Intruders of all kinds had thrust their heads between the dripping,
slightly moist, and wholly dry installments of Aunt Jemima's Monday
wash, and each and every one had been assailed by a vocabulary hurled
at them through the creaky gate, and as far out as the street--peddlers;
beggars; tramps; loose darkies with no visible means of support, who
had smelt the cooking in the air--even goats with an acquired taste for
stocking legs and window curtains--all of whom had either been invited
out, whirled out, or thrown out, dependent upon the damage inflicted,
the size of the favors asked, or the length of space intervening between
Jemima's right arm and their backs. In all of these instances the old
cook had been the broom and the intruders the dust. Being an expert in
its use the intruders had succumbed before they had gotten through their
first sentence. In the case of the goat even that privilege was denied
him; it was the handle and not the brush-part which ended the argument.
To see Aunt Jemima get rid of a goat in one whack and two jumps was
not only a lesson in condensed conversation, but furnished a sight one
rarely forgot--the goat never!
This morning the situation was reversed. It was Aunt Jemima who came
flying upstairs, her eyes popping from her head, her plump hands
flattened against her big, heaving bosom, her breath gone in the effort
to tell her dreadful news before she should drop dead.
“Marse George! who d'ye think's downstairs?” she gasped, bursting in the
door of his bedroom, without even the customary tap. “Oh, bless Gawd!
dat you'se outen dat bed! and dressed and tryin' yo' po' legs about the
room. He's comin' up. Got a man wid him I ain't neber see befo'. Says
he's a-lookin' fer somebody! Git in de closet an' I'll tell him you'se
out an' den I'll run an' watch for Marse Harry at de gate. Oh, I doan'
like dis yere bus'ness,” and she began to wring her hands.
St. George, who had been listening to the old woman with mingled
feelings of wonder and curiosity, raised his hand to silence her.
Whether she had gone daft or was more than usually excited he could not
for the moment decide.
“Get your breath, Jemima, and tell me what you're talking about. Who's
downstairs?”
“Ain't I jes' don' tol' yer? Got a look on him make ye shiver all over;
says he's gwineter s'arch de house. He's got a constable wid him--dat
is, he's got a man dat looks like a constable, an'--”
St. George laid his hands on the old woman's shoulders, and turned her
about.
“Hush your racket this instant, and tell me who is downstairs?”
“Marse Talbot Rutter,” she wheezed; “come f'om de country--got mud all
ober his boots.”
“Mr. Harry's father?”
Aunt Jemima choked and nodded: there was no breath left for more.
“Who did he ask for?” St. George was calm enough now.
“Didn't ask fer nobody; he say, 'I'm lookin' fer a man dat come in yere
las' night.' I see he didn't know me an' I neber let on. Den he say,
'Hab you got any boa'ders yere?' an' I say, 'I got one,' an' den he
'tempted ter pass me an' I say, 'Wait a minute 'til I see ef he's outen
de bed.' Now, what's I gwineter do? He doan' mean no good to Marse Harry
an' he'll dribe him 'way ag'in, an' he jes' come back an' you gittin'
well a-lovin' of him--an'--”
An uncertain step was heard in the hall.
“Dat's him,” Jemima whispered hoarsely, behind her hand, “what'll I do?
Doan' let him come in. I'll--”
St. George moved past her and pushed back the door.
Colonel Rutter stood outside.
The two men looked into each other's faces.
“I am in search, sir,” the colonel began, shading his eyes with his
fingers, the brighter light of the room weakening his sight, “for a
young sailor whom I am informed stopped here last night, and who... ST.
GEORGE! What in the name of God are you doing in a place like this?”
“Come inside, Talbot,” Temple replied calmly, his eyes fixed on Rutter's
drawn face and faltering gaze. “Aunt Jemima, hand Colonel Rutter a
chair. You will excuse me if I sit down--I am just out of bed after
a long illness, and am a little weak,” and he settled slowly into his
seat. “My servant tells me that you are looking for a--”
St. George paused. Rutter was paying no more attention to what he said
than if he had been in the next room. He was straining his eyes about
the apartment; taking in the empty bed from which St. George had just
arisen, the cheap chairs and small pine table and the kitchen plates and
cup which still held the remains of St. George's breakfast. He waited
until Jemima had backed out of the door, her scared face still a tangle
of emotions--fear for her master's safety uppermost. His eyes again
veered to St. George.
