The butler came up from below, dressed for the street.
"Jarvis, put this envelope in the inside of that excellent black coat of yours and hand it--afterward--to the gentleman we"re going to do business with."
"Yes, Mr. Bines."
"And put your cravat down in the back, Jarvis--it makes you look excited the way it is now."
"Yes, sir; thank you, sir!"
"Is Briggs ready?" "She"s waiting, sir."
"Go out and get in the carriage, both of you."
"Yes, sir!"
He stood in the hallway waiting for her. It was a quarter-past ten. In another moment she rustled softly down to him.
"I"m trusting so much to you, and you"re trusting so much to me. It"s _such_ a rash step!"
"Must I--"
"No, I"m going. Couldn"t we stop and take Aunt Cornelia?"
"Aunt Cornelia won"t have a chance to worry about this until it"s all over. We"ll stop there then, if you like."
"We"ll try Doctor Prendle, then. He"s almost sure to be in."
"It won"t make any difference if he isn"t. We"ll find one. Those horses are rested. They can go all night if they must."
"I have Grandmother Loekermann"s wedding-ring--of course you didn"t fetch one. Trust a man to forget anything of importance."
His grasp of her hand during the ride did not relax.
CHAPTER XLI.
The New Argonauts
Mrs. van Geist came fl.u.s.tering out to the carriage.
"You and Briggs may get out here, Jarvis. There, that"s for you, and that"s for Briggs--and thank you both very much!"
"Child, child! what does it mean?"
"Mr. Bines is my husband, Mutterchen, and we"re leaving for the West in the morning."
The excitement did not abate for ten minutes or so. "And do say something cheerful, dear," pleaded Avice, at parting.
"You mad child--I was always afraid you might do something like this; but I _will_ say I"m not altogether _sure_ you"ve acted foolishly."
"Thank you, you dear old Mutterchen! and you"ll come to see us--you shall see how happy I can be with this--this boy--this Lochinvar, Junior--I"m sure Mrs. Lochinvar always lived happily ever after."
Mrs. Van Geist kissed them both.
"Back to Thirty-seventh Street, driver."
"I shall want you at seven-thirty sharp, to-morrow morning," he said, as they alighted. "Will you be here, sure?"
"Sure, boss!"
"You"ll make another one of those if you"re on time."
The driver faced the bill toward the nearest street-light and scanned it. Then he placed it tenderly in the lining of his hat, and said, fervently:
"I"ll _be_ here, gent!"
"My trunks," Avice reminded him.
"And, driver, send an express wagon at seven sharp. Do you understand, now?"
"Sure, gent, I"ll have it here at seven, and be here at seven-thirty."
They went in.
"You"ve sent Briggs off, and I"ve all that packing and unpacking to do."
"You have a husband who is handy at those things."
They went up to her room where two trunks yawned open.
Under her directions and with her help he took out the light summer things and replaced them with heavier gowns, stout shoes, golf-capes, and caps.
"We"ll be up on the Bitter Root ranch this summer, and you"ll need heavy things," he had told her.
Sometimes he packed clumsily, and she was obliged to do his work over.
In these intervals he studied with interest the big old room and her quaint old sampler worked in coloured worsteds that had faded to greys and dull browns: _"La Nuit Porte Conseil."_
"Grandma Loekermann did it at the convent, ages ago," she told him.
"What a cautious young thing she must have been!"
She leaned against his shoulder.
"But she eloped with her true love, young Annekje Van Schoule; left the home in Hickory Street one night, and went far away, away up beyond One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street, somewhere, and then wrote them about it."
"And left the sampler?"