Night was closing in dark and stormy after a day of clouds and
incessant rain, mingled with sleet and snow; the wild November wind
swept madly through the streets, whistled, shrieked and roared in the
wide chimneys and through the forests, bending the trees with its
furious blast, and causing a solitary horseman to bow his head almost
to the saddle bow in the vain effort to shield his face from the
fierceness of its wrath.
"Courage, my brave Romeo, this has been a hard day for you and me,
but rest and shelter and food are not far off now," he said, patting
the neck of his steed with gentle, caressing hand, as a temporary
lull succeeded a more than ordinarily fierce onset. They had crossed
the last prairie, threaded the mazes of the last forest, and were
close upon the outskirts of the town.
It had, indeed, been a hard day, and the doctor was cold, wet and
hungry; icicles had gathered on hair and beard, and the heavy
overcoat he threw off on entering his office was stiff with frozen
rain.
Zeb had a bright fire blazing, and on his master's entrance hastily
lighted a candle and set it on the table.
"Ah, this looks comfortable," said Kenneth, shaking off the icicles
and drawing near the fire. "Hurry, Zeb, and attend to Romeo. But
first, has any one called?"
"Yes, sah; de major lef' word you please step roun' dar; one ob de
chillen sick."
"Much the matter, Zeb?"
"Dunno, massa doctah; 'spec' you kin tell best 'bout dat when you
gets dar; yah, yah," and Zeb vanished.
I think Kenneth sighed a little inwardly, and cast a somewhat
regretful look upon the comforts he was leaving behind, as he made
ready again to face the storm, donning a fur cap and a camelot cloak
which he took down from a nail in the wall.
As he threw it off in the hall at Major Lamar's, the parlor door
opened and a sweet voice said, "Come in, doctor. It was really
almost too bad to ask you to come through this storm, and I think my
brother regrets having done so; for little Bertie does not seem to be
seriously ill now, though some hours ago he had quite a fever."
"Ah, I am glad to hear so good a report," Kenneth said, taking the
soft white hand held out to him, and smiling down into the violet
eyes. "But what sort of doctor should you think me if I were afraid
to face wind, rain and sleet at the call of sickness?"
"Come to the fire and warm your hands," she said lightly, ignoring
his query; "they are much too cold for the handling of my pet boy."
"You are right," he returned, holding them over the blaze.
They stood there side by side for several minutes, chatting on
indifferent topics, the weather, the state of the roads, cases of
sickness in the town.
He thought he had never seen her look so lovely, the beautiful,
abundant hair gleaming like gold in the glancing firelight, the
full, red lips, the large liquid eyes, so intensely blue, that now
looked half shyly into his, now drooped till the heavy silken fringes
swept the fair cheek whereon the soft color came and went with every
breath.
Her dress was simple, but extremely becoming, plain gray in color,
made with a long full skirt that fell in soft folds about her
graceful figure, and neatly-fitting bodice, edged at neck and wrists
with ruffles of delicate lace.
Her only ornaments were a knot of pale blue ribbon in her hair and
another at her throat.
She was in one of her gentlest, most lovable moods, and he could
scarce control the impulse to catch her in his arms, hold her to his
heart, and cover the sweet face with kisses.
But he must not, he dare not, and at that instant the door opened and
the major came in, carrying the sick child, and followed by his wife.
"Ah, doctor, glad to see you; though, since this little chap has
suddenly changed so much for the better, I'm more than half ashamed
of having called you out in such weather."
"No matter for that, major, it is no new thing for me to face a
storm," returned Kenneth, shaking hands with Mrs. Lamar, then turning
to examine his little patient.
Nell slipped away to the privacy of her own room for a moment.
Her cheeks were burning, her heart throbbed wildly; she had read
Kenneth's impulse in his speaking countenance.
"He loves me, he does love me!" she murmured, pacing hurriedly to
and fro; "his eyes have said it over and over again, but why does he
always force back the words that I can see are sometimes trembling
on his very lips, as though it were a sin to speak them? O Kenneth,
Kenneth, what, what is this separating wall between us," she cried,
leaning her burning brow against the window frame and looking out
into the storm and night.
A fierce gust of wind sent the sleet with a furious dash against the
window pane and she shivered with a sudden cold.
The room was fireless, for in those days it was not thought necessary
to heat any but the living rooms, and the air was damp and chill.
