GATHERING CLOUDS
The Nuttonby carrier took the new tenant of the Grange into his circle
of acquaintances with the ready camaraderie of his class.
"Fine morning, sir," said he.
"An excellent morning," said Armathwaite. "Have you brought my boxes?"
"Yes, sir. They be rare an' heavy, an' all."
"You and I can manage them between us, I have no doubt," and Armathwaite
led the way to the gate. As they passed the dining-room, Bland stared
candidly through the window, but the girl was not visible.
"I didn't reckon on seein' Miss Meg to-day, sir," he said.
"Miss Meg? Who's Miss Meg?" smiled the other.
"Why, poor Mr. Garth's lass, to be sure."
"Ah! My cousin thought you were under the impression that you recognized
her. But you are mistaken. The lady you saw is Miss Marguerite Ogilvey."
"Is she now? Well, that takes it! I could ha' sworn--Miss who, sir?"
Armathwaite repeated the name, and Tom Bland scratched his head. He was
elderly, and weather-tanned as the Nuttonby porter, but his occupation
had quickened his wits; there are times when one should not reiterate an
opinion.
"You'll not have tried the beck yet, sir?" he said, twisting the
conversation rather obviously. "I had a turn in the Swale meself last
evenin'--this water runs into it, ye ken, an' the troot were risin'
fine."
"What flies did you use?"
"Two March browns an' a black gnat. There's nowt like a March brown, to
my thinkin'."
"Can you tell me who owns the land in that direction?" and Armathwaite
pointed to the wooded gill which cut into the moorland to the eastward.
Bland gave some names, which Armathwaite entered in a notebook. He was
wondering whether or not he should ask the man not to mention that he
had seen a second occupant of the house, but decided that gossip would
be stilled more quickly if the topic were left severely alone. He knew
that Walker had told the carrier certain facts about himself. Possibly
there would be some talk when next the two met, but, by that time, the
Grange would have lost its highly interesting visitor, and Armathwaite
smiled at the notion of the dapper young auctioneer trying to extract
information from him.
The boxes, too, permitted of no waste of breath. When the third was
dumped in the hall Bland was gasping, and Armathwaite's rather sallow
face wore a heightened color.
"That was a stiff haul for your horse. How much?" said the owner of
these solid trunks.
"It's eight miles----" began Bland. Despite a fixed tariff he could not
forego an opportunity for bargaining, and Yorkshire will never give a
direct answer if it can be avoided.
"Sixteen, really," broke in Armathwaite. "Will sixteen shillings meet
the case?"
But Bland drew the line at downright extortion.
"Nay, nay!" he said. "I had a few calls on the way, an' there's some
empties to go back from the Fox and Hounds. Take off the six, sir, an'
I'll be very content."
Armathwaite paid him and added a florin "for a drink." As it happened,
Betty Jackson crossed the hall, and nodded a greeting. This was
fortunate. The girl's presence lent a needed touch of domesticity.
"Ye'll hae gotten Betty an' her mother to do for you?" commented the
carrier.
"Yes. I was lucky to find them available."
"Ay, they're all right. They'll mak' ye comfortable. They will, an' all.
I've known Mrs. Jackson these fot-ty year. Good mornin', sir. If you
want owt frae Nuttonby just tell the postman. I come this way Tuesdays,
Thursdays an' Saturdays."
With the departure of the carrier Armathwaite fancied that the
irksomeness of life would lessen. The "cousin" of recent adoption had
evidently withdrawn to the farther part of the dining-room, because
Bland, despite many attempts, had not set eyes on her again. She, of
course, was aware when he mounted into the cart and rumbled out of sight
around the corner of the cottage. She came out. Armathwaite was
unstrapping the boxes. One was already open, revealing books in layers.
"Sorry I'm such a nuisance," she said quietly. "Of course, it was
thoughtless of me to nod to Tom Bland, but he took me by surprise.
Naturally, you don't wish people to know I am in Elmdale. Will you
confer one last favor? Take your rods and pannier, and go for a couple
of hours' fishing. I shall scoot before you return. I'll select the few
things I require, and Betty will pack them, and hand them over to Bland
on Saturday."
He was on his knees and looked up at her.
"By 'scooting' do you mean that you are going to walk across that moor
again?" he demanded.
"Yes."
"If that is the only possible way of escape, I'll go with you."
"Walk twenty-eight miles? Ridiculous!"
"You're not going alone."
"I am." This with a little stamp of one of the brown brogues, mighty
fetching.
"I shall not force my company on you, if that is what you fear."
"But how absurd! Do you intend following me?"
"Yes--until you are within easy range of the railway."
