You said some very mean, nasty things to me that day over there,"
indicating the thicket with a jerk of her head.
"I am glad to see that you took them to heart and have profited,"
he ventured boldly.
She hesitated, and then spoke with a frankness that shamed him.
"Yes, I did take them to heart, Kenny. I will not say that I have profited, but I"ll never make the same kind of a fool of myself again. I hated you with all my soul that day,--and for a long time afterward,--but I guess you took the right way with me, after all.
If I was fair and square, I would say that I am grateful to you.
But, you see, I am not fair and square. I am as stubborn as a mule."
"The best thing about a mule is that he takes his whalings without complaining."
She sighed. "I often wonder what a mule thinks about when he stands there without budging while some angry, infuriated man beats him until his arm gets tired."
"That"s very simple. He just goes on thinking what a fool the man is for licking a mule."
"Good! I hope you will remember that the next time you try to reason with me."
"What is it you want to say to me about Barry?" he asked, abruptly.
"Oh, there is plenty of time for that," she replied, frowning. "It will keep. How are you getting along with the house?"
"Splendidly. It was in very good order. I will be settled in a day or two and as comfortable as anything. To-night Zachariah and I are going to make a list of everything we need and to-morrow I shall start out on a purchasing tour. I intend to buy quite a lot of new furniture, things for the kitchen, carpets and--"
Viola interrupted him with an exclamation. Her eyes were shining, sparkling with eagerness.
"Oh, won"t you take me along with you? Mr. Hanna has just received a wonderful lot of things from down the river, and at Benbridge & Foster"s they have a new stock of--"
"Hurrah!" he broke in jubilantly. "It"s just what I wanted, Viola.
Now you are being a real sister to me. We will start early in the morning and--and buy out the town. Bless your heart, you"ve taken a great load off my mind. I haven"t the intelligence of a snipe when it comes to fitting up a--why, say, I tell you what I"ll do.
I will let you choose everything I need, just as if you were setting up housekeeping for yourself. Curtains, table cloths, carpets, counterpanes, china, Queensware, chairs, chests--"
"Brooms, clothes-pins, rolling-pins, skillets, dough-bowls, cutlery--"
"Bureaus, looking-gla.s.ses, wardrobe, antimaca.s.sar tidies, bedspreads, towels--"
"Oh, Kenny, what fun we"ll have," she cried. "And, first of all, you must let me come over right now and help you with your list.
I know much better than you do what you really need,--and what you don"t need. We must not spend too much money, you see."
""Gad," he gulped, "you--you talk just as if you and I were a poor, struggling young couple planning to get married."
"No, it only proves how mean and selfish I am. I am depriving your future bride of the pleasure of furnishing her own house, and that"s what all brides like better than anything. But I promise to pick out things that I know she will like. In the meantime, you will be happy in knowing that you have something handsome to tempt her with when the time comes. As soon as you are all fixed up, you must give a party. That will settle everything. They"ll all want to marry you,--and they"ll have something to remember me by when I"m gone. Come on, Kenny, let"s go in and start making the list."
She started off toward her own gate, but stopped as he called out to her.
"Wait! Are you sure your mother will approve of your--"
"Of course she will!" she flung back at him. "She doesn"t mind our being friendly. Only,"--and she came back a few steps, "I am afraid she will never be friends with you, Kenny. I am sorry."
He was silent. She waited for a moment before turning away, shaking her head slightly as if attempting to dismiss something that perplexed her sorely. There was a yearning in his eyes as they followed her down to the gate; then he shot a quick, accusing glance at the house in which his enemy lived. He saw the white curtains in the north parlor window drop into place, flutter for a second or two, and then hang perfectly still. Rachel Gwyn had been watching them.
He made no effort to hide the scowl that darkened his brow as he continued to stare resentfully at the window.
He met Viola at his own disabled gate, which cracked and shivered precariously on its rusty hinges as he jerked it open.
"I lived for nearly three years in this house, Kenny," she said as she picked her way through the weeds. "I slept on a very hard straw tick up in the attic. It was dreadfully cold in the winter time. I used to shiver all night long curled up with my knees up to my chin. And in the summer time it was so hot I slept with absolutely nothing,--" She broke off in sudden confusion. "Our new house is only about a year old," she went after a moment. Pointing, she added: "That is my bedroom window up there. You can get a glimpse of it through the trees but when the leaves are out you can"t see it at all from here."
"I shall keep an eye on that window," said he, with mock severity, "and if ever I catch you climbing down on a ladder to run away with--well, I"ll wake the dead for miles around with my yells. See to it, my dear sister, that you attempt nothing rash at the dead hour of night."
She laughed. "Have you seen our dog? I pity the valiant knight who tries to put a ladder up to my window."
They spent the better part of an hour going over the house. She was in an adorable mood. Once she paused in the middle of a sentence to ask why he was so solemn.
"Goodness me, Kenny, you look as if you had lost your very best friend. Aren"t you interested? Shall we stop?"
A feeling of utter desolation had stricken him. He was sick at heart. Every drop of blood in his body was crying out for her.
Small wonder that despair filled his soul and lurked in his gloomy, disconsolate eyes. She had removed her bonnet. If he had thought her beautiful on that memorable night at Striker"s he now realized that his first impression was hopelessly inadequate. Her eyes, dancing with eagerness, no longer reflected the disdain and suspicion with which she had regarded him on that former occasion. Her smile was frank and warm and joyous. He saw her now as she really was, incomparably sweet and charming--and so his heart was sick.
"I wouldn"t stop for the world," he exclaimed, making a determined effort to banish the tell-tale misery from his eyes.
"I know!" she cried, after a searching look into his eyes. "You are in love with some one, Kenny, and you are wishing that she were here in my place, helping you to plan the--"
"Nonsense," he broke in gruffly. "Put that out of your head, Viola.
I tell you there is no--er--no such girl."
"Then," she said darkly, "it must be the dreadful extravagance I am leading you into. Goodness, when I look at this list, I realize what a lot of money it is going to take to--"
"We"re not half through," he said, "and I am not thinking of the expense. I am delighted with everything you have suggested. I shudder when I think how helpless I should have been without you.
Didn"t I tell you in the beginning that I wanted you to fix this house up just as if you were planning to live in it yourself? Put down all the things you would most like to have, Viola, and--and--well, confound the expense. Come along! We"re losing time. Did you jot down that last thing we were talking about? That--er--that--" He paused, wrinkling his forehead.
"I don"t believe you have been paying any attention to what--Now, tell me, what WAS the last thing we were talking about?"
He squinted hard at the little blank book in her hand. She closed it with a snap.
"Have you got it down?" he demanded severely.
"I have."
"Then, there"s no use worrying about it," he said, with great satisfaction. "Now, let me see: don"t you think I ought to have a clock for the mantelpiece?"
"I put that down half an hour ago," she said. "The big gold French clock I was telling you about."
"That"s so. The one you like so well down at Currie"s."
They proceeded. He had followed about, carrying the ink pot into which she frequently dipped the big quill pen. She overlooked nothing in the scantily furnished house. She even went so far as to timidly suggest that certain articles of furniture might well be replaced by more attractive ones, and he had promptly agreed.
At last she announced that she must go home.
"If you buy all the things we have put down here, Kenny, you will have the loveliest house in Lafayette. My, how I shall envy you!"
"I have a feeling I shall be very lonely--amidst all this splendour,"