“Iaminducedtoacceptyourproposaltemporarily，“shesaid，inavoiceofquerulousprecision，“onaccountofpressingpecuniarycircumstanceswhichwouldnothavehappenedhadmyclaimagainsttheshipownersformydearhusband’slossbeenproperlyraised。I
　　hopeyoufullyunderstandthatIamunfittedbothbyillhealthandearlyeducationfromdoinganymenialormanualworkinyourhousehold。Ishallsimplyoverseeanddirect。Ishallexpectthatthestipendyouoffershallbepaidmonthlyinadvance。Andasmymedicalmanprescribesacertainamountofstimulationformysystem，Ishallexpecttobefurnishedwithsuchviands——oreven“——
　　shecoughedslightly——“suchbeveragesasmaybenecessary。Iamfarfromstrong——yetmywantsarefew。“
　　“EzfarezIamketchin’onandfollowin’ye，ma’am，“returnedProspertimidly，“ye’llheveverythingyewant——jestlikeitwasyerownhome。Infact，“hewenton，suddenlygrowingdesperateasthedifficultiesofadjustingthisunexpectedlyfastidiousandsuperiorwomantohisplanseemedtoincrease，“ye’lljestconsidermeezyer“——Butherehermurkyeyeswerefixedonhisandhefaltered。Yethehadgonetoofartoretreat。“Yesee，“hestammered，withahystericalgrimnessthatwasintendedtobeplayful——“yesee，thisisjestalittlesecretbetwixtandbetweenyouandme；there’llbeonlyyouandmeinthehouse，anditwouldkinderseemtotheboysmorehomelike——ef——ef——youandmehad——youbein’awidder，youknow——akindof——of“——herehissmilebecameghastly——“closerelationship。“
　　ThewidowofCaptainPottingerheresatupsosuddenlythatsheseemedtoslipthroughhersombreandpreciseenwrappingswithanexposureoftherealMrs。Pottingerthatwasalmostimproper。Herhighcolordeepened；thepupilsofherblackeyescontractedinthelighttheinnocentProsperhadpouredintothem。Leaningforward，withherfingersclaspedonherbosom，shesaid:“Didyoutellthistothemanager？“
　　“Ofcoursenot，“saidProsper；“yesee，it’sonlyamatter’twixtyouandme。“
　　Mrs。PottingerlookedatProsper，drewadeepbreath，andthengazedattheabeloneshellsformoralsupport。Asmile，halfquerulous，halfsuperior，crossedherfaceasshesaid:“Thisisveryabruptandunusual。Thereis，ofcourse，adisparityinourages！Youhaveneverseenmebefore——atleasttomyknowledge——
　　althoughyoumayhaveheardofme。TheSpraggsofMarbleheadarewellknown——perhapsbetterthanthePottingers。Andyet，Mr。
　　Griggs“——
　　“Riggs，“suggestedProsperhurriedly。
　　“Riggs。Excuseme！IwasthinkingofyoungLieutenantGriggsoftheNavy，whomIknewinthedaysnowpast。Mr。Riggs，Ishouldsay。Thenyouwantmeto“——
　　“Tobemyoldmother，ma’am，“saidProspertremblingly。“Thatis，topretendandlookezefyouwas！Yousee，Ihaven’tany，butI
　　thoughtitwouldhenicefortheboys，andmakeitmorelikehomeinmynewhouse，efIallowedthatmyoldmotherwouldbecomin’tolivewithme。Theydon’tknowIneverhadamothertospeakof。
　　They’llneverfinditout！Sayyewill，Mrs。Pottinger！Do！“
　　Andheretheunexpectedoccurred。Againstallconventionalrulesandallacceptedtraditionsoffiction，IamobligedtostatethatMrs。PottingerdidNOTriseupandorderthetremblingProspertoleavethehouse！Sheonlygrippedthearmofherchairalittletighter，leanedforward，anddisdainingherusualprecisionandrefinementofspeech，saidquietly:“It’sabargain。IfTHAT’S
　　whatyou’rewanting，myson，youcancountuponmeasbecomingyouroldmother，CeciliaJanePottingerRiggs，everytime！“
　　AfewdayslaterthesentimentalistJoeWynbrookwalkedintotheWildCatsaloon，wherehiscomradesweredrinking，andlaidaletterdownonthebarwitheveryexpressionofastonishmentanddisgust。“Look，“hesaid，“ifthatdon’tbeatall！Yewouldn’tbelieveit，buthere’sProssyRiggswritin’thathecameacrosshismother——hisMOTHER，gentlemen——in’Frisco；shehevin’，unbeknownsttohim，joinedapartyvisitingthecoast！Andwhatdoesthisblamedfooldo？Why，he’sgoin’tobringher——thatoldwoman——
　　HERE！Here——gentlemen——totakechargeofthatnewhouse——andspoilourfun。AndtheGod-forsakenidiotthinksthatwe’llLIKEit！“
　　Itwasoneofthoseraremorningsintherainyseasonwhentherewasasuspicionofspringintheair，andafteranightofrainfallthesunbrokethroughfleecycloudswithlittleisletsofbluesky——
　　whenProsperRiggsandhismotherdroveintoWildCatcamp。Anexpressionofcheerfulnesswasonthefacesofhisoldcomrades。
　　Forithadbeenrecognizedthat，afterall，“Prossy“hadaperfectrighttobringhisoldmotherthere——hiswell-knownyouthandinexperiencepreventingthisbalefulperformancefrombeingestablishedasaprecedent。Forthesereasonshatswerecheerfullydoffed，andsomejacketsputon，asthebuggysweptupthehilltotheprettynewcottage，withitsgreenblindsandwhiteveranda，onthecrest。
