"'No,'Ianswered。'HewenttoEuropeearlylastmonth。'"
"'Verylikelyhetookherwithhim。SheisprobablyatMonteCarlo。'"
"'ScarcelyinAugust,Ifancy。AndI'lltellyouwhat,Ethel。Ihavebeencountingitup。Shehaslosttwenty-fourthousanddollarsintheStandardEggalone。Ittakesagooddealofsurplustostandthat。'"
"'Serveherright,'saidEthel'AndIwouldsaysotoherface。'"
"Septemberbroughtfreshnesstothestockmarketbutnottome。Mr。
Beverly,likethewell-to-domanthathewas,remainedawayinEuropeuntilOctobershouldrequirehispresenceasaguidinghandintheoffice。ThuswasIleftwithouthisbuoyantconsolationinthefaceofmyinvestments。"
"Petuniaswerebeingadjustedonafourpercentbasis;DutchessandColumbiaTractionwasholdingitsown;IcouldnotcomplainofAmalgamatedElectric,thoughitwasnowlowerthanwhenIhadboughtit,whilehadIsolditonthatWednesdayinMaywhenEthelbeggedme,beforetheincreaseddividendturnedoutamistake,Ishouldhavemademoney。
ButPhilippiSewerswerethreatened;PasteurisedFeedershadbeennumbsinceJune;PollyopolisHeat,Light,Power,Paving,Pressing,andPackingwasgoingtopassitsquarterlydividend;andStandardEgghadgonedownfrom63to71/8。Mymilliondollarsonpapernowwasworthinrealitylessthanaquarterofthatsum,andalthoughwecouldstillmakebothendsmeetfairlywellinsomeplacewhereyouwouldn'twanttolive,likePhiladelphia,inNewYorkweshoulddropintoapinchedanddwarfedobscurity。"
"Imustsaynow,andIshallneverforget,thatEthelduringthesegloomyweeksbehavedmuchbetterthanIdid。Thegrayertheoutlookbecame,themorewordsofhopeandsensesheseemedtofindSheremindedmethat,afterallmyUncleGodfrey'slegacyhadbeenathingunlookedfor,somethingoutofmyschemeoflifethatIhadmyyouth,mysalaryandmywriting;andthatshewouldwaittillshewasasoldatMr。Beverly'smother。"
"ItwasthethoughtofthatladywhichbroughtfromEtheltheonlynoteofcomplaintsheutteredinmypresenceduringthatwholedrearymonth。"
"WewerespendingSundaywithahousepartyatHydePark;anddrivingtochurch,wepassedanavenuegatewithalodge。'Rockhurst,sir,'saidthecoachman。'Whoseplace?'Iinquired。'TheoldBeverlyplace,sir。'Ethelheardhimtellmethis;andaswewenton,wesawacarriageandpaircomingdowntheavenuetowardthegatewiththatlookwhichhorsesalwaysseemtohavewhentheyaretakingthefamilytochurchonSundaymorning。"
"'IfIseeher,'saidEtheltomeasweenteredthedoor,'Ishallbeunabletosaymyprayers。'"
"ButonlyyoungpeoplecameintotheBeverlypew,andEthelsaidherprayersandalsosangthehymnandchantsverysweetly。"
"Aftertheservice,westrolledtogetherintheoldandlovelygraveyardbeforestartinghomeward。Wehadtoldthemthatweshouldprefertowalkback。Thedaywasbeautiful,andonecouldseealittlebluepieceoftheriver,sparkling。"
"'Hereiswheretheyareallburied,'saidEthel,andwepausedbeforebrownoldheadstoneswithBeverlyuponthem。'Died1750;died1767,'
continuedEthel,readingthenamesandinscriptions。'Ithinkonedoesn'tmindtheideaoflyinginsuchaplaceasthis。'"
"Someoftheyoungpeopleinthepewnowcamealongthepath。'Thegrandchildren,'saidEthel。'Sheisprobablytoooldtocometochurch。
OrsheisinEurope。'"
"Theyoungpeoplehadbroughtabasketwithflowersfromtheirplace,andnowlaidthemoverseveralofthegrassymounds。'Givemesomeofyours,'
saidonetotheother,presently;'I'venotenoughforgrandmother's。'"
"Etheltookmerathersharplybythearm。'Didyouhearthat?'sheasked。"
"'Itcan'tbeshe,youknow,'saidI。'HewouldhavecomebackfromEurope。'"
"Butwefounditoutatlunch。Itwasshe,andshehadbeendeadforfifteenyears。"
"EthelandItalkeditoverinthetraingoinguptotownonMondaymorning。Wehadbythattimegrowncalmer。'Ifitisnotfalsepretences,'saidshe,'andyoucannotsuehimfordamages,andifitisnotstealingorsomething,andyoucannotputhiminprison,whatareyougoingtodotohim,Richard?'"
"AsthiswasaquestionwhichIhadfrequentlyaskedmyselfduringthenight,havingfoundnosatisfactoryanswertoit,Isaid:'Whatwouldyoudoinmyplace,Ethel?'ButEthelknew。"
"'Ishouldfindoutwhenhesails,andmeethissteamerwithacowhide。'"
"'Thenhewouldsuemefordamages。'"
"'Thatwouldbenothing,ifyougotafewgoodcutsinonhim。'"
"'Ethel,'Isaid,'pleasefollowmecarefully。Ishouldlikedearlytocowhidehim。andforthesakeofargumentwewillconsideritdoneThencomesthelawsuit。ThenIgetupandsaythatIbeathimbecausehemademebuyStandardEggat63bytellingmethathismotherhadsome,whenreallytheoldladyhadbeendeadforfifteenyears。WhenIthinkofitinthisway,Idonotfeel'"
"Iknow,'interruptedEthel,'youareafraidofridicule。Allmenare。'"
"HadEthelinsisted,IbelievethatIshouldhavecowhidedMr。Beverlyforhersake。Butbeforehisreturnourdestinieswerebrightened。CopperhadbeenfoundnearEthel'swastelandsinMichigan,andthefamilybusinessmanwasabletosellthepropertyforsevenhundredthousanddollars。HedidthissopromptlythatIventuredtoaskhimifdelaymightnothavebroughtagreaterprice。'Well',hesaid,'Idon'tknow。
Youmustseizethesethings。BlakeandBeverlymighthavegottiredwaiting。"
"'BlakeandBeverly!'Iexclaimed'Sotheymadethepurchase。ItMr。
Beverlyback?'"
"'Justback。TotellthetruthIdon'tbelievethey'refindingsomuchcopperastheyhoped。'"
"Thisturnedouttobetrue。AndIamnotsurethatthebusinessmanhadnotknownitallthewhile。'WelookedoverthepropertyprettythoroughlyatthetimeoftheTamarackexcitement,'hesaid。Andinafewdaysmore,infact,itwasgenerallyknownthatthislandhadreturnedtoitsoldstateofnotquitepayingthetaxes。"
"ThenIpaidmyvisittoMr。Beverly,butwithnocowhide。'Mr。Beverly,'
saidI,'IwanttoannouncetoyoumyengagementtoMissEthelLansing,whoseMichigancopperlandyouhavelatelyacquired。Ihopethatyouboughtsomeforyourmother。'"
"Those,"concludedMr。RichardField,"arethecircumstancesattendingmyengagementwhichIfeltmightinterestyou。Andnow,Ethel,tellyourstory,ifthey'lllisten。"
"Richard,"saidEthel,"thatisthestoryIwasgoingtotell。"