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第23章

a first family of tasajara-第23章

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unselfishly unprofitable。  The challenge was accepted; the

preliminaries arranged。  〃I suppose;〃 said Jack carelessly; 〃as the

old man ought to do something for your wife in case of accident;

you've made some sort of a will?〃



〃I've thought of that;〃 said John Milton; dubiously; 〃but I'm

afraid it's no use。  You see〃he hesitated〃I'm not of age。〃



〃May I ask how old you are; sonny?〃 said Jack with great gravity。



〃I'm almost twenty;〃 said John Milton; coloring。



〃It isn't exactly vingt…et…un; but I'd stand on it; if I were you I

wouldn't draw to such a hand;〃 said Jack; coolly。



The young husband had arranged to be absent from his home that

night; and early morning found him; with Jack; grave; but

courageous; in a little hollow behind the Mission Hills。  To them

presently approached his antagonist; jauntily accompanied by

Colonel Starbottle; his second。  They halted; but after the formal

salutation were instantly joined by Jack Hamlin。  For a few moments

John Milton remained awkwardly alonepending a conversation which

even at that supreme moment he felt as being like the general

attitude of his friends towards him; in its complete ignoring of

himself。  The next moment the three men stepped towards him。  〃We

have come; sir;〃 said Colonel Starbottle in his precisest speech

but his jauntiest manner; 〃to offer you a full and ample apologya

personal apologywhich only supplements that full public apology

that my principal; sir; this gentleman;〃 indicating the editor of

the 〃Pioneer;〃 〃has this morning made in the columns of his paper;

as you will observe;〃 producing a newspaper。  〃We have; sir;〃

continued the colonel loftily; 〃only within the last twelve hours

become aware of theerREAL circumstances of the case。  We would

regret that the affair had gone so far already; if it had not given

us; sir; the opportunity of testifying to your gallantry。  We do so

gladly; and iferera FEW YEARS LATER; Mr。 Harcourt; you should

ever needa friend in any matter of this kind; I am; sir; at your

service。〃  John Milton gazed half inquiringly; half uneasily at

Jack。



〃It's all right; Milt;〃 he said sotto voce。  〃Shake hands all round

and let's go to breakfast。  And I rather think that editor wants to

employ you HIMSELF。〃



It was true; for when that night he climbed eagerly the steep

homeward hill he carried with him the written offer of an

engagement on the 〃Pioneer。〃  As he entered the door his wife's

nurse and companion met him with a serious face。  There had been a

strange and unexpected change in the patient's condition; and the

doctor had already been there twice。  As he put aside his coat and

hat and entered her room; it seemed to him that he had forever put

aside all else of essay and ambition beyond those four walls。  And

with the thought a great peace came upon him。  It seemed good to

him to live for her alone。



It was not for long。  As each monotonous day brought the morning

mist and evening fog regularly to the little hilltop where his

whole being was now centred; she seemed to grow daily weaker; and

the little circle of her life narrowed day by day。  One morning

when the usual mist appeared to have been withheld and the sun had

risen with a strange and cruel brightness; when the waves danced

and sparkled on the bay below and light glanced from dazzling

sails; and even the white tombs on Lone Mountain glittered keenly;

when cheery voices hailing each other on the hillside came to him

clearly but without sense or meaning; when earth; sky; and sea

seemed quivering with life and motion;he opened the door of that

one little house on which the only shadow seemed to have fallen;

and went forth again into the world alone。





CHAPTER VII。





Mr。 Daniel Harcourt's town mansion was also on an eminence; but it

was that gentler acclivity of fashion known as Rincon Hill; and

sunned itself on a southern slope of luxury。  It had been described

as 〃princely〃 and 〃fairy…like;〃 by a grateful reporter; tourists

and travelers had sung its praises in letters to their friends and

in private reminiscences; for it had dispensed hospitality to most

of the celebrities who had visited the coast。  Nevertheless its

charm was mainly due to the ruling taste of Miss Clementina

Harcourt; who had astonished her father by her marvelous intuition

of the nice requirements and elegant responsibilities of their

position; and had thrown her mother into the pained perplexity of a

matronly hen; who; among the ducks' eggs intrusted to her fostering

care; had unwittingly hatched a graceful but discomposing cygnet。



Indeed; after holding out feebly against the siege of wealth at

Tasajara and San Francisco; Mrs。 Harcourt had abandoned herself

hopelessly to the horrors of its invasion; had allowed herself to

be dragged from her kitchen by her exultant daughters and set up in

black silk in a certain conventional respectability in the drawing…

room。  Strange to say; her commiserating hospitality; or hospital…

like ministration; not only gave her popularity; but a certain kind

of distinction。  An exaltation so sorrowfully deprecated by its

possessor was felt to be a sign of superiority。  She was spoken of

as 〃motherly;〃 even by those who vaguely knew that there was

somewhere a discarded son struggling in poverty with a helpless

wife; and that she had sided with her husband in disinheriting a

daughter who had married unwisely。  She was sentimentally spoken of

as a 〃true wife;〃 while never opposing a single meanness of her

husband; suggesting a single active virtue; nor questioning her

right to sacrifice herself and her family for his sake。  With

nothing she cared to affect; she was quite free from affectation;

and even the critical Lawrence Grant was struck with the dignity

which her narrow simplicity; that had seemed small even in Sidon;

attained in her palatial hall in San Francisco。  It appeared to be

a perfectly logical conclusion that when such unaffectedness and

simplicity were forced to assume a hostile attitude to anybody; the

latter must be to blame。



Since the festival of Tasajara Mr。 Grant had been a frequent

visitor at Harcourt's; and was a guest on the eve of his departure

from San Francisco。  The distinguished position of each made their

relations appear quite natural without inciting gossip as to any

attraction in Harcourt's daughters。  It was late one afternoon as

he was passing the door of Harcourt's study that his host called

him in。  He found him sitting at his desk with some papers before

him and a folded copy of the 〃Clarion。〃  With his back to the

fading light of the window his face was partly in shadow。



〃By the way; Grant;〃 he began; with an assumption of carelessness

somewhat inconsistent with the fact that he had just called him in;

〃it may be necessary for me to pull up those fellows who are

blackguarding me in the 'Clarion。'〃



〃Why; they haven't been saying anything new?〃 asked Grant;

laughingly; as he glanced towards the paper。



〃Nothat isonly a rehash of what they said before;〃 returned

Harcourt without opening the paper。



〃Well;〃 said Grant playfully; 〃you don't mind their saying that

you're NOT the original pioneer of Tasajara; for it's true; nor

that that fellow 'Lige Curtis disappeared suddenly; for he did; if

I remember rightly。  But there's nothing in that to invalidate your

rights to Tasajara; to say nothing of your five years' undisputed

possession。〃



〃Of course there's no LEGAL question;〃 said Harcourt almost sharply。

〃But as a matter of absurd report; I may want to contradict their

insinuations。  And YOU remember all the circumstances; don't you?〃



〃I should think so!  Why; my dear fellow; I've told it everywhere!

here; in New York; Newport; and in London; by Jove; it's one of my

best stories!  How a company sent me out with a surveyor to look up

a railroad and agricultural possibilities in the wilderness; how

just as I found 

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