IN WHICH ERNEST LISTENS TO THE STORY OF MISS KATE LORAINE.
FORTUNATELY the day was warm and the sun shining brightly, or our gentle
passenger must have suffered severely from the effects of her voluntary
bath. I do not know that I ever felt more embarrassed and perplexed than
I did when I sat in the Splash that day, with Miss Kate Loraine at my
side, her dress hanging "slinky" and dripping upon her. Certainly there
was nothing sentimental in the affair, for, though I was willing to
become a knight errant in a good cause, the situation was so awkward
that I could not enjoy it.
Bob Hale was as much in trouble as I was, and he could not tell what to
do any better than I could. Neither of us was willing to assume the
responsibility of taking the young lady from her home on the strength
of her own assertion that her step-mother abused her. There were two
sides to every question, and with the brighter example of Mrs. Hale
before us, we were not disposed to regard her as a monster without
giving her a hearing.
Kate was quite composed again when she found the boat was headed towards
Parkville, instead of Cannondale. One thing was very much in her favor;
she was not willing to speak evil of the lady who abused her. She had
told us no more than was necessary to explain her position. Her demeanor
did not indicate any thing malignant in her heart; on the contrary, her
conduct exhibited a degree of Christian forbearance which was hardly to
be expected of one who had been abused.
"I have heard all about you, Ernest Thornton," said Kate, as the Splash
stood over towards Parkville.
"Have you, indeed? I was not aware that I was celebrated enough to be
talked about," I laughingly replied.
"You are; and ever since you beat the Champion in the race with the
Adieno, I have looked upon you as a hero. I have often wished that I
might see you close to."
She was close enough to me now to make me shiver when I looked at her,
she was so wet and drabbled.
"Perhaps I am a kind of one-horse hero among the boys," I added, for the
sake of saying something.
"And among the girls, too," said she, promptly, if not boldly, though
there was a degree of simplicity in her manner which prevented me from
giving her words an unfavorable construction. "I have heard them in
Cannondale and Parkville tell what a bold, brave fellow you are."
"I am very much obliged to them and to you for the good opinion of me.
If you have confidence in me, that will answer my present purpose."
She looked curiously at me; and taking advantage of this favorable
current of sentiment, I put the Splash about on the other tack, so that
she was again headed towards Cannondale. Bob looked anxiously from Kate
to me, and from me to Kate again. He expected another storm of emotion
from her, and so did I; but I had decided upon my course, and was fully
determined to carry it out, even if it broke the heartstrings of my
fair passenger. I was sorry to be so ungallant as to resist the will of
a young lady, but my conscience would not let me interfere with the
domestic arrangements of Mrs. Loraine, without giving her a chance to
defend herself.
"They say you are a smart boy, Ernest Thornton," added she, apparently
without noticing the change in the course of the boat.
"Perhaps I am--I don't know," I replied; "I am afraid if I take you over
to Parkville, people will think I am smarter than I ever was before."
"Why?" asked she, bestowing a painfully anxious glance upon me.
"Don't you think it would be rather smart for Bob Hale and me to run
away with a young lady like you?"
"Run away with me!" exclaimed she, with a troubled look.
"What should we do with you after we had landed you?"
"O, I won't give you any trouble at all--not a bit."
"We don't mind the trouble, Miss Loraine; we were only thinking what
would become of you."
"I have an uncle in New York city--my father's brother. If I can only
get to him, it will be all I want," she answered, and her future course
seemed to be clear enough to her.
"But how will you get to New York?" I asked.
"I don't know; I would rather walk than stay at Cannondale any longer."
"Haven't you written to your uncle?" asked Bob.
"No; I don't know what his first name is; and Mrs. Loraine won't let me
write any letters. I wrote one once, and directed it to Mr. Loraine, New
York, but she burnt it up."
"Do you think you could find him?"
"I am sure I could. I would call on every one of that name in the city.
Why, Ernest Thornton! You are going back to Cannondale!" exclaimed Kate,
as she happened to glance ahead, and saw the shore not far distant.
"Don't be alarmed, Miss Loraine. Just now you said I was a hero, and a
smart boy, and all that sort of thing. My friend Bob Hale, here, is as
smart and as much of a hero as I am, I assure you. Between us two we
will do what we can for you," I interposed when she began to exhibit
signs of another outbreak of emotion.
"That's so!" added Bob, decidedly; and he was always ready to back up
any thing I said or did.
"Now keep cool, Miss Loraine," I continued. "Don't be a bit afraid, and
Bob and I will see you through, if we have to stand on our heads and
walk through fire and water to do it."