But she could not go down again, not yet; and wrapping herself in a
thick shawl, she again paced silently to and fro schooling her heart
into calmness.
The summons to supper found her so far successful that a slightly
heightened color was the only remaining trace of excitement.
Dr. Clendenin had accepted an urgent invitation to remain and there
was one other guest, a lady friend of Mrs. Lamar, from one of the
neighboring settlements. She had been in Chillicothe a day or two and
now found herself storm-stayed.
They were a cheerful party, enjoying the light and warmth and savory
viands all the more for the cold, darkness, and fierce warring of the
elements without.
Nell seemed the gayest of the gay, full of mirth and jest and
brilliant repartee: but she avoided meeting Kenneth's eye, while he
saw every look, every movement of hers, and when in passing an empty
cup to be refilled, their hands touched, it sent a sudden thrill
through both.
Kenneth was very weary and could not prevail upon himself to decline
a seat for the evening beside the major's warm, hospitable hearth,
nor refuse his eyes the privilege of feasting upon Nell's beauty, his
ears that of drinking in each low sweet tone of her voice and the
silvery sound of her rippling laughter.
"Where's your master?" asked Dale, looking into Kenneth's office,
where Zeb was luxuriating in front of a blazing, roaring fire, seated
in the doctor's arm-chair, hands in pockets, pipe in mouth and heels
on the mantelpiece.
"Gone to de major's, sah," answered the boy, bringing his feet
and the forelegs of the chair to the floor with a loud thump, and
removing the pipe, as he turned to look at his interlocutor.
"He has, eh? and you're having a good time in his absence?"
"Yes, sah, massa doctah neber grudge dat when de work's done."
"No, I daresay not," and Dale drew back his head and shut the door.
"Gone to the major's, eh!" he soliloquized as he stepped back into
his own den; "well I reckon I'm about as storm proof as he, so I'll
follow, not being in the mood to appreciate solitude, and feeling
that my hard day's work merits the reward of a little rest and
recreation."
Lyttleton had come to a like resolve and was at that moment closeted
in his own room with his valet, to whom he seemed to have been giving
some directions; his last words as he wrapped himself in his cloak
and went out, were, "Come towards midnight, for though these people
accustom themselves to such confoundedly early hours, I'll manage to
keep them up for once, and follow my orders implicitly. We could not
have a more favorable time, the darkness, the storm, why if spirits
ever walk abroad one would expect it to be on such a night as this,"
he concluded with a mocking laugh.
"Dat ish so, mynheer, and I dinks von vill valk dese shtreets pefore
morning goomes," returned Hans, echoing the laugh.
Arrived at the major's, Dale found the family and guests seated
around the fire, the ladies on one side, the gentlemen on the other.
The circle widened to admit him, Nell laughingly expressing great
surprise at seeing him on such a night.
"Well I don't know," he said, "why I should be supposed less storm
proof than the doctor here, and to tell the truth, fair ladies, I
couldn't endure the thought of his basking in your smiles, while I
sat alone in my dingy office."
"You forget," said Kenneth, "how often the case has been reversed,
Godfrey. If you follow me up in this fashion I shall never be even
with you."
"Not at all necessary that you should, my good fellow," remarked
Dale, toying with Nell's ball of yarn, for she, as well as the other
ladies, was knitting, and he had drawn his chair close to hers, with
a familiarity Kenneth regarded with a jealous pang.
"Alas that he could not have forestalled Dale in this! And did she
care for Dale," he asked himself, watching them without appearing to
do so. How could he bear it if she did? Yet better that by far, than
seeing her in the possession of Lyttleton.
His absence would be at least one advantage reaped from the
increasing fury of the storm. Lyttleton was not a rugged pioneer like
themselves, and would surely remain closely housed until it had spent
its wrath.
He was mistaken; scarcely had the thought passed through his mind,
when there came a loud rap upon the outer door, quickly followed by
the Englishman's entrance.
"What you, too, sir, out in this terrific storm!" exclaimed Dale, not
too well pleased, as the circle again widened to admit the new comer.
"Why, yes," said Lyttleton, "I'm not a milk-sop, my dear sir,
and finding both the bar-room at the tavern and my own apartment
extremely dull, I ventured out, trusting to a heavy cloak for
protection from wind and rain, and to the kind hospitality of these
friends for a welcome here."
