AN ANGRY GUARDIAN.
“How do you do, Captain Penniman? I am delighted to see you,” said
Captain Portman, coming up to me, and extending his hand.
As I took his hand, a burst of laughter from Waddie and Miss Dornwood
attracted my attention. Turning my head to ascertain what amused them,
I saw the bear standing on his hind legs, and extending his paw, as he
had done to me, evidently wishing to shake hands with the new comer.
Captain Portman took his offered paw, and gave Bruin a warm greeting.
“So, my old rogue, you have got away again,” said he, as he patted the
bear on the head.
“You seem to be acquainted with my old friend here,” said I.
“Yes, he belongs to me; but he bothers me sadly,” replied Captain
Portman. “Unless we buckle his collar very tight, he slips it over his
head; and if it is tight, it worries him and makes him cross. He has
got out of my grounds several times, and frightened strangers staying
at the hotel. The landlord says he will shoot him, if he finds him
loose again.”
“He frightened this young lady,” I added.
“I am very sorry,” said Captain Portman, turning to the lady. “He is
entirely harmless.”
“I see he is now, sir; but I supposed he was a wild bear,” replied Miss
Dornwood.
“When I knew he was loose, I hastened to find him, lest the landlord
should put his threat into execution,” continued Captain Portman,
caressing the bear. “He makes so much trouble that I am afraid I shall
have to get rid of him; but I do not like the idea of killing him while
he makes himself so agreeable. If you will take him, Wolf, I will give
him to you, for I know you will treat him kindly.”
“Thank you, sir, I should be delighted to own him,” I answered. “I have
a nice place for him at home.”
“You shall have him.”
“He and I will be warm friends.”
And Bruin, as if he comprehended the new relation between us, gave me
one of his warmest hugs.
“How do you happen to be here, Wolf, without calling upon me?” asked
Captain Portman.
“I was just going up to your house when I heard this lady scream, and I
hastened back to her assistance.”
“Gallant as ever,” said he, laughing. “Then I shall see you again
to-day.”
“Yes, sir. I will call at your house in the course of the afternoon.”
“My men will take care of the bear for you till you are ready to return
to Middleport, if you desire.”
I assented to this arrangement, and the two men who came with Captain
Portman took charge of the bear, though he was very unwilling to be
separated from me. I should have gone with the captain, but I desired
to see Lord Palsgrave, for whom Miss Dornwood was waiting. I had
never seen a live lord, and I was anxious to behold the phenomenon. I
supposed he would soon appear with the vehicle for which he had gone.
“I am very much obliged to you for the service you have rendered me,
gentlemen,” said she, as the party moved off with the bear.
“Not at all,” replied Waddie. “I am very glad, for one, to have served
you.”
“And I have made an excellent friend by the adventure,” I added.
“Do you refer to the bear, or to me?” said Miss Dornwood, archly.
“I confess that I referred to the bear.”
“I hope you will include me.”
“Then I have made two excellent friends.”
“Lord Palsgrave seems to be a long time obtaining the vehicle,” she
added, glancing towards the road.
“Is Lord Palsgrave an old gentleman?” I asked.
“Dear me! No,” replied Miss Dornwood, with a blush. “He is only
nineteen.”
“Nineteen! Well, I had an idea that lords were always old men.”
“Not at all. Lord Palsgrave is quite a young man.”
“Was it he we saw going towards the hotel when you screamed?”
“Yes; he left me only a few moments before I saw the bear.”
I came to the conclusion, guided partly by the blush which mantled her
cheek when she spoke of him, and partly by the fact that his lordship
was only nineteen, that he was a lover; and I was rather sorry that
she was already entangled, for I thought Waddie regarded Miss Dornwood
with more interest than I had ever before seen him look upon a young
lady. She was certainly a very pretty girl, and I did not blame Lord
Palsgrave for taking a fancy to her.
His lordship did not come with the vehicle, though an hour had elapsed
since his departure, and Miss Dornwood was beginning to be impatient.
We did not think it was polite to leave her, and we continued to talk
about the bear, Lord Palsgrave, and such other topics as we could find
available. While we were thus engaged, I saw a lady and gentleman
approaching us. As they came nearer, the latter disengaged himself from
his companion, and hastened to the spot where we stood. He was a young
man of twenty-five, and looked very cross. I did not like the looks of
him, and I saw that Miss Dornwood was very much disturbed by his coming.
“What are you doing here, Edith?” demanded he, bestowing a
contemptuous glance upon Waddie and myself.
“I am waiting for Lord Palsgrave,” she replied, her cheek flushed, and
her lips trembling.
“Who are these persons?” continued he.
“I do not know who they are, but they have been very kind to me, and I
am very grateful to them.”
“No doubt you are!” sneered the gentleman; and I realized that we had
encountered another bear, though not so well behaved as the first
had been. “Do you pick up acquaintances in this manner without my
knowledge?”
“Why, Charles!”
I saw that Miss Dornwood was greatly agitated and deeply grieved at
this ungentle treatment, and I did not wonder at it.
“What are you doing here?” he continued, rudely.
“I am waiting for Lord Palsgrave.”