"You are very kind, and I am very much obliged to you," replied she,
with a shudder, as she glanced at the pier, a quarter of a mile off, on
which Mrs. Loraine was still standing. "But don't make me go there
again."
"Now, Miss Loraine, you must be reasonable," said I, in the gentlest
tone I could command, albeit I was not much accustomed to the
refinements of young ladies' society. "It would not be right for Bob and
me to carry you away from your home. People would think hard of us."
"Then I don't want you to do it," she replied, in tones of resignation.
"We don't know any thing about the affairs at your house."
"I have told you the truth."
"We do not doubt that; but you only say that Mrs. Loraine is not kind to
you."
"She is not."
"Do you mean that she abuses you?"
"I do mean that," replied Kate, with some hesitation, which evinced an
unwillingness to acknowledge the fact.
"What has she done to you?"
"She locks me up in one of the attic rooms for weeks together," she
replied, bursting into tears.
"Don't cry, Kate; what does she lock you up for?" asked Bob, when I
paused.
"I suppose I am very naughty, sometimes, but I can't help it," sobbed
she.
"Then she locks you up to punish you for being naughty--does she?"
"Yes."
Bob looked significantly at me, as much as to say that he did not wish
to have anything to do with "rescuing" a young miss who had been shut up
for being naughty.
"If she would only be kind to me _sometimes_, I could bear it all. If
she only smiled on me even once a month, I think I should not complain.
But, O, it is so terrible to be locked into your chamber, and stay there
day after day for a whole week!" moaned she, with a convulsive quiver.
"When did she lock you up last?" continued Bob, who had taken the
investigation into his own hands, when Kate showed a willingness to
answer.
"About a week ago."
"A week ago? I thought you said she kept you in your room for a week?"
"So she does, and she only let me out this forenoon."
"What did she lock you up for last time?"
"For taking such long stitches hemming her handkerchief."
"For taking long stitches!" exclaimed Bob, with something like horror in
his tones. "Did she shut you up for a week for this?"
"She did; and she fastened the blinds of the chamber so that I could not
open them."
"Did you refuse to take short stitches?" I asked, fearing there might be
some aggravating circumstances.
"No, I did not, indeed. I hemmed the handkerchief just as I always did,
and I did not think the stitches were too coarse," she replied, wiping
away her tears with a wet handkerchief. "It was done just like this
one," she added, exhibiting it as a specimen of her work.
Neither Bob nor myself was sufficiently skilled in sewing craft to judge
of the quality of the work, but the stitches did not seem to be very
long. We compared the hemming with that on our own handkerchiefs, but
were not able to detect much difference.
"When did Mrs. Loraine shut you up the time before that," I asked,
handing her the handkerchief.
"I had not been out three days."
"What was it for that time?"
"Because I pulled up some flowers in the garden which were just coming
up. I thought they were weeds; and I'm sure I didn't mean any harm."
"How long did she shut you up for this?" asked Bob.
"Eight days."
"What do you do in your chamber while shut up there?" I inquired.
"Nothing."
"Don't you have books?"
"O, no! If I did, I shouldn't mind it so much."
"Don't you sew?"
"No; I'm not allowed to do anything," she answered, with a convulsive
sob.
I could hardly keep from crying myself, and I was almost choked by my
efforts to keep down my emotions. I had kept the boat away from the
pier, in order to afford time for this inquiry, and the Splash was now
off the Point. I put her about, and ran before the wind towards the pier
again.
"Are you willing to tell us what the trouble was to-day, before you
jumped into the water?" said Bob, tenderly.
"She told me to water the flowers in her garden, and I was doing it. She
kept telling me how to do it, and what to water, and I tried as hard as
I could to please her; but I was so frightened lest I should do
something wrong, that I trod on a peony, and broke it down. She was very
angry, and immediately told me to go back to my room, and stay there
another week. O, if you only knew how I dreaded that room! If you only
knew how gloomy and sad I am when shut up there! If you could only feel
how long and heavy the hours are there, you would pity me."
"I do pity you," said Bob, warmly.
"I begged her on my knees not to shut me up. I felt then that I would
rather die than be shut up again, for I only got out this morning.
That's my room," said she, with a shudder, as she pointed to an attic
window in the rear of the house.
"Miss Loraine, we will stand by you!" I exclaimed, with enthusiasm, for
my feelings had been strongly worked upon by her story. "But you must go
to the house, and get warm clothing. Bob and I will go with you."
"But I shall be sent to my room at once."
"If you are, we will get you out this very night, if we have to lift the
roof off the house to do it."
Kate was fearful; but whatever happened, we were determined that she
should have dry clothing. I ran the Splash up to the pier, where Mrs.
Loraine was impatiently waiting for the boat.