But the precise color made no real difference. It was the way they looked at one, and--ah--smiled, so to speak. Odd, because he had never before realized that one could--ah--smile with one"s eyes. Attractive, too, that smile of hers, the eyes and the lips in combination. A sort of cheerful, comfortable smile--yes, and--ah--attractive--ah--inviting, as one might say; a homelike smile; that was the word he wanted--"homelike." It had been a long, long time since he had had a home. As a matter of fact, he had not cared to have one. A tent in Egypt or Syria, furnished with a mummy or two, and with a few neighborly ruins next door--this had been his idea of comfort. It was his idea still, but nevertheless--
And then he became aware that from somewhere, apparently from the heavens above, a voice was shouting--yes, roaring--his name.
"Mr. Bangs!... Hi-i, Mr. Bangs!"
Galusha came out of his walking dream, stared about him, found that he had walked almost to the fence surrounding the light keeper"s home and would have collided with that fence in another stride or two, looked around, down, and finally up--to see Captain Jethro leaning over the iron rail surrounding the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse.
"Oh! Why--ah--good gracious!" he exclaimed. "Were you calling me, Captain Hallett?"
Captain Jethro shook his big head. "Callin"!" he repeated. "I"ve been bellerin" like the foghorn for five minutes. A little more of it and I"d have run out of steam or bust a b"iler, one or t"other. Ain"t been struck deef, have you, Mr. Bangs?"
"No--ah--no, I trust not. I was--ah--thinking, I presume, and I did not hear you. I"m very sorry."
"That"s all right. Glad you was only thinkin" and no worse. I didn"t know but you"d been struck by walkin" paralysis or somethin". Say,"
he leaned further over the rail and lowered his voice. "Say," he said again, "would you mind comin" up here a minute? I want to talk to you."
Mr. Bangs did not mind and, entering the round tower, he climbed the spiral stair to the little room at the top. The great lantern, with its glittering facets and lenses filled that room almost entirely, and the light keeper"s great form filled it still more. There was scarcely s.p.a.ce for little Galusha to squeeze in.
Jethro explained that he had been cleaning the lantern. "It"s Zacheus"
job really," he observed, "but I have to do it myself once in a while to keep it shipshape. Say," he added, opening the door which led to the balcony, "look out yonder. Worth lookin" at, ain"t it?"
It was. The morning was dry and clear, a brisk wind from the west, and not a cloud. The lighthouse, built as it was upon the knoll at the edge of the bluff, seemed to be vastly higher than it actually was, and to tower far above all else until the view from its top was almost like that from an aeroplane. The horizon swept clear and unbroken for three quarters of a circle, two of those quarters the sharp blue rim of the ocean meeting the sky. The white wave-crests leaped and twinkled and danced for miles and miles. Far below on the yellow sand of the beach, the advancing and retreating breakers embroidered lacy patterns which changed constantly.
"Worth looking at, ain"t it?" repeated the captain.
Galusha nodded. "Indeed it is," he said, with emphasis. Yet it surprised him slightly to find the gruff old light keeper enthusiastic concerning a scene which must be so very much a matter of course to him.
"The Almighty done a good job when He built that," observed Captain Jethro, waving his hand toward the Atlantic. "Don"t never get tired of lookin" at salt water, I don"t, and yet I"ve been in it or on it or around it pretty much all my life. And now I"m up above it," he added, thoughtfully. "We"re pretty high up where we are now, Mr. Bangs. I like to set up here and--er--well, kind of think about things, sometimes....
Humph!... Do you cal"late we"re any nigher when we"re up aloft here than we are down on the ground yonder; nigher to THEM, I mean?"
His visitor was puzzled. "I--I beg your pardon?" he stammered.
"Nigher--ah--nearer to--ah--what?"
"Nigher to them--them that"s gone afore. Seems sometimes, when I"m alone up here, particular of a foggy day, as if I was consider"ble nigher to them--to HER, especial--than when I"m on the ground. Think there"s anything in it, do you?"
Galusha said he didn"t know; we know so little about such things, really. He wondered what the captain had invited him up there to talk about. Some spiritualistic subject, very likely; the conversation seemed to be tending that way. Jethro appeared to have forgotten altogether the seance and his, Galusha"s, a.s.sumption of the character of the small, dark "evil influence." It looked very much as if that a.s.sumption--so far as it entailed the permanent shifting of prejudice from Nelson Howard to himself--had been effort wasted.
Captain Jeth pulled at his beard and seemed to be dreaming. Galusha pitied the old fanatic as he stood there, ma.s.sive, rugged, brows drawn together, st.u.r.dy legs apart as if set to meet the roll of a ship at sea--a strong figure, yet in a way the figure of a wistful, dreaming child, helpless--
"Mr. Bangs," said the light keeper, "don"t you cal"late, if you set out to, you could sell my four hundred Wellmouth Development same as you sold Martha"s two hundred and fifty?"
Galusha would have sat down, if there had been anything except the floor to sit down on. As a matter of fact, even that consideration might not have prevented his sitting; his knees bent suddenly and he was on his way to the floor, but his shoulders struck the wall behind him and furnished the support he so very much needed. So far as speech was concerned, that was out of the question. His mouth opened and shut, but nothing audible issued therefrom. Mr. Bangs, at that moment, gave a very good imitation of a fish unexpectedly jerked out of deep water to dry, very dry land.
