"Don"t try to talk yet," said Charlie, as if admonishing a child who has choked on a swallow of water. "Anyhow," he went on quaintly, after a moment, "it makes you forget all about your toothache, don"t it?"
The other cleared his throat raucously. "Now I know why the redskins call it fire water," said he.
"Have another?"
"Not on your life," exclaimed the New Yorker. "Put it back in the trunk,--and lock it up!"
"No sooner said than done," said Charlie amicably. "Now I"ll pull up the shades and let in a little of our well-known hoosier atmosphere,--and some real moonshine. h.e.l.lo! There go Hatch and Angie, out for a stroll. Yep! She"s got him headed toward Foster"s soda water joint. I"ll bet every tooth in his head is achin"."
"How long have you been running the grain elevator, Charlie?"
"Ever since David Windom built it, back in 1897,--twenty-two years.
I took a few months off in "98, expecting to see something of Cuba, but the darned Spaniards surrendered when they heard I was on the way, so I never got any farther than Indianapolis. Twenty-two years.
That"s almost as long as Alix Crown has lived altogether."
"Have you ever seen the grave at the top of Quill"s Window?"
"When I first came here, yes. n.o.body ever goes up there now. In the first place, she don"t like it, and in the second place, most people in these parts are honourable. We wouldn"t any more think of trespa.s.sin" up there than we"d think of pickin" somebody"s pocket.
Besides which, there"s supposed to be rattlesnakes up there among the rocks. And besides that, the place is haunted."
"Haunted? I understood it was the old Windom house that is haunted."
"Well, spooks travel about a bit, being restless sort of things.
Thirty or forty years back, people swore that old Quill and the other people who croaked up there used to come back during the dark of the moon and hold high revels, as the novel writers would say.
Strange to say, they suddenly stopped coming back when the sheriff snook up there one night with a couple of deputies and arrested a gang of male and female mortals and confiscated a couple of kegs of beer at the same time. Shortly after old David Windom confessed that he killed Alix"s father and buried him on the rock, people begin to talk about seeing things again. Funny that Eddie Crown"s ghost neglected to come back till after he"d been dead eighteen years or so. Ghosts ain"t usually so considerate. n.o.body ever claims to have seen him floating around the old Windom front yard before Mr.
Windom confessed. But, by gosh, the story hadn"t been printed in the newspapers for more than two days before George Heffner saw Eddie in the front yard, plain as day, and ran derned near a mile and a half past his own house before he could stop, as he told some one that met him when he stopped for breath. Course, that story sort of petered out when George"s wife went down and cowhided a widow who lived just a mile and a half south of their place, and that night George kept on running so hard the other way that he"s never been heard of since. Since then there hasn"t been much talk about ghosts,--"specially among the married men."
"And the rattlesnakes?" said Courtney, grinning.
"Along about 1875 David Windom killed a couple of rattlers up there. It"s only natural that their ghosts should come back, same as anybody else"s. Far as I can make out, n.o.body has ever actually seen one, but the Lord only knows how many people claim to have heard "em."
He went on in this whimsical fashion for half an hour or more, and finally came back to Alix Crown again.
"She did an awful lot of good during the war,--contributed to everything, drove an ambulance in New York, took up nursing, and all that, and if the war hadn"t been ended by you fellers when it was, she"d have been over in France, sure as you"re a foot high."
"Strange she hasn"t married, young and rich and beautiful as she is," mused Courtney.
"Plenty of fellers been after her all right. She don"t seem to be able to see "em though. Now that the war"s over maybe she"ll settle down and pay some attention to sufferin" humanity. There"s one thing sure. If she"s got a beau he don"t belong around these parts. n.o.body around here"s got a look-in."
"Does she live all alone in that house up there? I mean, has she no--er--chaperon?"