“What does it all mean, Temple?” he asked in a dazed way.
“I don't think that subject is under discussion, Talbot, and we will,
therefore, pass it. To what do I owe the honor of this visit?”
“Don't be a damned fool, St. George! Don't you see I'm half crazy? Harry
has come back and he is hiding somewhere in this neighborhood.”
“How do you know?” he inquired coolly. He did not intend to help Rutter
one iota in his search until he found out why he wanted Harry. No more
cursing of either his son or himself--that was another chapter which was
closed.
“Because I've been hunting for him all day. He rode out to Moorlands
yesterday, and I didn't know him, he's so changed. But think of it! St.
George, I ordered him out of my office. I took him for a road-peddler.
And he's going to sea again--he told Alec as much. I tell you I have got
to get hold of him! Don't sit there and stare at me, man! tell me where
I can find my son!”
“What made you suppose he was here, Talbot?” The same cool, measured
speech and manner, but with a more open mind behind it now. The pathetic
aspect of the man, and the acute suffering shown in every tone of his
voice, had begun to tell upon the invalid.
“Because a man I've got downstairs brought Harry here last night. He is
not positive, as it was quite dark, but he thinks this is the place.
I went first to the Barkeley Line, found they had a ship in--the
Mohican--and saw the captain, who told me of a man who came aboard at
Rio. Then I learned where he had put up for the night--a low sailors'
retreat--and found this peddler who said he had sold Harry the silks
which he offered me. He brought me here.”
“Well, I can't help you any. There are only two rooms--I occupy this and
my old cook, Jemima, has the other. I have been here for over a month.”
“Here! in this God-forsaken place! Why, we thought you had gone to
Virginia. That's why we have had no answers to our letters, and we've
hunted high and low for you. Certainly you have heard about the Patapsco
and what--”
“I certainly have heard nothing, Talbot, and as I have just told you,
I'd rather you would not discuss my affairs. The last time you saw
fit to encroach upon them brought only bitterness, and I prefer not to
repeat it. Anything you have to say about Harry I will gladly hear. Go
on--I'm listening.”
“For God's sake, St. George, don't take that tone with me! If you knew
how wretched I am you'd be sorry for me. I am a broken-down man! If
Harry goes away again without my seeing him I don't want to live another
day. When Alec came running back last night and told me that I had
cursed my son to his face, I nearly went out of my mind. I knew when I
saw Alec's anger that it was true, and I knew, too, what a brute I had
been. I ran to Annie's room, took her in my arms, and asked her pardon.
All night I walked my room; at daylight I rang for Alec, sent for
Matthew, and he hooked up the carryall and we came in here. Annie wanted
to come with me, but I wouldn't let her. I knew Seymour wasn't out
of bed that early, and so I drove straight to the shipping office and
waited until it was open, and I've been hunting for him ever since. You
and I have been boys together, St. George--don't lay up against me all
the insulting things I've said to you--all the harm I've done you! God
knows I've repented of it! Will you forgive me, St. George, for the sake
of the old days--for the sake of my boy to whom you have been a father?
Will you give me your hand? What in the name of common sense should
you and I be enemies for? I, who owe you more than I owe any man in the
world! Will you help me?”
St. George was staring now. He bent forward, gripped the arms of his
chair for a better purchase, and lifted himself to his feet. There he
stood swaying, Rutter's outstretched hand in both of his, his whole
nature stirred--only one thought in his heart--to wipe out the past and
bring father and son together.
“Yes, Talbot--I'll forgive you and I'll help you--I have helped you!
Harry will be here in a few minutes--I sent him out to get his beard
shaved off--that's why you didn't know him.”
The colonel reeled and but for St. George's hand would have lost his
balance. All the blood was gone from his cheeks. He tried to speak, but
the lips refused to move. For an instant St. George thought he would
sink to the floor.
“You say--Harry... is here!” he stammered out at last, catching wildly
at Temple's other hand to steady himself.
“Yes, he came across Todd by the merest accident or he would have gone
to the Eastern Shore to look me up. Listen!--that's his step now! Turn
that door knob and hold out your hands to him, and after you've got your
arms around him get down on your knees and thank your God that you've
got such a son! I do, every hour I live!”
