III.
As Mr. Harland returned along the lane which led towards home he saw, standing in the middle of the road in front of him, a couple of ladies, who, judging from their man[oe]uvres, appeared to be spying out the land. As he came up one of them hailed him. A tall, angular lady, who wore spectacles and low shoes and skirts which did not reach to her ankles, and who spoke in a loud, shrill, rasping voice, which might have been audible on the other side the meadow.
"Say, stranger, can you hitch us on to Mulberry House Academy, where they lams young byes?"
"I know Mulberry House School. I"m the headmaster, Mr. Harland."
The lady turned to her companion.
"Bashemath, I guess we"re solid." She returned to the gentleman.
"You"re the man we"re after; we"re Mrs. Bindon."
"You--I presume you mean that you are Mrs. Bindon?"
"Me and her are Mrs. Bindon."
"I--I suppose there"s some joke intended. Or, perhaps, this lady is your daughter?"
"Sakes alive! Between Bashemath and me there are not twelve months."
"No, Deborah," said the other lady, "nor yet eleven."
"And as for joking, stranger, I"d have you know that I"m no jokist.
Bashemath and me have had to walk up from the depot. The driver said his carriage wouldn"t hold no more than seven. We didn"t see the use of a carriage just for Bashemath and me, being both of a saving mind."
"You will be glad to hear," remarked Mr. Harland, as he led the way to Mulberry House, a lady on either side of him, "that your sons all enjoy good health."
"Lord save the man!" cried the lady with the gla.s.ses, "you don"t suppose all them byes is mine. I"ve one of "em, and he"s enough--the limb! I"ve seven daughters, but they"re Samuel Newton"s, who is dead.
The rest of them byes are Mr. Bindon"s."
"Are there"--Mr. Harland slightly coughed--"are there several Mr.
Bindons?"
The lady pulled up short. She turned and faced the gentleman.
"Stranger, are you just sarsing?"
"Madam! Only by inadvertence could a word escape my lips which would in any way cause annoyance to a lady."
When they reached Mulberry House a couple of flys were standing at the front door.
"I guess," observed the angular lady, "there"s more of them come up than seven."
As Mr. Harland and his companions ascended the steps two gentlemen came rushing down them. They were the drivers of the flys. Unless circ.u.mstances belied them they had been whiling away the interval of waiting by listening at the drawing-room door. In the hall were the cook, housemaid, and the small girl who acted as general help. Their presence in that particular spot required explanation. Their countenances, when they perceived their master, showed that it did.
"What is the meaning of this?" inquired Mr. Harland. "Where"s your mistress?"
"If you please, sir, she"s in the drawing-room."
"Is she engaged?"
"There are----" The girl choked back a giggle. "There are some ladies with her."
"I guess," remarked the angular lady, "they"re some of the other Mrs.
Bindons."
Three distinct and undeniable t.i.tters came from the servants.
"Sarah," said Mr. Harland, sternly checking the disconcerted damsel as she was about to seek refuge with her colleagues in flight, "show these ladies into the drawing-room, and tell your mistress that I wish to speak to her in the study."
"What--what on earth, Maria, is the meaning of this?" demanded Mr.
Harland, as his wife made her appearance in his sanctum.
The lady dropped into a chair.
"Thank goodness, Andrew, you have come home. I don"t know what I should have done if I had been left alone with them much longer."
"Who are these women?"
"They"re the Mrs. Bindons."
"The Mrs. Bindons! How many of them are there?"
"There were nine. The two you brought make eleven."
"Eleven! Eleven Mrs. Bindons! Maria!"
"Andrew!"
"Is--is the man a Mormon?"
"Yes, he--he"s a Mormon."
"Maria! You don"t mean that?"
"I do. You remember Jane Cooper?"
"The s.l.u.t that you sent packing?"
"She"s here. She"s one of the Mrs. Bindons. And Louisa Brown, she"s another."
"Not the Louisa Brown?"
"And there are two or three more whose faces I know quite well, but I can"t think who they are."
Mr. Harland drew a long breath. He whistled.
"I knew J. Bindon _must_ be Jolly Jack."