Mr. Winslow stirred uneasily in his chair. "Now, Phin," he protested, "seems to me--"
But Babbitt was too excited to heed. His little eyes snapped and his bristling beard quivered.
"You hold your horses, Shavin"s," he ordered. "I didn"t come here to listen to you. I came because I had somethin" to say and when I"ve said it I"m goin" and goin" quick. My boy"s been home. You knew that, I suppose, didn"t you?"
Jed nodded. "Yes," he said, "I knew Leander"d come home for Thanksgivin"."
"Oh, you did! He came here to this shop to see you, maybe? Humph!
I"ll bet he did, the poor fool!"
Again Jed shifted his position. His hands clasped about his knee and his foot lifted from the floor.
"There, there, Phin," he said gently; "after all, he"s your only son, you know."
"I know it. But he"s a fool just the same."
"Now, Phin! The boy"ll be goin" to war pretty soon, you know, and--"
Babbitt sprang to his feet. His chin trembled so that he could scarcely speak.
"Shut up!" he snarled. "Don"t let me hear you say that again, Jed Winslow. Who sent him to war? Who filled his head full of rubbish about patriotism, and duty to the country, and all the rest of the rotten Wall Street stuff? Who put my boy up to enlistin", Jed Winslow?"
Jed"s foot swung slowly back and forth.
"Well, Phin," he drawled, "to be real honest, I think he put himself up to it."
"You"re a liar. YOU did it."
Jed sighed. "Did Leander tell you I did?" he asked.
"No," mockingly, "Leander didn"t tell me. You and Sam Hunniwell and the rest of the gang have fixed him so he don"t come to his father to tell things any longer. But he told his step-mother this very mornin" and she told me. You was the one that advised him to enlist, he said. Good Lord; think of it! He don"t go to his own father for advice; he goes to the town jacka.s.s instead, the critter that spends his time whittlin" out young-one"s playthings. My Lord A"mighty!"
He spat on the floor to emphasize his disgust. There was an interval of silence before Jed answered.
"Well, Phin," he said, slowly, "you"re right, in a way. Leander and I have always been pretty good friends and he"s been in the habit of droppin" in here to talk things over with me. When he came to me to ask what he ought to do about enlistin", asked what I"d do if I was he, I told him; that"s all there was to it."
Babbitt extended a shaking forefinger.
"Yes, and you told him to go to war. Don"t lie out of it now; you know you did."
"Um . . . yes . . . I did."
"You did? You DID? And you have the cheek to own up to it right afore my face."
Jed"s hand stroked his chin. "W-e-e-ll," he drawled, "you just ordered me not to lie out of it, you know. Leander asked me right up and down if I wouldn"t enlist if I was in his position.
Naturally, I said I would."
"Yes, you did. And you knew all the time how I felt about it, you SNEAK."
Jed"s foot slowly sank to the floor and just as slowly he hoisted himself from the chair.
"Phin," he said, with deliberate mildness, "is there anything else you"d like to ask me? "Cause if there isn"t, maybe you"d better run along."
"You sneakin" coward!"
"Er--er--now--now, Phin, you didn"t understand. I said "ask" me, not "call" me."
"No, I didn"t come here to ask you anything. I came here and waited here so"s to be able to tell you somethin". And that is that I know now that you"re responsible for my son--my only boy, the boy I"d depended on--and--and--"
The fierce little man was, for the moment, close to breaking down.
Jed"s heart softened; he felt almost conscience-stricken.
"I"m sorry for you, Phineas," he said. "I know how hard it must be for you. Leander realized it, too. He--"
"Shut up! Shavin"s, you listen to me. I don"t forget. All my life I"ve never forgot. And I ain"t never missed gettin" square.
I can wait, just as I waited here in the dark over an hour so"s to say this to you. I"ll get square with you just as I"ll get square with Sam Hunniwell. . . . That"s all. . . . That"s all. . . .
d.a.m.n YOU!"
He stamped from the room and Jed heard him stumbling through the littered darkness of the shops on his way to the front door, kicking at the obstacles he tripped over and swearing and sobbing as he went. It was ridiculous enough, of course, but Jed did not feel like smiling. The bitterness of the little man"s final curse was not humorous. Neither was the heartbreak in his tone when he spoke of his boy. Jed felt no self-reproach; he had advised Leander just as he might have advised his own son had his life been like other men"s lives, normal men who had married and possessed sons. He had no sympathy for Phineas Babbitt"s vindictive hatred of all those more fortunate than he or who opposed him, or for his silly and selfish ideas concerning the war. But he did pity him; he pitied him profoundly.
Babbitt had left the front door open in his emotional departure and Jed followed to close it. Before doing so he stepped out into the yard.
It was pitch dark now and still. He could hear the footsteps of his recent visitor pounding up the road, and the splashy grumble of the surf on the bar was unusually audible. He stood for a moment looking up at the black sky, with the few stars shining between the cloud blotches. Then he turned and looked at the little house next door.
The windows of the sitting-room were alight and the shades drawn.
At one window he saw Charles Phillips" silhouette; he was reading, apparently. Across the other shade Ruth"s dainty profile came and went. Jed looked and looked. He saw her turn and speak to some one. Then another shadow crossed the window, the shadow of Major Grover. Evidently the major had not gone home at once as he had told Jed he intended doing, plainly he had been persuaded to enter the Armstrong house and make Charlie and his sister a short call.
This was Jed"s estimate of the situation, his sole speculation concerning it and its probabilities.
And yet Mr. Gabe Bea.r.s.e, had he seen the major"s shadow upon the Armstrong window curtain, might have speculated much.
CHAPTER XV
The pity which Jed felt for Phineas Babbitt caused him to keep silent concerning his Thanksgiving evening interview with the hardware dealer. At first he was inclined to tell Major Grover of Babbitt"s expressions concerning the war and his son"s enlistment.
After reflection, however, he decided not to do so. The Winslow charity was wide enough to cover a mult.i.tude of other people"s sins and it covered those of Phineas. The latter was to be pitied; as to fearing him, as a consequence of his threat to "get square," Jed never thought of such a thing. If he felt any anxiety at all in the matter it was a trifling uneasiness because his friends, the Hunniwells and the Armstrongs, were included in the threat. But he was inclined to consider Mr. Babbitt"s wrath as he had once estimated the speech of a certain Ostable candidate for political office, to be "like a tumbler of plain sody water, mostly fizz and froth and nothin" very substantial or fillin"." He did not tell Grover of the interview in the shop; he told no one, not even Ruth Armstrong.
The--to him, at least--delightful friendship and intimacy between himself and his friends and tenants continued. He and Charlie Phillips came to know each other better and better. Charles was now almost as confidential concerning his personal affairs as his sister had been and continued to be.
"It"s surprising how I come in here and tell you all my private business, Jed," he said, laughing. "I don"t go about shouting my joys and troubles in everybody"s ear like this. Why do I do it to you?"
Jed stopped a dismal whistle in the middle of a bar.
"W-e-e-ll," he drawled, "I don"t know. When I was a young-one I used to like to holler out back of Uncle Laban Ryder"s barn so"s to hear the echo. When you say so and so, Charlie, I generally agree with you. Maybe you come here to get an echo; eh?"
Phillips laughed. "You"re not fair to yourself," he said. "I generally find when the echo in here says no after I"ve said yes it pays me to pay attention to it. Sis says the same thing about you, Jed."
Jed made no comment, but his eyes shone. Charles went on.