he gotthere.
"Mary," Maud called--"Mr. Langham!"
"The kitchen is the foundation of all domestic happiness," said he. "Ihave come to yours as fast as I could. I think--I _know_, that I neversaw a brighter, happier-looking kitchen."
He knew also that he had never seen so beautiful a presiding deity.
"Your sister," he said, "told me that I could have a little breakfastright here." And he repeated the statement concerning his club kitchen.
"Of course, you can!" said Mary.
"Just a few eggs," he said, "and if there's anything green----"
They called the chef. He was very happy because the season had begun. Heassigned Mr. Langham a seat from which to see and at which to be served,then with the wrist-and-finger elegance of a prestidigitator, he beganto prepare a few eggs and something green.
"The trout--" Mary began dutifully, as it was for the sake of these thatMr. Langham had ostensibly come so early in the season.
"Trout?" he said.
"The fishing--" She made a new beginning.
"The fishing, Miss Darling," he said, "will be of interest to myfriends. For my part, I don't fish. I have, in common with the kind ofboat from which fishing is done, nothing but the fact that we are bothticklish. I saw your prospectus. I said: 'I shall be happy there, andwell taken care of.' Something told me that I should be allowed tobreakfast in the kitchen. The more I thought about it the less I feltthat I could wait for the somewhat late opening of your season, so Ipretended to be a fisher of trout. And here I am. But, mark you," headded, "a few trout on the table now and then--I like that!"
"You shall have them," said Mary, "and you shall breakfast in thekitchen. I do--always."
"Do you?" he exclaimed. "Why not together, then?"
His eyes shone with pleasure.
"I should be too early for you," she said.
"You don't know me. Is it ever too early to eat? Because I am stout,people think I have all the moribund qualities that go with it. As amatter of fact, I rise whenever, in my judgment, the cook is dressed anddown. Is it gross to be fond of food? So many people think so. I differwith them. Not to care what you eat is gross--in my way of thinking. Isthere anything, for instance, more fresh in coloring, more adequate inline, than a delicately poached egg on a blue-and-white plate? You callthis building Smoke House? I shall always be looking in. Do you mind?"
"Indeed we don't," said Mary. "Do we, chef?"
Chef laid a finger to his lips. It was no time for talk. "Never disturba sleeping child or a cooking egg," was one of his maxims.
"I knew that I should be happy here," said Mr. Langham. "I am."
Whenever he had a chance he gazed at Mary. It was her face in the row ofsix that had lured him out of all his habits and made him feel that thecamp offered him a genuine chance for happiness
. To find that shepresided over the kitchen had filled his cup to the brim. But when heremembered that he was fat and fond of good things to eat and drink, hisheart sank.
He determined that he would eat but three eggs. They were, however,prepared in a way that was quite new to him, and in the determinedeffort to discern the ingredients and the method he ate five.
"There is something very keen about your Adirondack air," he explainedguiltily.
But Mary had warmed to him. Her heart and her reputation were involvedin the _cuisine_. She knew that the better you feed people the more theylove you. She was not revolted by Mr. Langham's appetite. She felt thateven a canary of a man must have fallen before the temptation of thoseeggs.
They were her own invention. And chef had executed them to the very turnof perfection.
Almost from the moment of his arrival, then, Mr. Samuel Langham began toeat his way into the heart of the eldest Miss Darling.
In culinary matters a genuine intimacy sprang up between them. Theyexchanged ideas. They consulted. They compared menus. They mastered thecontents of the late Mr. Darling's cellars.
Mr. Langham chose Lone House for his habitation. He liked the littlebalcony that thrust out over the lake between the two pine-trees. And bythe time that his guests were due to arrive, he had established himself,almost, in the affections of the entire family.
"He may be greedy," said Arthur, "but he's the most courteous man thatever 'sat at meat among ladies'!"
"He's got the kindest heart," said Mary, "that ever beat."
The Seven Darlings Page 6