There was nothing more said about it at the time and my passengers talked of other things as we sailed home before the fast dying breeze.It died almost altogether as we passed the lighthouse at Crow Point and entered the bay and, for an hour, we barely held our own against the tide.The sun set, twilight came, and the stars appeared one by one.Colton, lying at full length on the deck forward of the cockpit, smoked in lazy enjoyment.His only remark in ten minutes was to the effect that his wife had probably drowned us all, in her mind, a dozen times over by now.
His daughter, sitting by the rail and looking out over the smooth, darkly glimmering water, bade him be quiet.
"You must not talk," she said."This is the most wonderful night Iever experienced.How still it is! You can hear every sound.
Hark!"
From the dusk, to port, came the clear strokes of a church bell striking eight.
"That is the clock at the Methodist Church, isn't it?" asked Miss Colton.
"Yes," said I.
"The church where the strawberry festival was held?""Yes."
Colton struck a match to relight his cigar.
"Shouldn't think that would be a pleasant reminder to either of you," he observed."I am mighty sure it wasn't to me."Miss Colton did not answer, nor did I.
The breeze sprang up again soon after, from a different quarter this time, but the tide had ebbed so far that I was obliged to make the detour around the end of the flat upon which Victor had grounded the dingy."Big Jim" raised himself on his elbow.
"Hello!" he exclaimed, "here's another joyful spot.Mabel, it was along here somewhere that Paine acquired the habit of carrying you about like a bundle.It must have been a picturesque performance.
Wish I might have seen it."
He laughed heartily.
"Father," said the young lady, coldly, "don't be silly--please."He chuckled and lay down again, and no one spoke during the rest of the voyage.It was after nine when I brought the boat up to the wharf, made her fast, and lowered and furled the sail.
"Better come up to the house with us and have a bit to eat, Paine,"urged Colton."You must be hungry; I know I am.""Oh, no, thank you," said I."Supper will be waiting for me at home.""Glad to have you, if you'll come.Tell him to come, Mabel."Miss Colton's invitation was not over-cordial.
"I presume Mr.Paine knows what is best for him to do," she said.
"Of course we shall be glad to have him, if he will come."I declined, and, after thanking me for the sail and the pleasure of the fishing trip, they left me, Colton carrying his big squiteague by the gills, its tail slapping his leg as he climbed the bluff.Amoment later I followed.
The night was, as my feminine passenger had said, wonderfully quiet, and sounds carried a long way.As I reached the juncture of the path and the Lane I heard a voice which I recognized as Mrs.
Colton's.She was evidently standing on the veranda of the big house and I heard every word distinctly.
"You are so unthinking, James! You and Mabel have no regard for my feelings at all.I have been worried almost to death.Do you realize the time? I warned you against trusting yourself to the care of that common FELLOW--"The "fellow" heard no more.He did not wish to.He was tramping heavily through the dew-soaked undergrowth.He needed now no counsel against "playing with fire." The cutting contempt of Mrs.
James W.Colton's remark was fire-extinguisher sufficient for that night.
Miss Colton and I met again at the door of the bank a day or two later, just at closing time.Sam Wheeler had already gone and Ileft George at his desk, poring over papers and busily figuring.
He was working over time much of late and explained his industry by the fact of his approaching marriage and his desire to make things easy for me to handle while he was on his brief wedding trip.Iwas not much alarmed by the prospect.He was to be gone but a week and I had become sufficiently familiar with the routine to feel confident in assuming the responsibility.Small, my predecessor, had a brother who had formerly been employed in the bank and was now out of work, and he was coming in to help during the cashier's absence.I was not worried by the prospect of being left in charge, but I was worried about George.He, so it seemed to me, had grown pale and thin.Also he was nervously irritable and not at all like his usual good-natured self.I tried to joke him into better humor, but he did not respond to my jokes.He seemed, too, to realize that his odd behavior was noticeable, for he said:
1
Don't let my meanness trouble you; it isn't worth trouble."I laughed."George," I said, "if I ever dreamed of such a thing as getting married myself, you would scare me out of it.You ought to be a happy man, and act like one; instead you act as if you were about to be jailed."He caught his breath with a sort of gasp.Then, after a pause and without looking up, he asked slowly:
"Jailed? What in the world made you say that, Ros?""I said it because you act as if you were bound for state's prison instead of the matrimonial altar.George, what IS troubling you?""Troubling me? Why--why, nothing special, of course.Catching up with my work here makes me nervous and--and kind of absent-minded, I guess.Act absent-minded, don't I?"He did, there was no doubt of that, but I did not believe it was his work which caused the absent-mindedness.
"If there is any trouble, George," I said, earnestly; "if you're in any difficulty, personally, I shall be very glad to help you, if Ican.I mean that."
For a moment I thought he hesitated.Then he shook his head.
"I know you mean it, Ros," he answered."I'm much obliged to you, too.But there's nothing to help me with.I'm just nervous and tired, that's all."I did not believe it, but I felt that I had said all I could, considering his attitude.I bade him good night and left the building.As I came down the steps Miss Colton was just crossing the road from Eldredge's store, a good sized brown paper parcel in her hand.
