IN THE WAY OF HAPPINESS
Captain Wigmore was buried in Samson's Mill Settlement, in a little
graveyard on a spruce-sheltered slope behind the English church. A very
young parson drove thirty miles to bury him; and as a Baptist minister
had driven twenty miles for the same purpose a joint service was held.
"The old joker is safe buried, anyhow; an' I'm glad to know it," was
Timothy Fletcher's comment at the side of the grave.
"I'll never dig him up, you may be sure," said Mr. Banks.
Mr. Banks returned to New York a few days after the funeral, but not
before he had learned the date set by Nell Harley for her wedding. He
promised to be on hand to give the groom away. Timothy Fletcher bought
three big dogs for companions and continued to occupy the late captain's
house as caretaker. The dogs always slept in the same room with him and
he burned night lights by the score.
The Crown took charge of the late captain's properties and discovered
half a dozen heirs in the persons of Brazilian ladies who had considered
themselves widows for years past. The Crown had its troubles. The
Brazilian government stepped in generously to share these troubles.
Lawyers set to work in several languages and divers systems of
bookkeeping. What they made of it I don't know; but the wives were all
discredited and proven null and void--and Dr. Nash's bill remains unpaid
to this day.
Nell Harley and Reginald Rayton were married in June. Mr. Banks attended
in a frock coat and silk hat that surpassed everything present in
novelty and glory except the head-gear and coat of the groom. It was a
wonderful wedding; and to top it, the young couple set out immediately
for England to visit Reginald's people.
"That's what I call style, from first to last," said Mr. Samson. "Them's
the kind of folk I like to associate with, so long's they don't set in
to a game of cards."
Dick Goodine married Maggie Leblanc in July.
Poker is never played now in Samson's Mill Settlement. Timothy Fletcher
still lives in the house that nobody seems to own and that somehow has
been overlooked by the Crown, the Brazilian Government and the lawyers
in both languages. He works now and again for the Raytons or the
Harleys. Reginald has bought more land and built a new house and several
cottages. His farm is the largest, the best and the best-worked in the
country. Mr. Banks visits the Raytons every October, for the shooting,
and every June for the fishing.
Davy Marsh is guiding over on the Tobique now. He never comes home to
the settlement. I have heard that he is the most expensive guide on that
river--but not the best, by a long shot.
Dr. Nash is still a bachelor. He dines twice a week with the Raytons, as
a regular thing, and oftener when Mr. Banks is there. He is not a bad
sort, when you really know him well, and he knows you; but of course he
will always be something of an ass.
THE END.
* * * * *
WORKS OF Theodore Goodridge Roberts
A Captain of Raleigh's
A Cavalier of Virginia
Captain Love
Brothers of Peril
Hemming, the Adventurer
Rayton: A Backwoods Mystery
Comrades of the Trails
The Red Feathers
Flying Plover
L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.