The door swung wide and Harry strode in: his eyes glistening, his cheeks
aglow.
“Up, are you, and in your clothes!” he cried joyfully, all the freshness
of the morning in his voice. “Well, that's something like! How do you
like me now?--smooth as a marlinspike and my hair trimmed in the latest
fashion, so old Bones says. He didn't know me either till he got clear
down below my mouth and when my chin began to show he gave a--”
He stopped and stared at his father, who had been hidden from sight by
the swinging door. The surprise was so great that his voice clogged in
his throat. Rutter stood like one who had seen an apparition.
St. George broke the silence:
“It's all right, Harry--give your father your hand.”
The colonel made a step forward, threw out one arm as if to regain his
equilibrium and swayed toward a chair, his frame shaking convulsively,
wholly unstrung, sobbing like a child. Harry sprang to catch him and
the two sank down together--no word of comfort--only the mute appeal of
touch--the brown hand wet with his father's tears.
For some seconds neither spoke, then Rutter raised his head and looked
into his son's face.
“I didn't know it was you, Harry. I have been hunting you all day to ask
your pardon.” It was the memory of the last indignity he had heaped upon
him that tortured him.
“I knew you didn't, father.”
“Don't go away again, Harry, please don't, my son!” he pleaded,
strangling the tears, trying to regain his self-control--tears had often
of late moistened Rutter's lids. “Your mother can't stand it another
year, and I'm breaking up--half blind. You won't go, will you?”
“No--not right away, father--we'll talk of that later.” He was still in
the dark as to how it had come about. All he knew was that for the first
time in all his life his father had asked his pardon, and for the first
time in his life the barrier which held them apart had been broken down.
The colonel braced himself in his seat in one supreme effort to get
himself in hand. One of his boasts was that he had never lost his
self-control. Harry rose to his feet and stood beside him. St. George,
trembling from his own weakness, a great throb of thankfulness in his
heart, had kept his place in his chair, his eyes turned away from the
scene. His own mind had also undergone a change. He had always known
that somewhere down in Talbot Rutter's heart--down underneath the
strata of pride and love of power, there could be found the heart of
a father--indeed he had often predicted to himself just such a coming
together. It was the boy's pluck and manliness that had done it; a
manliness free from all truckling or cringing. And then his tenderness
over the man who had of all others in the world wronged him most! He
could hardly keep his glad hands off the boy.
“You will go home with me, of course, won't you, Harry?” He must ask
his consent now--this son of his whom he had driven from his home and
insulted in the presence of his friends at the club, and whom he could
see was now absolutely independent of him--and what was more to the
point absolutely his own master.
“Yes, of course, I'll go home with you, father,” came the respectful
answer, “if mother isn't coming in. Did she or Alec say anything to you
about it before you left?”
“No, she isn't coming in to-day--I wouldn't let her. It was too early
when I started. But that's not what I mean,” he went on with increasing
excitement. “I want you to go home with me and stay forever; I want to
forget the past; I want St. George to hear me say so! Come and take your
place at the head of the estate--I will have Gorsuch arrange the papers
to-morrow. You and St. George must go back with me to-day. I have the
large carryall--Matthew is with me--he stopped at the corner--he's there
now.”
“That's very kind of you, father,” Harry rejoined calmly, concealing as
best he could his disappointment at not being able to see his mother.
“Yes! of course you will go with me,” his father continued in nervous,
jerky tones. “Please send the servant for Matthew, my coachman, and have
him drive up. As for you, St. George, you can't stay here another hour.
How you ever got here is more than I can understand. Moorlands is the
place for you both--you'll get well there. My carriage is a very easy
one. Perhaps I had better go for Matthew myself.”
“No, don't move, Talbot,” rejoined St. George in a calm firm voice
wondering at Talbot's manner. He had never seen him like this. All
his old-time measured talk and manner were gone; he was like some
breathless, hunted man pleading for his life. “I'm very grateful to you
but I shall stay here. Harry, will you kindly go for Matthew?”
“Stay here!--for how long?” cried the colonel in astonishment, his
glance following Harry as he left the room in obedience to his uncle's
request.
