THE SWINGING GATE
When the tug landed Caleb at Keyport this same afternoon, he hurried
through his duties and went straight to his cabin. Mrs. Leroy’s
sympathetic words were still in his ears. He could hear the very tones
of her voice and recall the pleading look in her eyes. He wished he
had told her the whole truth then and there, and how he felt toward
Betty; and he might have done so had not the other ladies been there,
expecting her aboard the yacht. He did not feel hurt or angry; he
never was with those who spoke well of his wife. Her words had only
deepened the conviction that had lately taken possession of his own
mind,—that he alone, of all who knew Betty, had shut his heart
against her. Even this woman,—a total stranger,—who had taken her
out of the streets and befriended her still pleaded for her. When
would his own heart ever be softened? What did he want her to do for
him? Crawl back on her hands and knees and lie outside his door until
he took her in? And if she never came,—what then?
How long would she be able to endure her present life? He had saved
her from Carleton. So far no one except Betty, Carleton, and himself
had known of the night attack; not even Captain Joe. It was best not
to talk about it; it might injure her. But who else would try to
waylay and insult her? Maybe his holding out so long against her would
force her into other temptations, and so ruin her. What if it was
already too late? Lacey had been seen round Keyport lately,—once at
night. He knew he wrote to her; Bert Simmons, the letter-carrier, had
shown him other letters with the Stonington postmark. Was Lacey
hanging round Keyport because she had sent for him? And if she went
back to him after all,—whose fault was it?
At the thought of Lacey the beads of sweat stood on his forehead.
Various conflicting emotions took possession of him, bringing the hot
blood to his cheek and setting his fingernails deep into the palms of
his hands. It was only at rare intervals, when he had run into
Stonington aboard the Screamer, or on one of the tugs short of coal or
water, that he had seen the man who had ruined his home, and then only
at a distance. The young rigger was at work around the cars on the
dock. Caleb had never known whether Lacey had seen him. He thought
not. The men said the young fellow always moved away when any of the
Keyport boats came in. Then his mind reverted to Captain Joe and to
the night he pleaded for her, and to the way he said over and over
again, “She ain’t nothin’ but a child, Caleb, an’ all of us is liable
to go astray.” These words seemed to burn themselves into his brain.
As the twilight came on he went upstairs on tiptoe, treading as
lightly as if he knew she was asleep and he feared to waken her.
Standing by the bed, he looked about him in an aimless, helpless way,
his eyes resting finally on the counterpane, and the pillow he had
placed every night for her on her side of the bed. It was yellow and
soiled now. In the same half-dazed, dreamy way he stepped to the
closet, opened the door cautiously, and laid his hand upon her
dresses, which hung where she had left them, smoothing them softly
with his rough fingers. He could easily have persuaded himself (had
she been dead) that her spirit was near him, whispering to him,
leading him about, her hand in his.
As he stood handling the dresses, with their little sleeves and
skirts, all the paternal seemed suddenly to come out in him. She was
no longer his wife, no longer the keeper of his house, no longer the
custodian of his good name. She was his child, his daughter, his own
flesh and blood,—one who had gone astray, one who had pleaded for
forgiveness, and who was now alone in the world, with every door
closed against her but Captain Joe’s.
In the brightness of this new light of pity in him a great weight
seemed lifted from his heart. His own sorrow and loneliness seemed
trivial and selfish beside hers. He big and strong, fearless to go and
come, able to look every man in the face; and she a timid girl,
shrinking, frightened, insulted, hiding even from those who loved her.
What sort of man was he to shut his door in her face and send her
shuddering down the road?
With these new thoughts there came a sudden desire to help, to reach
out his arms toward her, to stand up and defend her,—defend her, out
in the open, before all the people.
Catching up his hat, he hurried from the house and walked briskly down
the road. It was Betty’s hour for coming home. Since her encounter
with Carleton there had been few evenings in the week he had not, with
one excuse or another, loitered along the road, hiding behind the
fish-house until she passed, watching her until she reached the
swinging gate. Soon the residents up and down the road began to time
his movements. “Here comes Caleb,” they would say; “Betty ain’t far
off. Ain’t nothin’ goin’ to touch her as long as Caleb’s round.”