"Mr. Armathwaite, I'm perfectly well able to take care of myself."
"I'm sure of it, Meg. But a cousin should be cousinly. Our relationship
will not be close. Say, a distance of two hundred yards."
He smiled into her eyes; his stern face softened wonderfully when he
smiled.
"I couldn't think of permitting it," she pouted, eyeing him with a new
interest.
He sat back on his heels, and affected a resigned attitude.
"Let's argue the point for two hours," he said. "I can't go fishing,
because I shall be trespassing until I have acquired some rights.
Moreover, nothing short of violence will stop me from escorting you
over the moor. In this weather, moors contain tramps."
"I know. I met two yesterday."
"Did they speak to you?"
"One did. I didn't mind him. The second one turned and looked. I was
ready to run, but he only stared."
"May I ask what costume you intend wearing for to-day's outing?"
"I haven't quite decided. It may be a blue Shantung or a white pique,
but it won't be gray flannel, if that's what you're hinting at."
He rose, and felt in his pockets.
"I think we can get through those two hours comfortably. May I smoke?"
he said.
"Yes, please do. Then you won't be so grumpy. Walk twenty-eight miles on
my account! The idea!"
"I've walked forty before to-day, and stood a very reasonable chance of
being potted every inch of the way. You won't fire at me, at any rate,
so twenty-eight is a mere stroll. In fact, if you are gracious, it can
be a pleasant one, too."
"Potted! Were you in the army?"
"No. Soldiers like that sort of thing! I didn't so I gave it up. Sure
you don't mind a pipe?"
"I love it. I often fill and light dad's for him when he's busy. You
ought to see him when he's tracking some Norse legend to its lair, or
clearing up a point left doubtful by Frazer in the _Golden Bough_. Have
you ever read Frazer? I know him and Mannhardt almost by heart. I help
dad a lot in my own little way. Have you ever played cat's cradle?"
"With a piece of string?"
"Yes. Well, games and folk-lore go together, and cat's cradle has been
played since the ancient Britons wore--whatever ancient Britons did
wear. Now, you're laughing at me."
"Indeed, I'm not. I was marveling at our kindred tastes. Have you heard
of the Jatakas and Panchatantras of India?"
"I know that there are such things."
"I'll jot down two or three, with a translation."
"Oh, wouldn't dad love to meet you! He often growls because he can't
read Sanskrit."
"Tell me where you live, and I'll look you up some day."
"Our permanent address is----Oh, my! Somebody's coming, and I don't want
you to be cross with me again."
She fled into the kitchen. The door had hardly closed when a shadow
darkened the porch. Armathwaite, lighting his pipe, gazed through a
cloud of smoke at a red-faced policeman.
"Hello!" he said. "Who have _you_ come for?"
The policeman grinned, and saluted.
"There's not much doing in Elmdale in my line, sir," he said. "I was
told the Grange had a new tenant, so I just looked in. I come this way
Thursday mornings and Monday nights, as a rule. I'm stationed at
Bellerby, nearly three miles from here. Last time I was in this
hall----"
Armathwaite was too quick for him. Residence in Mr. Walker's "house
'round the corner" had proved so rife in surprises that the long arm of
coincidence might be expected to play its part at any moment. So he
countered deftly.
"Sorry I can't be more hospitable," he broke in, advancing, and
deliberately causing the constable to step back into the porch.
"Everything is at sixes and sevens. I only arrived yesterday, and my
boxes, as you see, are not yet unpacked."
He closed the door, feeling certain that his judgment had not erred. It
was soon justified.
"Next time you're passing, give me a call," he went on. "I'll be able to
offer you a whisky and soda or a bottle of beer. Are you the man who
was brought here by a Mr. Benson on a certain occasion?"
"I am, sir, and it was a nasty job, too. I'm glad someone has taken the
place. It's a nice property, but the garden has gone to wrack and ruin
since poor Mr. Garth went. Just look at them dandelions, growin' where
there used to be a bed of the finest begonias I've ever seen! 'Begonia
Smith' was the gardener's nickname for miles around. And convolvulus
instead of sweet peas! It's a sin, that's what it is!"
The policeman, clearly an enthusiast, took off his helmet, and wiped his
forehead with a purple pocket-handkerchief.
"You knew Mr. Garth, I suppose?" said Armathwaite, strolling towards the
dandelions, whose vigorous growth was so offensive to the horticultural
eye. The other went with him, little thinking he was being headed off a
scent which might lead to a greater tragedy than the devastation of a
once well-kept garden.