Captain Jethro did not seem to realize the effect of his question upon his visitor. His big fist moved downward from his chin to the tip of his beard, only to rise and take a new hold at the chin again. His gaze was fixed upon the rolling sea outside.
"You see," he went on, "I kind of figger it out this way: If them folks who bought Martha"s stock are cal"latin" to buy up Development they"ll want more"n two hundred and fifty. I"ll sell "em mine at a reasonable figger; sha"n"t ask much over what I paid for it, I sha"n"t. If they ain"t buyin" for anything "special, but just "cause they think it"s a good thing to keep--well, then--"
Galusha interrupted. The faculty of framing words and uttering them was returning to him, albeit slowly and jerkily.
"Why--why, Captain Hallett," he faltered. "How--how--who--who--"
"Martha didn"t tell me nothin" except that she had sold her stock,"
broke in the light keeper. "I guessed that, too, afore she told me.
She never mentioned your name, Mr. Bangs, nor where she sold it, nor nothin". But, of course, when I found out "twas you who went to Boston and fetched home the five thousand dollars I didn"t need to be told--much. Now, Mr. Bangs, I wish you"d see if you can"t sell my four hundred shares for me. It"ll be consider"ble of a favor if you will. You see, them shares--"
But Galusha did not wait for him to finish. His alarmed protests fairly tumbled over each other.
"Why--why, Captain Hallett," he cried, "really I--I... ah... What you ask is quite impossible. Oh, very much so--ah--very. You see... Well, really, I... Captain Hallett, this entire matter was supposed to be a secret, an absolute secret. I am surprised--and--ah--shocked to learn--"
The captain"s big paw was uplifted as a signal. "Sshh! Heave to! Come up into the wind a minute, Mr. Bangs. "Tis a secret, fur"s I"m consarned, and "twill be just the same after I"ve sold my stock. I realize that business men don"t want business matters talked about, "tain"t likely.
All I"d like to have you do is just see if you can"t dispose of that four hundred of mine, same as you done with Martha"s. Just as a favor I"m askin" it."
Galusha shook his head violently. His agitation was as great as ever.
After going through the agony of the frying pan and congratulating himself that that torment was over, then to find he had escaped merely into the fire was perfectly maddening--not to say frightening--and--oh, dear, dear, dear!
"Really, I"m very sorry, very," he reiterated. "But I am QUITE sure I can do nothing with your shares, Captain Hallett. It--it--such a thing would be absolutely impossible. I"m sorry."
Captain Jethro"s calm was unshaken. "We-ll," he said, slowly, "I ain"t altogether surprised. Course I could see that maybe you wouldn"t want to go cruisin" up to them folks again, "specially they bein" relations. I don"t blame you for that, Mr. Bangs. But, in case you did feel that way, I"d made up my mind I"d go up there myself and see "em."
"Eh? Ah--ah--See? See whom?"
"Why, them relations of yours. Them Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot folks.
I know OF "em; everybody that knows anything about bankin" does, of course. I don"t know any of "em personal, but I cal"lated maybe you"d be willin" to give me a note, a letter introducin" me, you see. Then I could tell "em why I come, and how I wanted to talk with "em about sellin" some more of the same stock they sold for you. That would be all right, wouldn"t it, Mr. Bangs?"
Galusha did not answer. The absolute hopelessness of the situation was beginning to force itself upon his understanding. Whether or not he gave the letter of introduction, the light keeper would go to Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot--oh, how on earth did he ever learn that THEY had anything to do with it?--and begin talkin" about Martha Phipps" stock; and they would deny knowing anything of it; and then the captain would persist, giving details; and Barbour and Minor and the rest would guess the truth and probably write Thomas, who would eventually tell Cousin Gussie; and the light keeper would return home and tell Martha, and she would learn that he had lied to her and deceived her--
"Well, what do you say, Mr. Bangs?" inquired Captain Jethro.
Bangs turned a haggard gaze in the speaker"s direction. The latter was standing in exactly the same att.i.tude, feet apart, hand to beard, sad eyes gazing out to sea; just as he had stood when Galusha"s sympathy had gone out to him as a "helpless, dreaming child."
"What are you laughin" at?" asked Captain Jeth, switching his gaze from old ocean to the face of the little archaeologist.
Galusha had not laughed, but there was a smile, a wan sort of smile, upon his face.
"Oh, nothing in particular," he replied. "I was reflecting that it seemed rather too bad to waste pity in quarters where it was not--ah--needed, when there was such a pressing demand, as one might say, at home."
CHAPTER XIII
The earnest young man behind the counter in the office of Cabot, Bancroft and Cabot--the young man who had so definitely cla.s.sified Galusha Bangs as a "nut"--was extremely surprised when that individual reappeared before his window and, producing the very check which he had obtained there so short a time before, politely requested to exchange it for eighty-two hundred dollars in cash and another check for the balance.
"Why--why--but--!" exclaimed the young man.
"Thank you. Yes, if--ah--if you will be so good," said Galusha.
The young man himself asked questions, and then called Mr. Minor into consultation, and Mr. Minor asked more. The answers they received were not illuminating, but in the end the transaction was made as requested.