Ben looked up in astonishment. "Why, Mister James, she"s allers alone in these ere woods. No blackbird knows the bush better, what"s the use?"
Mabel said nothing, but her eyes turned upon Harrington with a wistful and surprised look.
"No matter, she must not go through the woods alone," answered Harrington. "Keep snug to the sh.o.r.e, and be ready to answer my hail; I will overtake you in a few minutes."
Harrington moved away as he uttered these words, following Agnes into the woods.
Mabel looked after them with sadness in her eyes; then, bowing her face softly upon her folded arms, she remained motionless, save that her lips moved, and broken whispers which the angels of Heaven gathered and laid before the throne of G.o.d, stole through them. They had advanced some distance up the sh.o.r.e, when Harrington hailed the boat; Ben did not pretend to hear him, but Mabel, lifting her face, now full of gentleness, said, with a smile--
"Stop, Ben, he is calling for you!"
"Let him call and be----" Ben caught the profane word in his teeth, and swallowing it with a great struggle, commenced again--
"Let him call till he"s tired, why didn"t he stay with that old Judas and the young witch. To think of going off with sich like, and madame just a dying--halloo away, Ben Benson "ll sink afore he hears you!"
Ben muttered this between his teeth, and worked away at the oars, doggedly resolved to continue his fit of deafness, and give his master a midnight walk through the dripping and rough woods, but Mabel addressed him again with a quiet firmness which he could not find the heart to resist.
"Put on sh.o.r.e, Ben, and take your master in."
"I begin to thing he"s took us all in a little too often!" muttered Ben; but he turned reluctantly for the sh.o.r.e, and Harrington, without speaking, took his place in the boat.
The moon had broken through the drift-clouds left by the storm, before the little party reached the cove below General Harrington"s dwelling.
The front of the house was entirely dark, but lights wandered to and fro along the hollow, and anxious voices were heard calling to each other along the bank.
"They"re out searching for us!" said Ben, dropping his oars and making an impromptu speaking-trumpet of his hand. Directly his voice rang along the sh.o.r.e.
"Ben Benson, and pa.s.sengers from down stream. All well!"
A shout answered from the sh.o.r.e, and directly eager voices and rapid footsteps rushed toward the little cove; first came Ralph, wild with joy, leaping downward like a panther.
"Is she safe! is she here!" he cried, pausing with dread upon the bank.
"Ralph, Ralph!"
He knew the voice. He sprang into the boat, and fell upon his knees before his mother.
"Thank G.o.d, oh mother, mother!"
He could say no more. Unspeakable joy choked his utterance. He kissed her hands, her face, and her wet robes.
"Mother, mother, tell me what has happened! You are cold--you tremble--all your clothes are wet--your bonnet is off--that dear pale face, oh mother, you have been in danger, and I not there!"
His love gave her strength. She took his head between her trembling hands, and kissed him again and again on the forehead.
"Oh, yes, my Ralph, I have been very near death--but with all this to live for, G.o.d would not let me die."
"No, no, he could not make us so wretched. Oh, mother, what would home be without you? It is only an hour or two since we missed you; but those hours were full of desolation. Tell me--tell me how it was!"
"They did it--they will tell you--I was in the depths of the river, but they drew me out."
"They, my brother James, and that blessed old rogue, Ben Benson, did they save you, mother, while I--I, your only son--was dreaming at home?
Oh, James, must I thank you for my mother, with all the rest!"
"Thank G.o.d, Ralph, for He has saved your mother!"
His voice was impressive and solemn. It seemed like a rebuke to the ardent grat.i.tude of the young man.
"I do thank G.o.d, brother James," he answered reverently, uncovering his head. "But, to be grateful to G.o.d"s creatures is, so far, giving thanks to Him! How often have you told me this?"
"You are right," answered James gently, "but see, your mother needs a.s.sistance!"
Mabel had risen, and was making ready to step from the boat. Ralph turned, flung one arm around her.
"Lean on me, dear mother. Lay your head on my shoulder; don"t mind the weight; I can carry you, if needful!"
Mabel submitted herself to the affectionate guidance of her son, with a sigh of pleasure, and proceeded towards the house.
CHAPTER XI.
GENERAL HARRINGTON IS SHOCKED.
The rigid ideas of female propriety which General Harrington enforced in his family, had been greatly outraged that day. This well-regulated home was thrown into disorder by the unaccountable absence of his wife and Lina from the tea-table. He had followed his wife to the bank of the river, and with a feeling of quiet indignation had watched her rowing her own boat down the stream like a wild gipsy. The gathering storm and the danger she was in scarcely impressed him, but the impropriety of the thing outraged all his fastidiousness.
Still he was glad to have her away for the brief time that he was in the hills, and but for her long absence this escapade on the river might have been forgiven.
A solitary evening, added to these causes of discontent, had greatly ruffled the general"s equanimity of temper, and when his wife appeared deep in the night, her clothes in disorder, her hair disarranged, and her face pale as death, he felt her return in this state as a positive insult to his house.
"Madam," he said, with that quiet irony which was the gift of his cold nature, "it is rather late, and your toilet somewhat disarranged for the presence of gentlemen; allow me to lead you to a mirror." It was not necessary; Mabel had seen herself reflected in the great oval gla.s.s opposite, and shrunk back, shocked both by her appearance and the cold insult to which it had given rise.
James Harrington remained silent, but his eyes grew bright with indignation, while Ralph flung one arm around his mother"s waist, and turned his bright face upon the general.
"My mother"s life has been in peril--she comes back to us, father, almost cold from the dead."
"Indeed!" said the general with a look of cold surprise. "Surely, madam, you did not remain out in the storm? You have not been on the river all this time?"
"I have been in the depths of the river, I believe!" answered Mabel.
"The boat was upset--I was dashed beneath the wheels of a steamer, but for--" She hesitated, and a red flush shot over her face; the n.o.ble woman recovered herself in an instant, "but for James, and Ben Benson."
An answering flush came to the general"s cheek. He darted a quick glance at James.
"And how came Mr. Harrington so near you, madam? They told me you had gone upon the river alone."
"And so she did," answered James, stepping forward. "I saw her put out from the sh.o.r.e, apparently unconscious of the coming storm, and followed the course of her boat."