“Well, perhaps for the balance of the winter.”
“In this hole?” His voice had grown stronger.
“Certainly, why not?” replied St. George simply, moving his chair so
that his guest might see him the better. “My servants are taking care of
me. I can pay my way here, and it's about the only place in which I can
pay it, and I want to tell you frankly, Talbot, that I am very happy to
be here--am very glad, really, to get such a place. No one could be more
devoted than my Todd and Jemima--I shall never forget their kindness.”
“But you're not a pauper?” cried the colonel in some heat.
“That was what you were once good enough to call me--the last time
we met. The only change is that then I owed Pawson and that now I owe
Todd,” he replied, trying to repress a smile, as if the humor of the
situation would overcome him if he was not careful. “Thank you very
much, Talbot--and I mean every word of it--but I'll stay where I am, at
least for the present.”
“But the bank is on its legs again,” rebounded the colonel, ignoring all
reference to the past, his voice gaining in volume.
“So am I,” laughed St. George, tapping his lean thighs with his
transparent fingers--“on a very shaky pair of legs--so shaky that I
shall have to go to bed again pretty soon.”
“But you're coming out all right, St. George!” Rutter had squared
himself in his chair and was now looking straight at his host. “Gorsuch
has written you half a dozen letters about it and not a word from you
in reply. Now I see why. But all that will come out in time, I tell you.
You're not going to stay here for an hour longer.” His old personality
was beginning to assert itself.
“The future doesn't interest me, Talbot,” smiled St. George in perfect
good humor. “In my experience my future has always been worse than my
past.”
“But that is no reason why you shouldn't go home with me now and let us
take care of you,” Rutter cried in a still more positive tone. “Annie
will be delighted. Stay a month with me--stay a year. After what I owe
you, St. George, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you.”
“You have already done it, Talbot--every obligation is wiped out,”
rejoined St. George in a satisfied tone.
“How?”
“By coming here and asking Harry's pardon--that is more to me than all
the things I have ever possessed,” and his voice broke as he thought
of the change that had taken place in Harry's fortunes in the last half
hour.
“Then come out to Moorlands and let me prove it!” exclaimed the colonel,
leaning forward in his eagerness and grasping St. George by the sleeve.
“No,” replied St. George in appreciative but positive tones--showing his
mind was fully made up. “If I go anywhere I'll go back to my house on
Kennedy Square--that is to the little of it that is still mine. I'll
stay there for a day or two, to please Harry--or until they turn me out
again, and then I'll come back here. Change of air may do me good, and
besides, Jemima and Todd should get a rest.”
The colonel rose to his feet: “You shall do no such thing!” he exploded.
The old dominating air was in full swing now. “I tell you you WILL come
with me! Damn you, St. George!--if you don't I'll never speak to you
again, so help me, God!”
St. George threw back his head and burst into a roar of laughter in
which, after a moment of angry hesitation, Rutter joined. Then he
reached down and with his hand on St. George's shoulder, said in a
coaxing tone--“Come along to Moorlands, old fellow--I'd be so glad to
have you, and so will Annie, and we'll live over the old days.”
Harry's re-entrance cut short the answer.
“No father,” he cried cheerily, taking up the refrain. He had seen the
friendly caress and had heard the last sentence. “Uncle George is still
too ill, and too weak for so long a drive. It's only the excitement over
my return that keeps him up now--and he'll collapse if we don't look
out--but he'll collapse in a better place than this!” he added with
joyous emphasis. “Todd is outside, the hack is at the gate, and Jemima
is now waiting for him in his old room at home. Give me your arm, you
blessed old cripple, and let me help you downstairs. Out of the way,
father, or he'll change his mind and I'll have to pick him up bodily and
carry him.”
St. George shot a merry glance at Harry from under his eyebrows, and
with a wave of his hand and a deprecating shake of his head at the
colonel said:
“These rovers and freebooters, Talbot, have so lorded it over their
serfs that they've lost all respect for their betters. Give me your
hand, you vagabond, and if you break my neck I'll make you bury me.”
The colonel looked on silently and a sharp pain gripped his throat.
When, in all his life, had he ever been spoken to by his boy in that
spirit, and when in all his life had he ever seen that same tenderness
in Harry's eyes? What had he not missed?