"You are heartily welcome, sir," said the major; "but draw up closer
to the fire, for I am sorry to see that the cloak has not proved a
perfect protection from the wet."
"Thanks--no; I found I had miscalculated, to some extent, the force
of the wind," laughed Lyttleton, with a downward glance at his nether
limbs, as he accepted the invitation.
It was unworthy of Nell, but seized with a sudden impulse to vex
Kenneth, and excite his jealousy, by way of revenge for his strange,
his unaccountable silence toward her, she seemed for the next hour
scarcely conscious of his presence, while at the same time she
lavished smiles, sweet looks, and pleasant words upon his two rivals.
It did pain him sorely, though he gave no sign by word or look, and
the sharpest pang was the thought that she was less noble and true,
less worthy of the exalted place she had hitherto held in his esteem,
than he could have believed.
But the storm grew wilder, the air was full of weird and eerie
sounds, and an awed, half fearful silence fell upon the little
company.
They drew their chairs nearer together, and Lyttleton, breaking the
silence, began telling legendary tales of storm and flood in his own
and other lands, following them up with stories of second sight, of
murder, suicide and ghostly visitants, fit to curdle the blood with
horror.
The lady guest and Mrs. Lamar, too, had some to match these last,
and though the major, the captain, Kenneth and Dale, listened with
incredulous looks and smiles, it was with an interest that made
them, as well as the others, unconscious of the lapse of time till
Dale, glancing casually at the tall old clock ticking in a corner,
exclaimed that it was half past eleven.
Lyttleton had just finished one of his most thrilling and horrible
ghost stories, which had wrought up the female portion of his
audience, at least, into a state of extreme nervous excitement; and
at that instant there came a blast that seemed to shake the house
to its very foundations, the door flew open, and in stalked a tall
Hessian in officer's uniform, drawing his sword and vociferating
loudly in his native tongue.
The ladies shrieked, the Hessian advanced toward the major,
brandishing his weapon, gesticulating wildly, and yelling with a fury
that drowned the noise of the raging tempest!
The gentlemen seemed stunned with astonishment. Lyttleton was the
first to recover himself.
"Begone!" he cried, hastily placing himself so as to shield Nell from
the approach of the enraged foreigner, and drawing a pistol from his
pocket, "begone, sirrah, or I will shoot you through the heart."
With that the Hessian turned about and beat a hasty retreat,
grumbling and swearing as he went.
Lyttleton stepped quickly to the door and secured it after him, then
returned to Nell's side to whisper with triumphant air, "Ghost or
mortal, I have driven the wretch away, and you are safe, fair lady."
The other two ladies, pale, trembling, half-fainting with terror,
hailed him gratefully as their deliverer; but Nell had recovered from
her fright in the very instant of uttering the shriek called forth by
the sudden apparition.
Was there not something familiar in the face, the form, the stride
with which he crossed the room?
She looked Lyttleton keenly in the eye, then returned his whisper
with another.
"Did it require any great stretch of courage to order your valet out
of the house?"
She had drawn her bow at a venture and was surprised to see by his
air of overwhelming confusion and chagrin, that her arrow had sped
straight to the mark.
"Your Hessian as sure as I stand here, sir!" cried Captain Bernard,
recovering himself and clapping the major on the shoulder. "Well,
well, I'll believe in ghosts hereafter. I never was more astonished
or taken aback in my life. Lyttleton, you showed yourself the
most quick-witted and self-possessed of any of us. Allow me to
congratulate you on the laurels you have won."
"I--I--" stammered Lyttleton with a deprecating glance at Nell, whose
lips were curling with scorn.
"We will spare your modesty," said the major, grasping the
Englishman's hand warmly, "but let me tender you the thanks of the
company."
Lyttleton was strangely confused and embarrassed; the ease and
perfect self-possession on which he so prided himself, had on a
sudden entirely forsaken him; he darted a quick, imploring glance at
Nell, and half in pity, half in contempt she returned an answering
look that told him his secret was safe.
The others saw this by-play with varied feelings of wonder, curiosity
and surprise, but no one understood it.
Captain Bernard was the first to speak.
"Well, gentlemen, it is growing very late and no prospect of
abatement of the storm. I move that we adjourn _sine die_. Mr.
Lyttleton, shall I have the pleasure of your good company to our
hotel?"