Heavy showers escorted the travellers during the last afternoon of
their homeward march. Of the trio Solomon was the wettest, for his two
friends were enfolded in a rubber blanket, drawn over their heads and
shoulders and held together in front. Thus, by walking arm in arm and
keeping close together, they escaped a soaking. But Elinor was tired,
with a tendency to sadness. This was excusable, as the failure of the
expedition left the choice of a perilous experiment on the raft or of
starvation at the cottage. Even the saturated Solomon, as he preceded
them with drooping head, seemed to have lost his buoyancy.
But Pats, whatever his inward state, continued an unfailing well-spring
of cheerfulness and courage. Not a disheartening word escaped him, nor a
sign of weakening. And his efforts to enliven his companion were
persistent--and successful. Being of a hopeful and self-reliant nature
this task was not so very difficult.
At last, toward the middle of the afternoon, in rain and mist, they came
to the eastern end of their own beach. But all view was shut out. Both
the cottage and the point of land on which it stood were hidden in the
fog. As they tramped along this beach, on the hard wet sand, the wind
and rain from the open sea came strong against their faces.
"It will be good to get back," said Elinor.
"Yes, but I like this better," and Pats drew the rubber blanket a little
closer still. "Our life at the cottage is too confined; too cut and
dried, too conventional and ceremonious."
"Too much company?"
"No, just enough. But too much routine and sameness. Above all, it is
too laborious. The charm of this life is having no chores to be done. No
shaving; no floors to scrub or windows to clean."
"Poor boy! And you must work doubly hard when we first get back. To
begin with, you will have to eat your half of all the eggs that have
been laid."
"Not an egg! I swear it!"
"Let's see--four days. That will make about thirty-six eggs. You must
eat eighteen this afternoon."
Their heads were of necessity very close together, and as Pats with a
frown turned his face to look at her, she continued: "And to-morrow
being your birthday, you shall have a double allowance. Just think of
being thirty-one years old! Why, Patsy, it take one's breath away."
"Yes, it is a stupendous thought."
"How does it feel?"
"Well, I can still see and hear a little; and I am holding on to my
teeth. Of course, the lungs, liver, brain, and all the more perishable
organs have long since gone."
"Naturally."
"But the heart is still there, and thumping hard and strong for the
finest woman in the world."
"Well, the heart is everything, and you are a good boy--I mean a good
old man."
"Thanks."
"And as soon as we get to the cottage I shall--" She pressed his arm,
stopped suddenly, and listened. "Why, what was that?"
"What was what?"
"Out on the water, off the point there. I heard a noise like a
steamboat."
Both listened.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"I certainly thought so."
Again they listened. Nothing was heard, however, except the lapping of
the waves along the beach.
At last, in a low tone, Pats muttered:
"A whole fleet might be within a mile on a day like this and nobody know
it. Are you sure it wasn't Solomon? He is a heavy breather sometimes."
She sighed. "Very likely. With this blanket about one's ears anything
was possible."
They started on again. A few moments later the final shower had ceased.
Swiftly the clouds dispersed, but the mist, although illumined by the
sun, still lingered over land and sea. Solomon, followed by his friends,
climbed the gentle ascent at the end of the beach, and as they hastened
on among the pines all felt a mild excitement on approaching the
cottage.
Gathered about the doorway, as if to welcome the returning travellers,
stood a few white hens and the pompous rooster. To this impressive bird
Pats took off his hat with a deferential bow.
"Glad to see you again, Senator."
"Why 'Senator'? Because nobody listens when he talks?" Elinor had been
to Washington.
"Yes; and he knows so little and feels so good over it."
From its hiding-place behind the vines, Pats took the key and opened the
door. With a military salute he stood aside, and the lady entered. He
followed; and as he unslung his knapsack Elinor looked about her with a
pleased expression.
"How rich it all is!" she exclaimed. "I had forgotten what a splendid
collection we had."
Pats drew a long breath, as if to inhale the magnificence.
"Are you familiar with bric-a-brac shops?" he asked.
"Yes."
"And with the rooms of old palaces and chateaux that are opened only
when visitors arrive?"
"Yes."
"Well, this is that smell."