"Knew him well, sir. A very pleasant-spoken gentleman he was, an' all. I
brought him a party of plow stots one day--men who dance in the villages
at Martinmas, sir--and he was as pleased as Punch because they sang some
old verses he'd never heard before. The last man in the world I'd ever
have thought of to kill himself."
"There was no doubt that he committed suicide?"
"No, sir, that there wasn't. He'd been dead two days when I cut him
down. Well, no need to talk of it now, but even the doctor was rattled,
though the weather was very hot that June."
Armathwaite felt as if he had been conjured by some spiteful necromancer
out of a smiling and sunlit English countryside into a realm of ghouls
and poison-growths. A minute ago a charming and sweet-spoken girl had
been chatting glibly about her father's wanderings in the by-ways of
folk-lore, and now this stolid policeman was hinting at the gruesomeness
of his task when called on to release the lifeless body of that same man
from its dolorous perch beside the clock.
For an instant he lost himself, and fixed such a penetrating glance on
the constable that the latter grew uneasy, lest he had said something he
ought not to have said. Armathwaite realized the mistake at once, and
dropped those searching eyes from the other's anxious face to some
scraps of ribbon sewn on the left breast of the dark blue tunic.
"You have the Tirah medal, I see," he said. "Were you at Dargai?"
The question achieved the immediate effect counted on.
"I was, an' all, sir," and the ex-soldier squared his shoulders. "Though
no Scottie, I was in the Gordon Highlanders. Were you there, sir?"
"I--er--yes, but as a non-combatant. I was in the Politicals--quite a
youngster in those days, and I was fool enough to envy you that rush
across the plateau."
"It was warm work while it lasted, sir."
"There have been few things to equal it in warfare. What time do you
pass through the village on Monday?"
"Shortly after eleven, sir."
"If you see a light, come in. If not, look me up next Thursday. If I'm
fishing, I'll leave word with Mrs. Jackson that you're to have a
refresher should you be that way inclined."
"Thank you, sir. My name's Leadbitter, if ever you should want me."
"And a jolly good name, too, for a man who fought against the Afridis.
By the way, can you tell me what time the post leaves here?"
"A rural postman calls at Thompson's shop for letters about half-past
four, sir."
A cigar changed hands, and P. C. Leadbitter strode off, holding his head
high. It was a red-letter day. He had met one who knew what the storming
of the Dargai Pass meant. Even the memories of Stephen Garth pendant
from a hook beneath the china shelf faded into the mists of a country
policeman's humdrum routine. He was halfway to Bellerby when he
remembered that he had not done the one thing he meant doing--he had not
asked Mr. Armathwaite's intentions with regard to the garden. Begonia
Smith had retired to a village lying between Bellerby and Nuttonby.
Though too old to take a new situation, he would jump at the chance of
setting his beloved Grange garden in order again, and, of course, he was
just the man for the job. Leadbitter believed in doing a good turn when
opportunity offered. After tea, he went in search of Smith of the order
Begoniaceae. To save half a mile of a three miles' tramp by road, he
passed through the estate of Sir Berkeley Hutton, and met that
redoubtable baronet himself strolling forth to see how the partridges
were coming on.
"Ha!" cried Hutton, knowing that his land was not in the policeman's
district, "has that rascally herd of mine been gettin' full again?"
"No, Sir Berkeley, Jim's keepin' steady these days," was the answer.
"There's a new tenant at the Grange, Elmdale; he'll be wantin' a
gardener, I'm thinkin', so I'm going to put Begonia Smith on his
track."
"A new tenant! You don't tell me. What's his name?"
"A Mr. Robert Armathwaite, Sir Berkeley. A very nice gentleman, too.
Been in India, in the Politicals, he said. I didn't quite know what he
meant----"
"But I do, by Jove, and a decent lot of chaps they are. Picked men, all
of 'em. I must look him up. I haven't met anyone of that name, but we're
sure to own scores of friends in common. Glad I met you, Leadbitter.
I'll drive over there some day soon. Armathwaite, you say? Sounds like
an old Yorkshire name, but it's new to me. The coveys are strong on the
wing this year, eh?"
So, all unwittingly so far as Armathwaite was concerned, his recognition
of an Indian Frontier ribbon had set in motion strange forces, as a
pebble falling from an Alpine summit can start an avalanche. In truth,
he had not yet grasped the essential fact that residents in a secluded
district of Yorkshire, or in any similar section of the United Kingdom,
were close knit throughout astonishingly large areas. He had belonged to
a ruling caste among an inferior race during so many active years that
he still retained the habits of thought generated by knowledge of local
conditions in India, where a town like Nuttonby would have little in
common with a hamlet like Elmdale, whereas, in Yorkshire, Nuttonby knew
the affairs of Elmdale almost as intimately as its own.
