"Don"t--don"t talk so, Mrs. Armstrong," he begged. "You know--you know I don"t think anything you"ve done is wrong. I ain"t got the right to think any such thing as that. And as for keepin" still-- why, I--I did hope you wouldn"t feel "twas necessary to ask that."
"I don"t--I don"t. I know you and I trust you. You are the only person in Orham whom I have trusted. You know that."
"Why, yes--why, yes, I do know it and--and I"m ever so much obliged to you. More obliged than I can tell you, I am. Now--now would you mind tellin" me just one thing more? About this Mr. What"s- his-name out West in the bank there--this Mr. Reed--did he write you he thought "twas all right for him to send Sam the--the kind of letter he did send him, the one givin" your brother such a good reference?"
The color rose in her face and she hesitated before replying.
"No," she confessed, after a moment. "He did not write me that he thought it right to give Captain Hunniwell such a reference. In fact he wrote that he thought it all wrong, deceitful, bordering on the dishonest. He much preferred having Charles go to the captain and tell the whole truth. On the other hand, however, he said he realized that that might mean the end of the opportunity here and perhaps public scandal and gossip by which we all might suffer.
And he said he had absolute confidence that Charles was not a criminal by intent, and he felt quite sure that he would never go wrong again. If he were still in active business, he said, he should not hesitate to employ him. Therefore, although he still believed the other course safer and better, he would, if Captain Hunniwell wrote, answer as I had asked. And he did answer in that way. So, you see," she cried, eagerly, "HE believes in Charles, just as I do. And just as you will when you know, Mr. Winslow.
Oh, WON"T you try to believe now?"
A harder-hearted man than Jed Winslow would have found it difficult to refuse such a plea made in such a way by such a woman. And Jed"s heart was anything but hard.
"Now, now, Mrs. Armstrong," he stammered, "you don"t have to ask me that. Course I believe in the poor young chap. And--and I guess likely everything"s goin" to come out all right. That Mr. What"s- his-name--er--Wright--no, Reed--I got read and write mixed up, I guess--he"s a business man and he"d ought to know about such things better"n I do. I don"t doubt it"ll come out fine and we won"t worry any more about it."
"And we will still be friends? You know, Mr. Winslow, you are the only real friend I have in Orham. And you have been so loyal."
Jed flushed with pleasure.
"I--I told you once," he said, "that my friends generally called me "Jed.""
She laughed. "Very well, I"ll call you "Jed,"" she said. "But turn about is fair play and you must call me "Ruth." Will you? Oh, there"s Babbie calling me. Thank you again, for Charles" sake and my own. Good morning--Jed."
"Er--er--good mornin", Mrs. Armstrong."
"What?"
"Er--I mean Mrs. Ruth."
The most of that forenoon, that is the hour or so remaining, was spent by Mr. Winslow in sitting by the workbench and idly scratching upon a board with the point of the chisel. Sometimes his scratches were meaningless, sometimes they spelled a name, a name which he seemed to enjoy spelling. But at intervals during that day, and on other days which followed, he was conscious of an uneasy feeling, a feeling almost of guilt coupled with a dim foreboding.
Ruth Armstrong had called him a friend and loyal. But had he been as loyal to an older friend, a friend he had known all his life?
Had he been loyal to Captain Sam Hunniwell?
That was the feeling of guilt. The foreboding was not as definite, but it was always with him; he could not shake it off. All his life he had dealt truthfully with the world, had not lied, or evaded, or compromised. Now he had permitted himself to become a silent partner in such a compromise. And some day, somehow, trouble was coming because of it.
CHAPTER XII
Before the end of another week Charles Phillips came to Orham. It was Ruth who told Jed the news. She came into the windmill shop and, standing beside the bench where he was at work, she said: "Mr.
Winslow, I have something to tell you."
Jed put down the pencil and sheet of paper upon which he had been drawing new patterns for the "gull vane" which was to move its wings when the wind blew. This great invention had not progressed very far toward practical perfection. Its inventor had been busy with other things and had of late rather lost interest in it. But Barbara"s interest had not flagged and to please her Jed had promised to think a little more about it during the next day or so.
"But can"t you make it flap its wings, Uncle Jed?" the child had asked.