"Nancy Strong is keeping house for her,--her husband used to run the blacksmith shop here and did all of David Windom"s work for him. He"s been dead a good many years. Nancy is one of the finest women you ever saw. Her father was an Episcopal minister up in the city up to the time he died. Nancy had to earn her own living, so she got a job as school teacher down here. Let"s see, that was over thirty years ago. Been here ever since. Tom Strong wasn"t good enough for her. Too religious. He was the feller that led the mob that wiped out Tony Zimmerman"s saloon soon after I came here. I"ll never forget that night. I happened to be in the saloon,--just out of curiosity, because it was new and everybody was dropping in to see the bar and fixtures he"d got from Chicago,--but I got out of a back window in plenty of time. But as I was saying, Nancy Strong keeps house for Alix. She"s got a cook and a second girl besides, and a chauffeur."
"An ideal arrangement," said Courtney, looking at his wrist-watch.
"I wonder if you ever came across Nancy Strong"s son over in France.
He was in the Medical Corps in our Army. He"s a doctor. Went to Rush Medical College in Chicago and afterwards to some place in the East,--John Hopkins or some such name as that. Feller about your age, I should say. David Strong. Mr. Windom sent him through college. They say he"s paying the money back to Alix Crown as fast as he makes it. Alix hates him worse"n poison, according to Jim Bagley, her foreman. Of course, she don"t let on to David"s mother on account of her being housekeeper and all. Seems that Alix is as sore as can be because he insists on paying the money to her, when she claims her grandpa gave it to him and it"s none of her business.
Davy says he promised to pay Mr. Windom back as soon as he was able, and can"t see any reason why the old man"s death should cancel the obligation. Jim was telling me some time ago about the letter Alix showed him from Davy. She was so mad she actually cried. He said in so many words he didn"t choose to be beholden to her, and that he was in the habit of paying his debts, and she needn"t be so high and mighty about refusin" to accept the money. He said he didn"t accept anything from Mr. Windom as charity,--claiming it was a loan,--and he"d be d.a.m.ned if he"d accept charity from her. I don"t believe he swore like that, but then Jim can"t say good morning to you without getting in a cuss word or two. Alix is as stubborn as all get out. Jim says that every time she gets a cheque from Davy she cashes it and hands the money over to Mrs. Strong for a present, never letting on to Nancy that it came from Davy. Did I say that Davy is practisin" in Philadelphia? He was back here for a week to see his mother after he got out of the Army, but when Alix heard he was coming she beat it up to Chicago. I thought maybe you might have run across him over in France."
"I was not with the American Army,--and besides there were several million men in France, Charlie," said Courtney, arising and stretching himself. "Well, good night. Thanks for the uplift. I"ll skip along now and write a letter or two."
"Snappy dreams," said Charlie Webster.
Just as Courtney was closing a long letter to his mother, the automobile drew up in front of the Tavern and Alix Crown"s guests got out. There were "good-nights" and "sleep-tights" and then the car went purring down the dimly lighted road. He had no trouble in distinguishing Alix"s clear, young voice, and thereupon added the following words of comfort to his faraway mother: "You will love her voice, mater dear. It"s like music. So put away your prejudice and wish me luck. I"ve made a good start. The fact that she refused to look at me on the porch tonight is the best sign in the world.
Just because she deliberately failed to notice me is no sign that she didn"t expect me to notice her. It is an ancient and time-honoured trick of your adorable s.e.x."
III
The next morning his walk took him up the lane past the charming, red-brick house of Alix the Third. His leg was troubling him. He walked with quite a p.r.o.nounced limp, and there were times when his face winced with pain.
"It"s that confounded poison you gave me last night," he announced to Charlie Webster as they stood chatting in front of the warehouse office.
"First time I ever heard of booze going to the knee," was Charlie"s laconic rejoinder. "It"s generally aimed at the head."
