"But I"m not sick."
"Then, I am," said Captain Dan. "They make me sick. Shut up, will you?"
addressing the bell, which had rung the second time. "I"ll come when I get ready."
He seemed to be quite ready that very moment. At all events he strode from the room, and his anxious wife and the flushed Azuba heard him tramping through the front hall.
"What--WHAT is he going to do?" faltered Serena; "or say?"
Azuba shook her head. "Land knows!" she exclaimed. "I ain"t seen him this way since the weasel got into the hen-house. He went for THAT with the hoe-handle. And as for what he said! Well, don"t talk to ME!"
But no riot or verbal explosion followed the opening of the door. The anxious listeners in the dining-room heard voices, but they were subdued ones. A moment later Captain Dan returned. He looked troubled.
"It"s Barney Black and his wife," he answered, in a whisper. "I couldn"t tell THEM to go to thunder. They"re in the front room, waitin". I suppose we"ll have to see "em, won"t we?"
Mrs. Dott was hurriedly shaking the wrinkles out of her gown and patting her hair into presentable shape.
"See "em!" she repeated. "Of course we"ll see them. I declare! I think it"s real kind of "em to call. Daniel, do fix your necktie. It"s way round under your ear."
They entered the parlor, Serena, outwardly calm, in the lead and her husband following, and tugging at the refractory tie.
Mrs. and Mr. Black--scanning them in the order of their importance--rose as they appeared. Mrs. Black was large and impressive, and gorgeous to view. She did not look her age. Her husband was not as tall as his wife, and did not look his height. Annette swept forward.
"Oh, my dear Mrs. Dott," she gushed, taking Serena"s hand in her own gloved one. "We"ve just heard the news, Phelps and I, and we couldn"t resist dropping in to congratulate you. Isn"t it wonderful!"
Serena admitted that it was wonderful. "We can hardly believe it yet, ourselves," she said. "But it was real nice of you to come. Do sit down again, won"t you? Daniel, get Mr. Black a chair."
Captain Dan and Mr. Black shook hands. "Sit down anywhere, Barney," said the former. "Anywhere but that rocker, I mean; that"s got a squeak in the leg."
Mr. Black, who had headed for the rocker, changed his course and sank into an arm chair. The shudder with which his wife heard the word "Barney," and the glare with which Serena favored her husband, were entirely lost upon the latter.
"We had that rocker up in the attic till last month," he observed; "but Serena found out "twas an antique, and antiques seem to be all the go now-a-days, though you do have to be careful of "em. I suppose it"s all right. We"ll be antiques ourselves before many years, and we"ll want folks to be careful of us. Hey? Ha! ha! ... Why, what"s the matter, Serena?"
Mrs. Dott replied, rather sharply, that "nothing was the matter."
"The rocker isn"t very strong," she explained, addressing Mrs. Black.
"But it belonged to my great--that is, it has been in our family for a good many years and we think a great deal of it."
Mrs. Black condescendingly expressed her opinion that the rocker was a "dear."
"I love old-fashioned things," she said. "So does Mr. Black. Don"t you, Phelps?"
"Yes," replied that gentleman. His love did not appear to be over-enthusiastic.
"But do tell us about your little legacy," went on the lady. "Of course we have heard all sorts of ridiculous stories, but we know better than to believe them. Why, we even heard that you were worth a million.
Naturally, THAT was absurd, wasn"t it? Ha! ha!"
Captain Dan opened his mouth to reply, but his wife flashed a glance in his direction, and he closed it again.
"Yes," said Serena, addressing Mrs. Black, "that was absurd, of course."
"So I told Phelps. I said that the way in which these country people exaggerated such things was too funny for anything. Why, we heard that your cousin had died--that is, _I_ heard it was a cousin; Phelps heard it was an uncle. An uncle was what you heard, wasn"t it, Phelps?"
"Yes," said Phelps. It was his second contribution to the conversation.
"So," went on Mrs. Black, "we didn"t know which it was."
She paused, smilingly expectant. Again Captain Dan started to speak, and again a look from his wife caused him to change his mind. Before he had quite recovered, Mrs. Black, who may have noticed the look, had turned to him.
"Wasn"t it funny!" she gushed. "I don"t wonder you laugh. Here was I saying it was a cousin and Phelps declaring it was an uncle. It was so odd and SO like this funny little town. Do tell us; which was it, really, Captain Dott?"
Daniel, staggering before this point blank attack, hesitated. "Why," he stammered, "it was--it was--" He looked appealingly at Serena.
"Why don"t you answer Mrs. Black?" inquired his wife, rather sharply.
"It was my Aunt Laviny," said the captain.
Mrs. Black nodded and smiled.
"Oh! your aunt!" she exclaimed. "There! isn"t that funny! And SO characteristic of Trumet. Neither an uncle nor a cousin, but an aunt.
What did you say her name was?"
"Laviny?"
"Yes, I know. Laviny--what an odd name! I don"t think I ever heard it before. Was the rest of it as odd as that?"
Serena, who had been fidgeting in her chair, cut in here.
"It wasn"t Laviny at all," she said. "That is only Daniel"s way of p.r.o.nouncing it. It is what he used to call her when he was a child. A--a sort of pet name, you know."
"Why, Serena! how you talk! She never had any pet name, far"s I ever heard. You might as well give a pet name to the Queen of Sheba. She--"
"Hush! it doesn"t make any difference. Her name, Mrs. Black, was Lavinia. She was Mrs. Lavinia Dott, and her husband was James Dott, Daniel"s father"s brother. I shouldn"t wonder if you knew her. She has spent most of her time in Europe lately, but her home, her American home, was where you live, in Scarford."
This statement caused a marked sensation. Mrs. Black gasped audibly, and leaned back in her chair. B. Phelps evinced his first sign of interest.
"What!" he exclaimed. "Mrs. Lavinia Dott, of Scarford? You don"t say!
Why, of course we knew her; that is, we knew who she was. Everybody in Scarford did. Her place is one of the finest in town."
Serena bowed. Life, for her, had not offered many sweeter moments than this.
"Yes," she said, calmly, "so we understand. The place--er--that is, the estate--is a PART--" she emphasized the word--"a PART of what she left to my husband."
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Mr. Black. His wife said nothing, but her face was a study.
Captain Dan crossed his knees.
"I remember seein" that place after Uncle Jim first built it," he observed, reminiscently. "I tell you it looked big enough to me! I was only a young feller, just begun goin" to sea, and that house looked big as a town hall, you might say. Ho! ho! when I got inside and was sittin"
in the front parlor, I declare I was all feet and hands! didn"t know what to do with "em.... Hey? did you speak, Serena?"