But enlightenment on this point, and on many others, was coming
speedily. He received the first sharp lesson within a few hours.
Marguerite Ogilvey might be a most industrious young lady when
circumstances were favorable, but she had so many questions to put, and
so much local news to absorb from Mrs. Jackson and Betty, that the
morning slipped by without any material progress being made in the
avowed object of her visit.
Armathwaite, piling rows of books on the library floor, noticed that the
collection of seven, ranging from a Sheffield cake-basket to a Baxter
print, had not been added to. The girl wanted to know, of course, why
Leadbitter came, and was told, though his references to the disheveled
state of the garden were suppressed. Then she volunteered to help in
disposing of the new lot of books, but her services were peremptorily
declined.
"You're a grumpy sort of cousin at times, Bob," she cried, and betook
herself to the scullery and more entertaining company. She had been
chatting there an hour, or longer, when she wheeled round on Mrs.
Jackson with an astonished cry.
"I've been here all the morning, and you've never said a word about my
father and mother," she declared. "They're quite well, thank you; but
you might have inquired."
"Well, there!" stammered Mrs. Jackson, "It was on the tip of me tongue
half a dozen times, an' something drove it away again. An' how are they,
Miss Meg?"
"I've just told you. I do wish they'd come back to the Grange, but they
seem to hate the very mention of it. I wonder why?"
"Elmdale's a long way frae Lunnon," said Betty, catching at a straw in
this sudden whirlpool.
"We're just as far from London in Cornwall," laughed the girl.
"Oh, is that where you've gone?" put in Mrs. Jackson incautiously.
"Yes. Didn't you know? Hadn't you the address for letters?"
"No, miss. Miggles said"--Miggles was the peripatetic postman--"that all
letters had to be sent to Holloway & Dobb, in Nuttonby."
Marguerite looked rather puzzled, because her recollection ran
differently; she dropped the subject, thinking, doubtless, that her
parents' behests had some good reason behind them, and ought to be
respected.
"Anyhow," she went on, "now that I've broken the ice by coming here, my
people may be willing to return. I don't suppose Mr. Armathwaite will
stay beyond the summer."
"Mr. Walker tole me he thought of takin' the place for a year," said
Mrs. Jackson.
"Indeed. I'll ask him at lunch. I've wasted the morning, so I'll stay
another night, and start early to-morrow. You'll find me a bed in the
cottage, won't you, Mrs. Jackson?"
"Mebbe, Mr. Armathwaite will be vexed," said Betty, making a
half-hearted effort to carry out the compact between herself and her
employer.
"Leave Mr. Armathwaite to me," laughed Marguerite. "He's a bear, and he
growls, but he has no claws, not for women, at any rate. No one could be
nicer than he last night. I felt an awful fool, and looked it, too; but
he didn't say a single word to cause me any embarrassment. Moreover, he
intends crossing the moor with me, and I can't let him get lost in the
dark. Men have died who were lost on that moor."
"Oh, but that's in the winter, miss, when the snow's deep," said Betty.
"Why, I do believe you want to get rid of me!" cried the other.
Betty flushed guiltily. She was floundering in deep waters, and struck
out blindly.
"Oh, no, miss," she vowed. "You know me better than that. P'raps you'll
be gettin' married one of these days, an' then you can please yourself,
an' live here."
"Married! Me get married, and leave dad and mums! Oh, dear no! One young
man has asked me already, and I--"
"Betty," said a voice from the doorway leading to the hall, "can you
give me a duster?"
The conclave started apart, like so many disturbed sparrows; but
Armathwaite could make a shrewd guess as to the name of the "one young
man," since he had Marguerite Ogilvey's own testimony for it that Percy
Whittaker would "do anything" to oblige her, and what more likely than
that such devotion should lead to matrimony?
At luncheon he received with frigidity the girl's statement that she
planned remaining in Elmdale till the morrow.
"There's really no reason to hurry," she said airily. "The Whittakers
know where I am, and I'll send a postcard saying I'll be with them
Friday evening."
"I must remind you that every hour you prolong your visit you add to the
risk of discovery," he said.
"Discovery of what, or by whom?" she demanded.
"I am only endeavoring to fall in with your own wishes. You came here
secretly. You took pains to prevent anyone from recognizing you. Have
you changed your mind?"
"I--I think I have. You see, your being here makes a heap of
difference."
"Precisely. You ought to get away all the sooner."
"First Betty--now you! I must indeed be an unwelcome guest in my
father's house. Of course, I can't possibly stay now. There's a train
from Leyburn at seven o'clock. I can catch it by leaving here at three,
but I shan't start unless I go alone."