“Harry, may I make a suggestion?” he asked almost apologetically. The
young fellow turned his head in respectful attention: “Put St. George in
my carriage--it is much more comfortable--and let me drive him home--my
eyes are quite good in the daytime, after I get used to the light, and
I am still able to take the road. Then put your servant and mine in the
hack with St. George's and your own luggage.”
“Capital idea!” cried Harry enthusiastically “I never thought of it!
Attention company! Eyes to the front, Mr. Temple! You'll now remain on
waiting orders until I give you permission to move, and as this may take
some time--please hold on to him, father, until I get his chair” (they
were already out on the landing--on the very plank where Harry had
passed the night) “you'll go back to your quarters... Here sir, these
are your quarters,” and Harry dragged the chair into position with his
foot. “Down with you... that's it... and you will stay here until the
baggage and hospital train arrives, when you'll occupy a front seat in
the van--and there will be no grumbling or lagging behind of any kind,
remember, or you'll get ten days in the calaboose!”
Pawson was on the curbstone, his face shining, his semaphore arms and
legs in action, his eyes searching the distance, when the two vehicles
came in sight. He had heard the day boat was very late, and as there
had been a heavy fog over night, did not worry about the delay in their
arrival.
What troubled him more was the change in Mr. Temple's appearance. He had
gone away ruddy, erect, full of vigor and health, and here he was being
helped out of the carriage, pale, shriveled, his eyes deep set in his
head. His voice, though, was still strong if his legs were shaky, and
there seemed also to be no diminution in the flow of his spirits. Wesley
had kept that part of him intact whatever changes the climate had made.
“Ah, Pawson--glad to see you!” the invalid called gaily extending
his hand as soon as he stood erect on the sidewalk. “Back again, you
see--these old derelicts bob up once in a while when you least expect
them.” And he wrung his hand heartily. “So the vultures, it seems, have
not turned up yet and made their roost in my nest. Most kind of you to
stay home and give up your business to meet me! You know Colonel Talbot
Rutter, of Moorlands, I presume, and Mr. Harry Rutter--Of course you do!
Harry has told me all about your midnight meeting when you took him
for a constable, and he took you for a thief. No--please don't laugh,
Pawson--Mr. Rutter is the worst kind of a thief. Not only has he stolen
my heart because of his goodness to me, but he threatens to make off
with my body. Give me your hand, Todd. Now a little lift on that rickety
elbow and I reckon we can make that flight of steps. I have come down
them so many times of late with no expectation of ever mounting them
again that it will be a novelty to be sure of staying over night. Come
in, Talbot, and see the home of my ancestors. I am sorry the Black
Warrior is all gone--I sent Kennedy the last bottle some time ago--pity
that vintage didn't last forever. Do you know, Talbot, if I had my way,
I'd have a special spigot put in the City Spring labelled 'Gift of a
once prominent citizen,' and supply the inhabitants with 1810--something
fit for a gentleman to drink.”
They were all laughing now; the colonel carrying the pillows Todd had
tucked behind the invalid's back, Harry a few toilet articles wrapped
in paper, and Matthew his cane--and so the cortege crawled up the steps,
crossed the dismantled dining-room--the colonel aghast at the change
made in its interior since last he saw it--and so on to St. George's
room where Todd and Jemima put him to bed.
His uncle taken care of--(his father had kept on to Moorlands to tell
his mother the good news)--Harry mounted the stairs to his old room,
which Pawson had generously vacated.
The appointments were about the same as when he left; time and poverty
had wrought but few changes. Pawson, had moved in a few books and there
was a night table beside the small bed with a lamp on it, showing that
he read late; but the bureau and shabby arm-chair, and the closet,
stripped now of the young attorney's clothes to make room for the
wanderer's--(a scant, sorry lot)--were pretty much the same as Harry had
found on that eventful night when he had driven in through the rain and
storm beside his Uncle George, his father's anathemas ringing in his
ears.
Unconsciously his mind went back to the events of the day;--more
especially to his uncle's wonderful vitality and the blissful change
his own home-coming had wrought not only in his physique, but in his
spirits. Then his father's shattered form, haggard face, and uncertain
glance rose before him, and with it came the recollection of all that
had happened during the previous hours: his father's brutal outburst
in the small office and the marvellous effect produced upon him when he
learned the truth from Alec's lips; his hurried departure in the gray
dawn for the ship and his tracing him to Jemima's house. More amazing
still was his present bearing toward himself and St. George; his
deference to their wishes and his willingness to follow and not lead.
