"I don"t think I am," said the young man apologetically. "Indeed, as I am feeling far from well, I think I"ll get out and walk."
He got down--the vehicle and driver vanished in the distance. It did not surprise him. "I must collect my thoughts," he said. He did so. Possibly the collection was not large, for presently he said, with a sigh of relief:--
"I see it all now! My name is Paul Bunker. I am of the young branch of an old Quaker family, rich and respected in the country, and I am on a visit to my ancestral home. But I have lived since a child in America, and am alien to the traditions and customs of the old country, and even of the seat to which my fathers belong. I have brought with me from the far West many peculiarities of speech and thought that may startle my kinsfolk. But I certainly shall not address my uncle as "Hoss!" nor shall I say "guess" oftener than is necessary."
Much brightened and refreshed by his settled ident.i.ty, he had time, as he walked briskly along, to notice the scenery, which was certainly varied and conflicting in character, and quite inconsistent with his preconceived notions of an English landscape. On his right, a lake of the brightest cobalt blue stretched before a many-towered and terraced town, which was relieved by a background of luxuriant foliage and emerald-green mountains; on his left arose a rugged mountain, which he was surprised to see was snow-capped, albeit a tunnel was observable midway of its height, and a train just issuing from it. Almost regretting that he had not continued on his journey, as he was fully sensible that it was in some way connected with the railway he had quitted, presently his attention was directed to the gateway of a handsome park, whose mansion was faintly seen in the distance. Hurrying towards him, down the avenue of limes, was a strange figure. It was that of a man of middle age; clad in Quaker garb, yet with an extravagance of cut and detail which seemed antiquated even for England. He had evidently seen the young man approaching, and his face was beaming with welcome. If Paul had doubted that it was his uncle, the first words he spoke would have rea.s.sured him.
"Welcome to Hawthorn Hall," said the figure, grasping his hand heartily, "but thee will excuse me if I do not tarry with thee long at present, for I am hastening, even now, with some nourishing and sustaining food for Giles Hayward, a farm laborer." He pointed to a package he was carrying. "But thee will find thy cousins Jane and Dorcas Bunker taking tea in the summer-house. Go to them! Nay--positively--I may not linger, but will return to thee quickly." And, to Paul"s astonishment, he trotted away on his st.u.r.dy, respectable legs, still beaming and carrying his package in his hand.
"Well, I"ll be dog-goned! but the old man ain"t going to be left, you bet!" he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, suddenly remembering his dialect. "He"ll get there, whether school keeps or not!" Then, reflecting that no one heard him, he added simply, "He certainly was not over civil towards the nephew he has never seen before. And those girls--whom I don"t know! How very awkward!"
Nevertheless, he continued his way up the avenue towards the mansion.
The park was beautifully kept. Remembering the native wildness and virgin seclusion of the Western forest, he could not help contrasting it with the conservative gardening of this pretty woodland, every rood of which had been patrolled by keepers and rangers, and preserved and fostered hundreds of years before he was born, until warmed for human occupancy. At times the avenue was crossed by gra.s.s drives, where the original woodland had been displaced, not by the exigency of a "clearing" for tillage, as in his own West, but for the leisurely pleasure of the owner. Then, a few hundred yards from the house itself,--a quaint Jacobean mansion,--he came to an open s.p.a.ce where the sylvan landscape had yielded to floral cultivation, and so fell upon a charming summer-house, or arbor, embowered with roses. It must have been the one of which his uncle had spoken, for there, to his wondering admiration, sat two little maids before a rustic table, drinking tea demurely, yes, with all the evident delight of a childish escapade from their elders. While in the picturesque quaintness of their attire there was still a formal suggestion of the sect to which their father belonged, their summer frocks--differing in color, yet each of the same subdued tint--were alike in cut and fashion, and short enough to show their dainty feet in prim slippers and silken hose that matched their frocks. As the afternoon sun glanced through the leaves upon their pink cheeks, tied up in quaint hats by ribbons under their chins, they made a charming picture. At least Paul thought so as he advanced towards them, hat in hand. They looked up at his approach, but again cast down their eyes with demure shyness; yet he fancied that they first exchanged glances with each other, full of mischievous intelligence.
"I am your cousin Paul," he said smilingly, "though I am afraid I am introducing myself almost as briefly as your father just now excused himself to me. He told me I would find you here, but he himself was hastening on a Samaritan mission."
"With a box in his hand?" said the girls simultaneously, exchanging glances with each other again.