She looked prettier than ever when her brown eyes sparkled with anger,
but Armathwaite hardened his heart because of the grim shadow which she
could not see but which was hourly becoming more visible to him.
"Is Leyburn the station on the other side of the moor?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Then you will remain here three weary months, Meg."
"I don't pretend to understand," she cried wrathfully.
"I've paid three months' rent, and here I shall stay if a regiment of
girls and a whole army of Percy Whittakers try to eject me. As I am
equally resolved not to allow you to cross the moor unaccompanied, you
will readily perceive the only logical outcome of your own decision."
The brown eyes lost their fire, but acquired another sort of sheen.
"What has happened that you should speak so unkindly?" she quavered.
"Last night and this morning you--you--didn't order me out. And I don't
see why you should drag in Percy Whittaker. I only borrowed his togs."
Many times in the history of this gray old world have woman's tears
pierced armor and sapped fortresses. This hapless man yielded at once.
"Confound it, Miss Ogilvey, I'd keep you here during the remainder of my
days if I could arrange matters to my own liking and yours," he blurted
out.
She recovered her self-possession with amazing readiness.
"Now, Bob, you're talking nonsense," she tittered. "Aren't we making
mountains out of molehills? I have lots to do, and hate being rushed. I
can stay with Mrs. Jackson to-night, and you and I will set out for
Leyburn early to-morrow. Then, if you don't care to face the return
journey, you shall take train to Nuttonby and drive here. Isn't that a
good plan?"
"We must adopt it, at any rate," he said grudgingly. "But you promise
to remain hidden all day?"
"Yes, even that. Now, let's stop squabbling, and eat. Tell me something
about India. It must be an awfully jolly place. If I went there, should
I be a mem-sahib?"
"It is highly probable."
"What a funny way to put it! Aren't all English ladies in India
mem-sahibs?"
"The married ones are. The spinsters are miss-sahibs."
She laughed delightedly, and without any sense of awkwardness because of
her own blunder.
"Naturally they would be. That's rather neat when you come to think of
it," she cried.
Old jokes are ever new in someone's ears, or no comic paper could live
beyond a year. When Betty came in with a gooseberry tart and cream, she
heard the two calling each other "Bob" and "Meg," and reported thereon
in the kitchen.
"It seems to me she's larnt summat (something) i' Cornwall," commented
Mrs. Jackson.
"And him old enough to be her father!" marveled Betty.
"Fiddlesticks! It's the life he's led that's aged him. He's not a day
more'n thirty-five."
Mrs. Jackson was no bad judge. Her employer was in his thirty-sixth
year.
After luncheon, Marguerite Ogilvey collected her treasures, and, with
Betty's help, packed them in boxes obtained at the village shop. Before
tea, she wrote a letter, which Armathwaite took to the post. While
there, he inquired about the fishing, and the grocer pointed out a very
tall and stoutly-built man stacking hay at the bottom of a long field.
"That's Mr. Burt," he said. "He owns a mile or more of the best water.
If you were to go an' see him now, sir, you could settle things straight
off."
"But I want to have a word with Miggles."
"He'll be here in ten minutes, sir, an' I'll tell him to give you a
hail. The Nuttonby road passes the end of that field."
Matters seemed to be arranged conveniently; as, indeed, they were, if
sprites were laying snares for Robert Armathwaite's feet.
He met Farmer Burt, and was given all fishing facilities at once. Nay,
more, if this weather lasted, as was likely, and all the hay was saved
by sunset, Burt himself would call next day, and reveal the lie of the
land.
"Make it Saturday," said Armathwaite, mindful of another fixture.
"Right you are, sir!"
Someone shouted. It was Miggles, breast-high beyond a hedge. At that
instant Armathwaite caught sight of a dog-cart swinging into Elmdale. A
gallant figure at the reins seemed somehow familiar. Therefore, instead
of describing the kind of bath he wished Tom Bland to bring from an
ironmonger's, he said sharply to the postman:
"Who is that in the dog-cart?"
"Young Mr. Walker, o' Nuttonby, sir," was the answer.
James Walker! The man whom Marguerite Ogilvey said she hated, and such a
phrase on a girl's lips with reference to a man like Walker almost
invariably means that she has been pestered by his attentions. The
Grange was nearly a mile distant, and Walker was now dashing through the
village street.
"Damn!" said Armathwaite, making off at top speed.
Miggles gazed after him.
"Rum houses draws rum coves," he said, trudging away on his daily round.
"Not that he's the first who's damned young Jimmy Walker, not by a jolly
long way!"
Evidently, an Aristotelian postman.