This watchful care had had its effect. Not only had Captain Joe and
Aunty Bell taken her part, but Caleb was looking after her too. When
this became common talk the little remaining tattle ceased. Better not
talk about Betty, the gossips said among themselves; Caleb might hear
it.
When the diver reached the top of the hill overlooking Captain Joe’s
cottage, his eye fell upon Betty’s slight figure stepping briskly up
the hill, her shawl drawn tightly about her shoulders, her hat low
down on her face. She had passed the willows and was halfway to the
swinging gate. Caleb quickened his pace and walked straight toward
her.
She saw him coming, and stopped in sudden fright. For an instant she
wavered, undecided whether she would turn and run, or brave it out and
pass him. If she could only get inside the garden before he reached
her! As she neared the gate she heard his footsteps on the road, and
could see from under the rim of her hat the rough shoes and coarse
trousers cement-stained up as far as his knees. Only once since she
had gone off with Lacey had she been so close to him.
Gathering all her strength she sprang forward, her hand on the
swinging gate.
“I’ll hold it back, child,” came a low, sweet voice, and an arm was
stretched out before her. “It shan’t slam to and hurt ye.”
He was so close she could have touched him. She saw, even in her
agony, the gray, fluffy beard and the wrinkled, weather-stained throat
with the unbuttoned collar of the flannel shirt. She saw, too, the big
brown hand, as it rested on the gate.
She did not see his eyes. She dared not look so high.
As she entered the kitchen door she gave a hurried glance behind. He
was following her slowly, as if in deep thought; his hands behind his
back, his eyes on the ground.
Aunty Bell was bending over the stove when Betty dashed in.
“It’s Caleb! He’s coming in! Oh, aunty, don’t let him see
me—please—please!”
The little woman turned quickly, startled at the sudden interruption.
“He don’t want ye, child.” The girl’s appearance alarmed her. She is
not often this way, she thought.
“He does—he does. He spoke to me—Oh, where shall I go?” she moaned,
wringing her hands, her whole body trembling like one with an ague.
“Go nowhere,” answered Aunty Bell in decided tones. “Stay where ye be.
I’ll go see him. ’T ain’t nothin’, child, only somethin’ for the
cap’n.” She had long since given up all hope of Caleb’s softening.
As she spoke the diver’s slow and measured step could be heard
sounding along the plank walk.
Aunty Bell let down her apron and stepped to the door. Betty crept
behind the panels, watching him through the crack, stifling her breath
lest she should miss his first word. Oh, the music of his voice at the
gate! Not his words, but the way he spoke,—the gentleness, the pity,
the compassion of it all! As this thought surged through her mind she
grew calmer; a sudden impulse to rush out and throw herself at his
feet took possession of her. He surely could not repel her when his
voice carried such tenderness to her heart. A great sob rose in her
throat. The measured, slow step came closer.
At this instant she heard the outer gate swing to a second time with a
resounding bang, and Captain Joe’s voice calling, “Git yer dress,
Caleb, quick as God’ll let ye! Train through the Medford draw an’ two
men drownded. I’ve been lookin’ fur ye everywhere.”
“Who says so?” answered Caleb calmly without moving.
“Mr. Sanford ’s sent the yacht. His nigger’s outside now. Hurry, I
tell ye; we ain’t got a minute.”
Betty waited, her heart throbbing. Caleb paused for an instant and
looked earnestly and hesitatingly toward the house. Then he turned
quickly and followed Captain Joe.
Aunty Bell waited until she saw both men cross the road on their way
to the dock. Then she went in to find Betty.
She was still crouched behind the door, her limbs trembling beneath
her. On her face was the dazed look of one who had missed, without
knowing why, some great crisis.
“Don’t cry, child,” said the little woman, patting her cheek. “It’s
all right. I knowed he didn’t come for ye.”
“But, Aunty Bell, Aunty Bell,” she sobbed, as she threw her arms about
her neck, “I wanted him so.”