"With a box containing some restorative, I think," responded Paul, a little wonderingly.
"Restorative! So THAT"S what he calls it now, is it?" said one of the girls saucily. "Well, no one knows what"s in the box, though he always carries it with him. Thee never sees him without it"--
"And a roll of paper," suggested the other girl.
"Yes, a roll of paper--but one never knows what it is!" said the first speaker. "It"s very strange. But no matter now, Paul. Welcome to Hawthorn Hall. I am Jane Bunker, and this is Dorcas." She stopped, and then, looking down demurely, added, "Thee may kiss us both, cousin Paul."
The young man did not wait for a second invitation, but gently touched his lips to their soft young cheeks.
"Thee does not speak like an American, Paul. Is thee really and truly one?" continued Jane.
Paul remembered that he had forgotten his dialect, but it was too late now.
"I am really and truly one, and your own cousin, and I hope you will find me a very dear"--
"Oh!" said Dorcas, starting up primly. "You must really allow me to withdraw." To the young man"s astonishment, she seized her parasol, and, with a youthful affectation of dignity, glided from the summer-house and was lost among the trees.
"Thy declaration to me was rather sudden," said Jane quietly, in answer to his look of surprise, "and Dorcas is peculiarly sensitive and less like the "world"s people" than I am. And it was just a little cruel, considering that she has loved thee secretly all these years, followed thy fortunes in America with breathless eagerness, thrilled at thy narrow escapes, and wept at thy privations."
"But she has never seen me before!" said the astounded Paul.
"And thee had never seen me before, and yet thee has dared to propose to me five minutes after thee arrived, and in her presence."
"But, my dear girl!" expostulated Paul.
"Stand off!" she said, rapidly opening her parasol and interposing it between them. "Another step nearer--ay, even another word of endearment--and I shall be compelled--nay, forced," she added in a lower voice, "to remove this parasol, lest it should be crushed and ruined!"
"I see," he said gloomily, "you have been reading novels; but so have I, and the same ones! Nevertheless, I intended only to tell you that I hoped you would always find me a kind friend."
She shut her parasol up with a snap. "And I only intended to tell thee that my heart was given to another."
"You INTENDED--and now?"
"Is it the "kind friend" who asks?"
"If it were not?"
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Ah!"
"Oh!"
"But thee loves another?" she said, toying with her cup.
He attempted to toy with his, but broke it. A man lacks delicacy in this kind of persiflage. "You mean I am loved by another," he said bluntly.
"You dare to say that!" she said, flashing, in spite of her prim demeanor.
"No, but YOU did just now! You said your sister loved me!"
"Did I?" she said dreamily. "Dear! dear! That"s the trouble of trying to talk like Mr. Blank"s delightful dialogues. One gets so mixed!"
"Yet you will be a sister to me?" he said. ""Tis an old American joke, but "twill serve."
There was a long silence.
"Had thee not better go to sister Dorcas? She is playing with the cows,"
said Jane plaintively.
"You forget," he returned gravely, "that, on page 27 of the novel we have both read, at this point he is supposed to kiss her."
She had forgotten, but they both remembered in time. At this moment a scream came faintly from the distance. They both started, and rose.
"It is sister Dorcas," said Jane, sitting down again and pouring out another cup of tea. "I have always told her that one of those Swiss cows would hook her."
Paul stared at her with a strange revulsion of feeling. "I could save Dorcas," he muttered to himself, "in less time than it takes to describe." He paused, however, as he reflected that this would depend entirely upon the methods of the writer of this description. "I could rescue her! I have only to take the first clothes-line that I find, and with that knowledge and skill with the la.s.so which I learned in the wilds of America, I could stop the charge of the most furious ruminant.
I will!" and without another word he turned and rushed off in the direction of the sound.
He had not gone a hundred yards before he paused, a little bewildered.
To the left could still be seen the cobalt lake with the terraced background; to the right the rugged mountains. He chose the latter.
Luckily for him a cottager"s garden lay in his path, and from a line supported by a single pole depended the homely linen of the cottager. To tear these garments from the line was the work of a moment (although it represented the whole week"s washing), and hastily coiling the rope dexterously in his hand, he sped onward. Already panting with exertion and excitement, a few roods farther he was confronted with a spectacle that left him breathless.
A woman--young, robust, yet gracefully formed--was running ahead of him, driving before her with an open parasol an animal which he instantly recognized as one of that simple yet treacherous species most feared by the s.e.x--known as the "Moo Cow."