　　YetIamafraidthatProsperwasnotperfectlyhappy，eveninthetriumphantconsummationofhisplans。Mrs。Pottinger’ssuddenandbusiness-likeacquiescenceinit，andhersingularlapsefromhergenteelprecision，weregratifyingbutstartlingtohisingenuousness。Andalthoughfromthemomentsheacceptedthesituationshewasfertileinresourcesandfullofprecautionagainstanypossibilityofdetection，hesaw，withsomeuneasiness，thatitscontrolhadpassedoutofhishands。
　　“Yousayyourcomradesknownothingofyourfamilyhistory？“shehadsaidtohimonthejourneythither。“Whatareyougoingtotellthem？“
　　“Nothin’，’ceptyourbein’myoldmother，“saidProsperhopelessly。
　　“That’snotenough，myson。“AnotherembarrassmenttoProsperwashereasygraspofthematernalepithets。“Nowlisten！Youwerebornjustsixmonthsafteryourfather，CaptainRiggsformerlyPottingersailedonhisfirstvoyage。Yourememberverylittleofhim，ofcourse，ashewasawaysomuch。“
　　“Hadn’tIbetterknowsuthinabouthislooks？“saidProspersubmissively。
　　“Atalldarkman，that’senough，“respondedMrs。Pottingersharply。
　　“Hadn’thebetterfavorme？“saidProsper，withhissmallcunningrecognizingthefactthathehimselfwasadecidedblond。
　　“Ain’tatallnecessary，“saidthewidowfirmly。“Youwerealwayswildandungovernable，“shecontinued，“andranawayfromschooltojoinsomeWesternemigration。Thataccountsforthedifferenceofourstyles。“
　　“But，“continuedProsper，“Ioughterremembersuthinaboutouroldtimes——runnin’arrantsforyou，andbringin’inthewoodo’frostymornin’s，andyougivin’mehotdoughnuts，“suggestedProsperdubiously。
　　“Nothingofthesort，“saidMrs。Pottingerpromptly。“Welivedinthecity，withplentyofservants。Justremember，Prosperdear，yourmotherwasn’tTHATlow-downcountrystyle。“
　　Gladtoberelievedfromfurtherinvention，Prosperwas，nevertheless，somewhatconcernedatthisshatteringoftheidealmotherintheverycampthathadsungherpraises。Buthecouldonlytrusttoherrecognizingthesituationwithherusualsagacity，ofwhichhestoodinrespectfulawe。
　　JoeWynbrookandCyrusBrewsterhad，asoldermembersofthecamp，purposelylingerednearthenewhousetoofferanyassistanceto“Prossyandhismother，“andhadreceivedabriefandpassingintroductiontothelatter。Sodeepandunexpectedwastheimpressionshemadeuponthemthatthesetwooraclesofthecampretireddownthehillinawkwardsilenceforsometime，neitherdaringtoriskhisreputationbycommentoroversurprise。
　　Butwhentheyapproachedthecuriouscrowdbelowawaitingthem，CyrusBrewsterventuredtosay，“Struckmeezefthatoldgalwasratherhigh-tonedforProssy’smother。“
　　JoeWynbrookinstantlyseizedthefataladmissiontoshowtheadvantageofsuperiorinsight:——
　　“StruckYOU！Why，itwasnomorethanIexpectedallalong！WhatdidweknowofProssy？Nothin’！Whatdidheevertellus’？
　　Nothin’！Andwhy’？’Cositwashissecret。Lord！ablindmulecouldseethat。Allthisfoolishnessandsimplicityo’hiscomeo’
　　hisbein’cuddledandpamperedasababy。Then，likeeznot，hewaseitherkidnappedorledawaybysomefeller——andnearlybrokehismother’sheart。I’llbetmybottomdollarhehasbeenadvertisedforaforethis——onlywedidn’tseethepaper。Likeasnottheyhadagentsoutseekin’him，andhejestranintotheirhandsin’Frisco！Ihadakindo’presentimento’thiswhenheleft，thoughIneverletonanything。“
　　“Ireckon，too，thatshe’skinderafraidhe’llboltagin。Didyenoticehowshekeptwatchin’himallthetime，andhowshedidthebossin’o’everything？Andthere’sONEthingsure！He’schanged——
　　yes！Hedon’tlookaskeerlessandfreeandfoolishezheuster。“
　　Heretherewasanunmistakablechorusofassentfromthecrowdthathadjoinedthem。Everyone——eventhosewhohadnotbeenintroducedtothemother——hadnoticedhisstrangerestraintandreticence。Intheimpulsivelogicofthecamp，conductsuchasthis，inthefaceofthatsuperiorwoman——hismother——couldonlyimplythatherpresencewasdistastefultohim；thathewaseitherashamedoftheirnoticinghisinferioritytoher，orashamedofTHEM！Wildandhastyaswastheirdeduction，itwas，nevertheless，voicedbyJoeWynbrookinatoneofimpartialandevenreluctantconviction。
　　“Well，gentlemen，someofyemayrememberthatwhenIheardthatProssywasbringin’hismotherhereIkicked——kickedbecauseitonlystoodtoreasonthat，beingHISmother，she’dbethatfoolishshe’dupsetthecamp。Therewasn’troomenoughfortwosuchchuckle-heads——andoneof’embeingawoman，shecouldn’tbeshutuporsatuponezwedidtoHIM。Butnow，gentlemen，ezweseesheain’tthatkind，buthigh-tonedandlevel-headed，andthatshe’sgotthegriponProssy——whetherhelikesitornot——weain’tgoin’
　　tolethimgobackonher！No，sir！weain’tgoin’tolethimbreakherheartthesecondtime！Hemaythinkweain’tgoodenoughforher，butezlongezshe’sciviltous，we’llstandbyher。“