Was it his ill-health that had brought about this astounding reformation
in a man who brooked no opposition?--or had his heart really softened
toward him so that from this on he could again call him father in the
full meaning of the term? At this a sudden, acute pain wrenched his
heart. Perhaps he had not been glad enough to see him--perhaps in his
anxiety over his uncle he had failed in those little tendernesses which
a returned prodigal should have shown the father who had held out his
arms and asked his forgiveness. Why was he not more affected by the
sight of his suffering. When he first saw his uncle he had not been able
to keep the tears back--and yet his eyes were dry enough when he saw his
father. At this he fell to wondering as to the present condition of the
colonel's mind. What was he thinking of in that lonely drive. He must
be nearing Moorlands by this time and Alec would meet him, and later the
dear mother--and the whole story would be told. He could see her glad
face--her eyes streaming tears, her heart throbbing with the joy of his
return.
And it is a great pity he could not have thus looked in upon the
autocrat of Moorlands as he sat hunched up on the back seat of the
carryall, his head bowed, the only spoken words being Matthew's cheery
hastening of his horses. And it is even a greater pity that the son
could not have searched as well the secret places of the man's heart:
such clearings out of doubts and misgivings make for peace and good
fellowship and righteousness in this world of misunderstanding.
That a certain rest had come into Rutter's soul could be seen in his
face--a peace that had not settled on his features for years--but, if
the truth must be told, he was far from happy. Somehow the joy he had
anticipated at the boy's home-coming had not been realized. With the
warmth of Harry's grasp still lingering in his own and the tones of his
voice still sounding in his ears, try as he might, he yet felt aloof
from him--outside--far off. Something had snapped in the years they had
been apart--something he knew could never be repaired. Where there had
once been boyish love there was now only filial regard. Down in his
secret soul he felt it--down in his secret soul he knew it! Worse than
that--another had replaced him! “Come, you dear old cripple!”--he could
hear the voice and see the love and joy in the boy's eyes as he shouted
it out. Yes, St. George was his father now!
Then his mind reverted to his former treatment of his son and for the
hundredth time he reviewed his side of the case. What else could he have
done and still maintain the standards of his ancestors?--the universal
question around Kennedy Square, when obligations of blood and training
were to be considered. After all it had only been an object lesson;
he had fully intended to forgive him later on. When Harry was a boy he
punished him as boys were punished; when he became a man he punished him
as men were punished. But for St. George the plan would long since have
worked. St. George had balked him twice--once at the club and once at
his home in Kennedy Square, when he practically ordered him from the
house.
And yet he could not but admit--and at this he sat bolt upright in his
seat--that even according to his own high standards both St. George and
Harry had measured up to them! Rather than touch another penny of his
uncle's money Harry had become an exile; rather than accept a penny from
his enemy, St. George had become a pauper. With this view of the case
fermenting in his mind--and he had not realized the extent of both
sacrifices until that moment--a feeling of pride swept through him.
It was HIS BOY and HIS FRIEND, who had measured up!--by suffering, by
bodily weakness--by privation--by starvation! And both had manfully and
cheerfully stood the test! It was the blood of the DeRuyters which had
put courage into the boy; it was the blood of the cavaliers that had
made Temple the man he was. And that old DeRuyter blood! How it had told
in every glance of his son's eyes and every intonation of his voice! If
he had not accumulated a fortune he would--and that before many years
were gone. But!--and here a chill went through him. Would not this
still further separate them, and if it did how could he restore in the
shortest possible time the old dependence and the old confidence? His
efforts so far had met with almost a rebuff, for Harry had shown no
particular pleasure when he told him of his intention to put him in
charge of the estate: he had watched his face closely for a sign of
satisfaction, but none had come. He had really seemed more interested
in getting St. George downstairs than in being the fourth heir of
Moorlands--indeed, it was very evident that he had no thought for
anybody or anything except St. George.
All this the son might have known could he have sat by his father in the
carryall on this way to Moorlands.