"Reckon you've had a little s'prise, hain't you? Your husband showed me
'round a little."
"Little surprise? Oh, Mr. Wright! 'Twas the greatest, dearest surprise
of my life. But 'twas just like Phil; he's the thoughtfullest, smartest
man in the world."
"Is, eh? Well, stick to that, an' you'll always be happy, even if you
should chance to be mistaken. But say,--'what's sauce for the goose is
sauce for the gander,' as I reckon you've heard. Don't you want to give
your husband a pleasant s'prise?"
"Oh, don't I!"
"Well, I'm kind o' feared to ask you, after seein' all these fine
things; but you said you was brought up in the country. Can you cook?"
"Indeed I can! I've cooked all our meals at home since we were
married--except those that Phil prepared."
"Good! Well, there's self-raisin' flour an' all sorts o' groceries in
the store, an' eggs an' butter in the store cellar, an' alongside of
the warehouse there's an ice-house, with three or four kinds o' meat.
We have to take all sorts o' things in trade from country customers,
an' some of 'em won't keep without ice. Now, if you was to s'prise your
husband with a home-made supper, he wouldn't have to go down to the
hotel, an' mebbe your own heart wouldn't break not to have to eat down
there again."
"Oh, Mr. Wright! You're a genius! I wonder whether I could manage the
kitchen stove."
"Best way to find out's to take a look at it."
Grace followed the suggestion. Caleb explained the draught and dampers,
and took Grace's orders, saying, as he departed:--
"Doc'll keep him in the store till I get back,--that's what he's there
for,--an' I'll keep him afterwards. When you want him, pull this rope:
it starts an alarm in my room, over the store, an' I'll hear it."
Doctor Taggess gave Philip some health counsel, at great length.
Claybanks and the surrounding country was very malarious, he said, and
newcomers, especially healthy young people from the East, could not
be too careful about diet, dress, and general habits until entirely
acclimatized. Then he got upon some of his hobbies, and Philip thought
the conversation might be very entertaining if Grace and the new home
were not within a moment's walk. No sooner had the Doctor departed than
Caleb insisted on a decision regarding an account that was in dispute,
because the debtor was likely to come in at any moment, and the matter
was very important. He talked details until Philip was almost crazed
with impatience, but suddenly a muffled whir caused Caleb to say
abruptly:--
"But it's better for him to suffer than for your wife to do it; an' if
you don't be ready to start her for supper the minute the hotel bell
rings, you won't get the best pickin's."
Philip escaped with great joy, and a minute later was in his new
sitting room and staring in amazement at a neatly set table, with Grace
at the head of it, and upon it an omelette, a filet of beef, some crisp
fried potatoes, tea-biscuits, cake, and a pot of coffee. After seating
himself and bowing his head a moment, he succeeded in saying:--
"'How did you?--how could you?' as you said to me."
"How could I help it," Grace replied, "after the delicate hint you left
behind you,--the kettle boiling on the stove?"
"My dear girl, like little George Washington, I cannot tell a lie.
Caleb was responsible for that tea-kettle; he brought it from the
store, and said something poetical about the singing of a kettle being
music to a woman's ear."
"Caleb did that?" exclaimed Grace, springing from her chair. "Set
another place, please!" Then she dashed through the darkness, into the
store, and exclaimed:--
"Mr. Wright, I shan't eat a single mouthful until you come down and
join us. Lock the store--quick--before things get cold."
"Your word's law, I s'pose," said Caleb, locking the front door, "but--"
"'But me no buts,'" Grace said, taking his hand and making a true "home
run." Caleb seated himself awkwardly, looked around him, and said:--
"Hope you asked a blessin' on all this?"
"I never ate a meal without one," Philip replied.
"Reckon you'll get along, then," said Caleb, looking relieved and
engulfing half of a tea-biscuit.