"He has, ma"am."
"I am vulgar enough to have dined, Mrs. Gower," said Smyth, meeting them at the door of the library.
"As you please," she said, gaily, giving her hand; ""let ilka ane gang their ain gait.""
"Your son is acting on that motto, Mrs. Dale," he said, looking from the window. "Don"t stir, he is in the back way; and has evidently been wrestling with our York mud."
At this juncture Garfield appeared, breathless; and his pretty Norfolk jacket and knickerbockers all be-spattered.
"How did you come to grief, my son?" asked his father.
"Well, papa; first, I knocked down a sparrow with my catapult; it died game, falling on a foreign bird perched on a lady"s steeple bonnet.
Well, she was mad, phew! called me names for killing birds. I told her not to try to be funny, when she had stuffed ones on her head-dress.
Next, I saw a man down street putting a mouth on his poor horse; man!
how he sawed, tore the bit nearly through his head; well, I just let another lead fly, knocking his Christy stiff into the mud; then, he out of his butcher waggon and after me. I remembered some dimes in my pocket, got "em, threw "em behind--he bit, and I took my chance and distanced him," he said, panting for breath.
"That was sport," said Smyth, laughingly; "but I have had to shut down on my boy"s hunting, we swell our city treasury by fining such fire-arms."
"Go to the kitchen, you poor little man," said Mrs. Gower; "and ask Thomas to brush you; he will get you some lunch, there is mud even in your curls; here, let me kiss you."
"Yes, you may," he said, condescendingly.
"Come along, son; mother will go with you."
"You don"t ask what brought me in at this hour, Mrs. Gower," said Smyth.
"No, I have scarcely welcomed you, as yet."
"Well, I must out with it, even if it shortens my stay; for I have only a few moments. On my way up to dinner, I literally ran against King, he was in a brown study, and I in a hurry. "h.e.l.lo!" I cried, at which he stopped, and quite abruptly (so unlike him), said, "Tell Mrs. Gower I have heard from Mr. Cole, senr., who has been ill at Montreal. His physician, Dr. Peake, ordered him to Florida, positively forbidding him to pa.s.s the cold season at Ottawa. He is extremely anxious about Charlie, who has not written him. A newspaper, with the announcement of his marriage, being the only communication from Bayswater direct;" and here it is, he gave it me for you. From some outside source he has heard that Charlie is ill, and wishes any of us to let him know immediately at his hotel, Jacksonville, if we have, or receive any news. He admits to King, that with the exception of the girl herself, the remaining members of the family Charlie has married into are a bad lot."
"Poor Charlie, he dreaded this marriage," she said, regretfully; "but seemed to be hemmed in by circ.u.mstances--a betrothal. Then she had five thousand pounds per annum, and his father wished him to carry it out; and Charlie is so yielding, altogether. When he told me about it, at the very last, I too advised him to go and carry out the arrangement. You see, as we know he was heart whole, and his salary was small, and he seemed born only to work the will of others, that it seemed a half natural sort of thing for him to drift into; still, if he is ill, and the family are horrid, and he over there alone, I feel sorry he went at all, poor fellow."
"A miserable marriage would break Charlie Cole up completely," said Smyth.
"Have you no mutual friend at London," said Dale, kindly, "to whom you could apply, and who might give you the facts of the case. Perhaps I can a.s.sist you. You told me before, Mrs. Gower, that it is to Bayswater suburb, your friend went; I knew a very prominent physician residing there, to whom I shall write, if you wish; a medical man is very often the very best medium in such cases."
"Oh, if you would, Mr. Dale; it would be a perfect relief to all of us,"
said Mrs. Gower.
"Here is the marriage insertion," said Smyth, reading: ""At Broadlawns, Bayswater, London, England, on September 28th, 1887, by the Rev. Claude Parks, Charles Babbington-Cole, Esq., of Toronto, Dominion of Canada, to Margaret, daughter of the late----"
"What"s that! Miss Crew has fainted, poor girl," cried Mrs. Gower, "and hurt herself, I fear; there is water in the dining-room."
"I"ll get it," cried Smyth.
Mrs. Dale, returning, said, "I wonder what caused it; she is delicate, I know, but I never knew her to faint before. My vinaigrette is on my dressing-table; would you get it, Henry, like a dear?"
"Thank you, Mr. Dale, she revives."
"Then I shall go, Mrs. Gower; and here, I shall leave the English newspaper with you; Lil wants you all to come over this evening, then we can talk over some plan--Mr. Dale"s is a good one--to elicit information as to Charlie"s position; Miss Crew is to come, too. Good-bye till evening."
"You had better go upstairs and lie down, Miss Crew; you look very white, and I fear you have hurt your head, poor girl," said Mrs. Gower, kindly.
"I did give it a knock, but you are all too kind; if it won"t make any difference, I shall lie here for a few minutes."
"Very well, dear; and a gla.s.s of wine will be good for you."
"Oh, she never touches it, Elaine, she is rabid blue ribbon," said Mrs.
Dale.
"And a very good color to wear, but when one is ill," said Mrs. Gower.
"Never mind the wine, Mrs. Gower, my head aches very badly, but all I want is to rest it a little; but shall feel very uncomfortable, though, if I delay your out-going; do go now."
"Yes, I suppose we must."
"Garfield, you stay with Miss Crew, darling, while Mrs. Gower dresses, and I put on my wraps."
"All O. K., mamma." After a few moments spent with "The Pansy," he comes over to the sofa.
"Miss Crew, Miss Crew; wake up."
"I was not sleeping, dear."
"But your brows were knit like this; and you looked so white. What did you faint for? I wanted you to come with us."
"Oh, never mind, don"t talk about me; I want you to give me your catapult."
"Yes, I reckon I will, as young Smyth had to give his up; but I should like it if I get mad at a man for ill-treating his horse."
"But a better plan would be to read the name of the owner on the vehicle, and report him."
"Oh, that"s too slow; when a fellow gets mad, he wants to let a lead fly right then," making a movement as if he was firing.
"Oh, but that is not the best way, my boy; the wise men of old waited until they were out of their temper."
"We don"t; we just go, bang! but it was pretty good of them, I reckon.
What did they say right at first, though?"
"They said, when the evildoer was brought before them, having done them a great wrong, "By the G.o.ds, were I _not_ in wrath with thee, I would have thee slain.""
"Well, I guess that was n.o.ble of them; I reckon my catapult must go," he said, fondling it, "and here goes," he said, putting it into the fire; "but as I don"t want to hear it hissing me, I"ll put a finger in each ear."
Here Mrs. Gower, with Mr. and Mrs. Dale, entered, robed for the outer world, looking comely and comfortable. Mrs. Gower in blue, broken plaid skirt, with plain over-skirt, and waist of same color, bonnet to suit, tight mantle, with fox boa and m.u.f.f. Mrs. Dale in plum color, with seal mantle; both women with the hue of health on cheek and lips, and with bright eyes.
"Come, Garfield, my son, into your overcoat with the speed of a New York despatch," said his mother.
"It seems too bad to leave you, Miss Crew," said Mrs. Gower, sympathetically; "are you sure I can do nothing for you before we start?"