CHAPTER XL
A GOOD SEND-OFF
Out of the many weddings inevitably occurring on Rockhaven but few everattained to the importance of a trip to the mainland. The sense ofutility among them, the need of every dollar toward home furnishing, andthe practical side of life always uppermost in the minds of all left noplace for sentiment and honeymoon.
But when it became known, as it soon did, that the youthful romance ofJess Hutton and Letty Carver had finally culminated, and that theuniversal opinion and expectation of what they would do when Jessreturned to the island was about to be realized a wave of enthusiasm andfriendly interest swept over Rockhaven.
And, furthermore, when it was learned that Jess was to sell his store toCaptain Doty, and that he and his bride and Mona were to spend a fewmonths in the city, the excitement knew no bounds, and when Sunday cameand the three, now conspicuous ones, walked to church as usual, it wasto receive an ovation of good wishes and congratulations, and sopersistent were all in good will that, when church was out, the entirecongregation crowded around them.
To Mona it came as the surprise of her life, and went far to change thecurrent of her thoughts and make her forget her own troubles.
"I can call you papa now, can't I, Uncle Jess?" she had said, when hehad told her; and hugging him like a child she had thus made his heartglad. It all seemed as a matter of course to young and old alike, and asthe days went by it began to dawn on Jess that he had not only been a"durned fool" forty years ago, but continued to be one for the pastfifteen.
It had been decided by them to have a quiet wedding at home, and the dayset barely long enough ahead to give Mrs. Doty, the dressmaker, time todo her part; but Rockhaven, hearing of it, objected, and the next Sundayevening a committee, headed by Captain Roby, invaded the privacy of Mrs.Hutton's home.
"We hev cum," said the jolly master of the island steamer, addressingJess in particular, and Mrs. Hutton and Mona in general, "to convey thegood wishes o' everybody here to you folks an' ask ye to hev yerweddin' in church so ter give us all a chance to show our good will andhow much we think o' ye by bein' present. It air the univarsal feelin'here," he continued, waving his arm, as if to include the entire island,"that ye both desarve it, an' we ain't goin' to 'low ye two ter jist githitched an' sneak off quietly. My boat's at yer sarvice, an' we feel thebest's none too good fer ye both, and we hev come to ask ye to let usall jine in and gin ye the right sort o' a send-off. I might as welltell ye now, Jess," he added, looking at that worthy, "jist how ye stand'mong us and how 'tarnally grateful we all feel fer all yer good deedstoward young and old. We hain't forgot nothin' from the day ye firstcome back to be one on us, up till last summer when ye saved us ourmoney on that stock bizness. We don't blame the young feller neither,and if ever he cums back, we'll all jine in givin' him a welcome aswell. But now we absolutely insist we be 'lowed to start ye fair, and instyle, in the new step ye two air takin'."
And "start them fair" they did; for although the snow lay thick on thegranite ledges of Rockhaven, when the day came, and cheerless winterreigned, there was no lack of cheer in all that was said and done.First, a hundred pairs of willing hands transformed the church into abower of green, and since flowers were not to be had, wreaths of sprucetwigs, tied with white ribbon and ropes of ground pine, were used. Thenan arch of green, wound with strips of white silk, was erected over thegate, and the walk up to the church was carpeted with spruce boughs. Theonly pleasure vehicle on the island, an ancient carryall, also deckedwith green and white, was pressed with service to convey the honoredcouple and Mona to church, now heated to suffocation and packed solidwith the island population, while some unable to get in waited outside.Then, while the Rev. Jason Bush was uniting the happy pair, a dozenyoung men, unable to curb their enthusiasm, unhitched the horse from thecarryall, and when they came out drew them back to the house. And then,after the two hours of reception and hand-shaking had expired, fullfifty men were in line to draw that unique chariot to the boat.
"It is a wonder ye didn't set out to take us on yer backs," assertedJess to the crowd on the wharf, when he alighted; "but all this fuss haswarmed our feelings toward ye all more'n words'll tell."
And when three times three cheers had echoed back from the now desertedquarry, the little steamer sailed away into the mist-hidden winter seaand the crowd dispersed; for weeks after the sole topic around Rockhavenfiresides was what object took Jess Hutton and his bride and Mona awayfrom the island and how long they would stay away.
Jess had said, "We want ter give Mona a little change o' scene 'n'chance to see the world, 'n' jist when we'll cum back is no tellin'. Cumback we shall some day, 'n' most likely glad ter git back tew." And thenwhen the affairs of the Hutton family no longer furnished food forgossip, the island settled down once more into its monotonous winterexistence. Twice a week only now the _Rockhaven_ made her trip to themainland; but few people gathered for the Thursday evening prayermeeting, for extra religion was at a discount during cold weather, andonly the most hardy of the fishermen ventured out. The tower on NorseHill, now coated with frozen sleet, looked like a gigantic monument; thetides ebbed in and out the half-iced over harbor; the waves beat withsullen roar into the gorge that no one visited, and life among theshut-in islanders partook of the solemnity of the ocean's voice.
The crowd that had made Jess Hutton's store their club-room stillgathered there to swap yarns and discuss fish and fishing; also whetherhis all-winter's absence was likely to result in the opening of thequarry or not. Then, too, in this news bureau, Winn Hardy and Mona camein for a share of gossip, and many a surmise as to their future wasexchanged. For they had been noticed many times together, and Mona'svisit to the city might mean much. No one had any data as to JessHutton's future intentions or whether Hardy was likely to return; andyet, so well did he stand with them, and so hopeful were they that hewould once more open the quarry when spring came, that they readilybelieved it would come about.
Of the Rockhaven Granite Company collapse they knew not, for dailypapers never reached the island, and Jess for reasons of his own keptsilent.
The only unhappy one, however, was David Moore; and he recited his woesin characteristic fashion to all who would listen. He had little idea ofthe proprieties, and as he had almost shouted his love from thehouse-tops, so now he declared his disappointment as loudly.
"It's my private 'pinion," he asserted, "they lugged Mona off just tospite me and get her out o' my sight. I think it's a darn mean trick,and I don't care who knows it! I kin see through the game, and theycalculated takin' her to the city 'nd give that feller Hardy a chance tospark her," and he chewed his quid with an increased vigor, suggestiveof how he would like to serve his rival.
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