Jed rubbed his chin. "W-e-e-ll," he drawled, "I don"t know. I thought I could, but now I ain"t so sure. I could make "em whirl "round and "round like a mill or a set of sailor paddles, but to make "em flap is different. They"ve got to be put on strong enough so they won"t flop off. You see," he added, solemnly, "if they kept floppin" off they wouldn"t keep flappin" on. There"s all the difference in the world between a flap and flop."
He was trying to reconcile that difference when Ruth entered the shop. He looked up at her absently. "Mr. Winslow," she began again, "I--"
His reproachful look made her pause and smile slightly in spite of herself.
"I"m sorry," she said. "Well, then--Jed--I have something to tell you. My brother will be here to-morrow."
Jed had been expecting to hear this very thing almost any day, but he was a little startled nevertheless.
"Sho!" he exclaimed. "You don"t tell me!"
"Yes. He is coming on the evening train to-morrow. I had word from him this morning."
Jed"s hand moved to his chin. "Hum . . ." he mused. "I guess likely you"ll be pretty glad to see him."
"I shall be at least that," with a little break in her voice. "You can imagine what his coming will mean to me. No, I suppose you can"t imagine it; no one can."
Jed did not say whether he imagined it or not.
"I--I"m real glad for you, Mrs. Ruth," he declared. "Mrs. Ruth"
was as near as he ever came to fulfilling their agreement concerning names.
"I"m sure you are. And for my brother"s sake and my own I am very grateful to you. Mr. Winslow--Jed, I mean--you have done so much for us already; will you do one thing more?"
Jed"s answer was given with no trace of his customary hesitation.
"Yes," he said.
"This is really for me, perhaps, more than for Charles--or at least as much."
Again there was no hesitation in the Winslow reply.
"That won"t make it any harder," he observed, gravely.
"Thank you. It is just this: I have decided not to tell my brother that I have told you of his--his trouble, of his having been--where he has been, or anything about it. He knows I have not told Captain Hunniwell; I"m sure he will take it for granted that I have told no one. I think it will be so much easier for the poor boy if he can come here to Orham and think that no one knows. And no one does know but you. You understand, don"t you?" she added, earnestly.
He looked a little troubled, but he nodded.
"Yes," he said, slowly. "I understand, I cal"late."
"I"m sure you do. Of course, if he should ask me point-blank if I had told any one, I should answer truthfully, tell him that I had told you and explain why I did it. And some day I shall tell him whether he asks or not. But when he first comes here I want him to be--to be--well, as nearly happy as is possible under the circ.u.mstances. I want him to meet the people here without the feeling that they know he has been--a convict, any of them. And so, unless he asks, I shall not tell him that even you know; and I am sure you will understand and not--not--"
"Not say anything when he"s around that might let the cat out of the bag. Yes, yes, I see. Well, I"ll be careful; you can count on me, Mrs. Ruth."
She looked down into his homely, earnest face. "I do," she said, simply, and went out of the room. For several minutes after she had gone Jed sat there gazing after her. Then he sighed, picked up his pencil and turned again to the drawing of the gull.
And the following evening young Phillips came. Jed, looking from his shop window, saw the depot-wagon draw up at the gate. Barbara was the first to alight. Philander Hardy came around to the back of the vehicle and would have a.s.sisted her, but she jumped down without his a.s.sistance. Then came Ruth and, after her, a slim young fellow carrying a traveling bag. It was dusk and Jed could not see his face plainly, but he fancied that he noticed a resemblance to his sister in the way he walked and the carriage of his head. The two went into the little house together and Jed returned to his lonely supper. He was a trifle blue that evening, although he probably would not have confessed it. Least of all would he have confessed the reason, which was that he was just a little jealous. He did not grudge his tenant her happiness in her brother"s return, but he could not help feeling that from that time on she would not be as intimate and confidential with him, Jed Winslow, as she had been. After this it would be to this brother of hers that she would turn for help and advice. Well, of course, that was what she should do, what any one of sense would do, but Jed was uncomfortable all the same. Also, because he was himself, he felt a sense of guilty remorse at being uncomfortable.
The next morning he was presented to the new arrival. It was Barbara who made the presentation. She came skipping into the windmill shop leading the young man by the hand.
"Uncle Jed," she said, "this is my Uncle Charlie. He"s been away and he"s come back and he"s going to work here always and live in the bank. No, I mean he"s going to work in the bank always and live-- No, I don"t, but you know what I do mean, don"t you, Uncle Jed?"