He made good use of the corner of his eye as he strolled leisurely past the Windom house, set well back at the top of a small tree-surrounded knoll and looking down upon the gra.s.sy slope that formed the most beautiful "front yard" in the whole county, according to the proud and boastful denizens of Windomville. Along the bottom of the lawn ran a neatly trimmed privet hedge. There were lilac bushes in the lower corners of the extensive grounds, and the wide gravel walk up to the house was lined with flowers. Rose bushes guarded the base of the terrace that ran the full length of the house and curved off to the back of it.
A red and yellow beach umbrella, tilted against the hot morning sun, lent a gay note of colour to the terrace to the left of the steps. Some one,--a woman,--sat beneath the big sunshade, reading a newspaper. A Belgian police dog posed at the top of the steps, as rigid as if shaped of stone, regarding the pa.s.ser-by who limped.
Halfway between the house and the road stood two fine old oaks, one at either side of the lawn. Their cool, alluring shadows were like clouds upon an emerald sea. Down near the hedge a whirling garden spray cast its benevolent waters over the grateful turf, and, reaching out in playful gusts, blew its mist into the face of the man outside. Back of the house and farther up the timbered slope rose a towering windmill and below it the red water tank, partially screened by the tree-tops. The rhythmic beat of a hydraulic pump came to the stroller"s ears.
Courtney"s saunterings had taken him past this charming place before,--half a dozen times perhaps,--but never had it seemed so alluring. Outwardly there was no change that he could detect, and yet there was a subtle difference in its every aspect. The spray, the shadows, the lazy windmill, the flowers,--he had seen them all before, just as they were this morning. They had not changed.
But now, by some strange wizardry, the tranquil setting had been transformed into a vibrant, exquisite fairyland, throbbing with life, charged with an appeal to every one of the senses. It was as if some hand had shaken it out of a sound sleep.
But, for that matter, the whole village of Windomville had undergone a change. It was no longer the dull, sleepy place of yesterday.
Over night it had blossomed. Courtney Thane alone was aware of this amazing transformation. It was he who felt the thrill that charged the air, who breathed in the sense-quickening spice, who heard the pipes of Pan. All these signs of enchantment were denied the matter-of-fact, unimaginative inhabitants of Windomville. And you would ask the cause of this amazing transformation?
Before he left the breakfast table Courtney had consented to give a talk before the Literary Society on the coming Friday night. Mrs.
Maude Baggs Pollock had been at him for a week to tell of his experiences at the front. She promised a full attendance.
"I"ve never made a speech in my life," he said, "and I know I"d be scared stiff, Mrs. Pollock."
"Pooh! Don"t you talk to me about being scared! Anybody who did the things you did over in France--"
"Ah, but you forget I was armed to the teeth," he reminded her, with a grin.
"Well," put in Charlie Webster, "we"ll promise to leave our pistols at home. The only danger you"ll be in, Court, will come from a lot of hysterical women trying to kiss you, but I think I can fix it to have the best lookin" ones up in front so that--"
"I wish you wouldn"t always try to be funny, Charlie Webster,"
snapped Mrs. Pollock. "Mr. Thane and I were discussing a serious matter. If you can postpone--"
"I defy anybody to prove that there"s anything funny about being kissed by practically half the grown-up population of Windomville with the other half lookin" on and cussin" under their breath."
"Don"t pay any attention to him, Mr. Thane," said the poetess of Windomville. "Alix Crown said last night she was coming to the meeting this week, and I"d so like to surprise her. Now please say you will do it."
"I really wouldn"t know what to talk about," pleaded the young man.
"You see, as a rule, we fellows who were over there don"t feel half as well qualified to talk about the war as those who stayed at home and read about it in the papers."
"Nonsense! All you will have to do is just to tell some of your own personal experiences. n.o.body"s going to think you are bragging about them. We"ll understand."
"Next Friday night, you say? Well, I"ll try, Mrs. Pollock, if you"ll promise to chloroform Charlie Webster," said he, and Charlie promptly declared he would do the chloroforming himself.