“I don’t wonder that Lord Palsgrave does not come, if he sees you
engaged in this manner. Do you put yourself on familiar terms with
entire strangers?”
“How rude you are, Charles!” exclaimed Miss Dornwood, struggling to
repress her tears at his unkind treatment.
“I beg your pardon, sir,” interposed Waddie; “but there was another
bear--there was a bear in the woods here. The lady encountered him, and
we came to her assistance.”
“A bear!” sneered the gentleman.
“A bear, sir!” repeated Waddie, with emphasis. “It is true, he was a
tame bear, but he frightened the lady, and her screams attracted our
attention.”
“If you have rendered her any assistance, I am obliged to you for it,”
said the gentleman, coldly. “Edith, go back to the hotel.”
“Lord Palsgrave told me to meet him at the road when he came with the
carriage,” pleaded the young lady.
“I insist that you return to the hotel,” added the gentleman, almost
fiercely. “I have forbidden your making acquaintances without my
knowledge.”
“I couldn’t help it, Charles.”
“Will you return to the hotel?”
“No; I will not, Charles! I will not be treated in this rude manner
before strangers,” she replied, bursting into tears, and retreating a
few paces from her tormentor.
“So, miss! Do you dare to disobey me?” demanded he, his checks red with
anger.
“I will not be treated in this manner before strangers,” she replied,
with spirit, as she wiped away her tears.
“What will Lord Palsgrave say when he finds you making friends so
easily?”
“I don’t care what he says; but I will not be treated like a little
child, Charles Overton.”
“We will see! Will you return to the hotel, or shall I carry you
there?” said the brute, stepping towards her.
“Neither, Charles,” she answered, retreating a step or two before him.
“These young gentlemen came to my assistance when I needed their help,
and I am very grateful to them.”
“I trust you have thanked the young gentlemen for their service.”
“I have.”
“That’s enough, then. Now you will return to the hotel.”
“I will not, Charles Overton. I have obeyed you in all things; but when
you insult me before strangers, and insult them too, I will not endure
it.”
“Very fine, Edith! But you will return to the hotel, and obey me now,
as you always have done.”
“I shall return to the hotel when I am ready to do so, but not before;”
and Edith looked as though she meant all she said.
Behind all this there was evidently a history of which Waddie and
I were entirely ignorant. I concluded that the irritable gentleman
was the young lady’s guardian, and was doubtless armed with proper
authority to command and control her. But she was not less than
seventeen, and certainly she was entitled to some consideration from
him. As she had suggested, he treated her like a little child, and his
conduct was rude and ungentlemanly in the extreme. I sympathized with
Edith; but I did not deem it proper or prudent to interfere. I saw that
Waddie, who was naturally rash and impetuous, found it exceedingly
difficult to restrain himself under the provocation.
“Edith, you shall obey me!” exclaimed Mr. Overton, springing towards
her, with the intention of dragging her back to the hotel.
“I beg your pardon, sir,” interposed Waddie, stepping between the angry
guardian and his ward. “I hope you will not use any violence.”
At that moment I heard a kind of clattering noise, and turning, I saw
the bear rushing at railroad speed towards us. He had doubtless escaped
from Captain Portman’s men, and had come back to renew the agreeable
acquaintance he had made. Now, Mr. Overton happened to be the nearest
person to him as he approached the group, and Bruin leaped up to him,
and placed his paws upon the arm extended to grasp Edith. Perhaps he
thought the parties were playing, and he wished to have a hand in the
game.
Mr. Overton evidently had not seen the bear till he felt his paws upon
his arm. A man who is a tyrant is necessarily a coward; and turning
his head, the savage guardian saw the bear, with his mouth open. His
expression was one of abject terror, and, starting back, he shook the
playful animal from him. Bruin immediately stood up, and extended his
paw, as though he were ready to make friends with all mankind. To my
surprise, Miss Dornwood grasped the paw with her gloved hand, and shook
it warmly. Probably she thought that, between the two bears, he was
the less savage and bearish.
“You do not seem to like him any better than I did at first,” said
Edith, glancing at Mr. Overton, who had retreated to a safe distance.
“I suppose I am forbidden to make his acquaintance, but I shall do so.”
Bruin had doubtless been trained to respect ladies, and did not offer
any rough familiarities to her, as he had to me. He stood up before
her, and received her caresses with a good-natured grin. Mr. Overton,
seeing that the bear did not proceed to eat any of us up, regained his
sell-possession.
“If you wish to avoid trouble, Edith, you will go to the hotel at
once,” said he, renewing the attack.
“I shall not go,” she replied, earnestly.
“Then I shall lead you there.”
And stepping forward to enforce his threat, the bear, perhaps thinking
he meant to have a frolic, sprang upon him with extended paws.
“Take him away! Take him away!” cried Mr. Overton, utterly unable to
appreciate the familiar overtures of the bear.
“He will not hurt you, sir.”
“Take him off--will you?” gasped he, in terror.
“Here, Bruin, come here,” interposed Edith, pulling him by the neck.
The bear turned to her, stood up, and extended his paw to her.