T HE CARRINGTONS 
 OF HIGH HILL 
 
 MARION HAR.L7i.ND
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES

 
 THE CARRINGTONS 
 OF HIGH HILL
 
 THE CARRINGTONS 
 OF HIGH HILL 
 
 AN OLD VIRGINIA CHRONICLE 
 
 BY 
 MARION HARLAND 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 1919
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1919, B* 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 Published August 1919
 
 TO 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER 
 
 FOR FORTY YEARS MY PUBLISHER AND FRIEND 
 
 THIS LEAF FROM THE STORIED PAST 
 IS GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
 
 1512951
 
 The Carringtons of High Hill 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 "LONG, long ago years upon years when I was 
 young and giddy, one of my dearest delights was to 
 picture to myself what I should like to be and to 
 do if the management of my life were committed 
 to me. I have been giving the question half-an- 
 hour's hard thinking this morning. Real thinking 
 not castje-building with glorified wood, hay, and 
 stubble, but logical deductions and all that, you 
 know, as serious as anything I ever learned in 
 'Watts On the Mind.' And I have come to a sane 
 and settled conclusion." 
 
 The pause that followed the speech was half a 
 minute long before the solitary auditor said: 
 
 "And that was " 
 
 "That is, my dear aunt! The present tense 
 if you please ! I feel sublimely certain that 
 
 " ' Were the whole realm of Nature mine,' 
 
 at this blessed minute, I should rather be just what 
 I am and here, and now, than to be Semiramis, 
 Cleopatra, and 'the fair girl Victoria' (as the news- 
 papers call her) rolled into one miracle of loveliness 
 and cleverness and authority."
 
 2 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Sinking the defiant tone into gentler musing she 
 went on, her eyes fixed upon the scene without the 
 window at which she sat: 
 
 "Yes! Helen Carrington! eighteen years old, 
 just emancipated from the thraldom of a young 
 ladies' seminary, once more in the home in which 
 she was born, healthy and strong, and happy in 
 having the dearest aunt and father, and the wisest 
 grandmother living, and with years of fun and frolic 
 before her sitting in this grand old chamber, gaz- 
 ing out upon 'the goodliest land the sun ever shone 
 upon.' That was what Captain John Smith said 
 of Virginia, and he left the truth nine-tenths untold. 
 
 " ' Oh, let us be joyful! joyful! joyful! ' " 
 
 She warbled it, whirling around the room with 
 uplifted arms as a humming-bird might encircle a 
 rose-bush, winding up the waltz by skating down 
 the whole length of the polished floor to the side of 
 the still figure in a rocking-chair set within the deep 
 embrasure of another window. Falling upon her 
 knees, the girl took the smiling face between her 
 hands and kissed it passionately. 
 
 "Say you are as glad to have me at home as I 
 am to be here! Or I shall expire upon the spot!" 
 
 "Nobody could be happier than I to have my little 
 girl with me again ! You do not need to have me 
 repeat it." 
 
 The elder woman drew the flushed face to her 
 shoulder and laid her own cheek against it,
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 3 
 
 "We understand each other and love each other 
 too well to waste words and time in protestations." 
 
 Her voice was singularly musical, her hands wan- 
 dered fondly over the child's hair with meaning in 
 each motion. 
 
 Helen had called her companion "aunt," and had 
 known no other title for her from earliest infancy. 
 In reality, the bond of kinship was so slender that 
 it would not have been recognized anywhere except 
 in old Virginia. Elizabeth Moore was the only 
 child of a distant cousin and intimate friend of the 
 mistress of the homestead, to which the child came 
 at six years of age, thirty years ago. Madam Car- 
 rington as she was even then called had brought 
 her up with her own daughter, who died young. 
 Elizabeth recollected no other home, and very faintly 
 the mother whose failing health had barred the 
 child from close association with her for a couple 
 of years before the parent's death. 
 
 No advantage that wealth and social position 
 could procure was denied the adopted daughter, 
 and she was an heiress in her own right. In person 
 she was attractive to other eyes than those of her 
 adopted family. Petite in figure, graceful in mo- 
 tion, with regular and refined features, and gifted 
 with a gentle fascination of manner and speech, she 
 was the acknowledged favorite of county society. 
 If lovers had not thronged in troops to High Hill 
 the ancestral home of the Carringtons enough 
 suitors were reported to keep the gossips on the 
 alert to discover valid reasons why Elizabeth Moore
 
 4 , THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 had not married. She did not vex her placid spirit 
 with the problem and the perplexities it cost her 
 well-wishers. At thirty-six she held on the gentle 
 tenor of her blameless way, the friend of all, the safe 
 counsellor of the young, and the abiding comfort 
 of the ruler of the demesne. 
 
 While she was still a mere infant it was decreed 
 that "Elizabeth" was, as Madam Carrington's 
 husband, then alive, declared, "too stately a name 
 for the midget." It was he who rechristened her 
 "Beth." A winsome title, and according so har- 
 moniously with the wearer that it was fixed upon 
 her for life. True, Madam Carrington never fa- 
 vored the abbreviation of the name bestowed upon 
 her friend's offspring by parents and church. Upon 
 her firm lips the child and woman was always 
 "Elizabeth." The servants, as a matter of course, 
 never ventured to use the pet-name. Etiquette, 
 rooted and grounded in immemorial custom, for- 
 bade them to take liberties with the titles of young 
 masters and mistresses. Even to the colored foster- 
 mother, her nurslings were "Master" Richard, 
 William, or Edgar, and "Miss" Margaret, or Ade- 
 laide, or Victoria. 
 
 Presently, Helen slid girl fashion to the floor 
 and laid her pretty head upon the lap of her friend. 
 Beth put out an arm for a cushion that lay in the 
 window-seat. 
 
 " Sit upon this, dear ! The floor is cold and hard 
 and, maybe, dusty. And your frock is too pretty 
 to be spoiled."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 5 
 
 "You think of everybody's comfort except your 
 own!" pouted the petted beauty. "Tell me, 
 auntie dear, was your angelic self-forgetfulness born 
 in you, or did you have to learn it by what our 
 moral philosophy teacher used to call 'The Dis- 
 cipline of Life'? And a mighty uncomfortable 
 process 7 should consider it ! " 
 
 "Sometimes yes! It all depends upon how we 
 take it. You were praising Jacob last night for 
 breaking in your blooded mare so well. You would 
 not have cared to ride her as she was a year ago." 
 
 "But we are not brute beasts ! That is, all of us 
 are not. You, for instance, are nearer akin to the 
 angels," her arm stealing around Beth's slender 
 waist, to deal an emphatic squeeze. "And if, as 
 grandmother and the preachers say, our lives are 
 all cut and fitted and basted for us before we are 
 born where is the need of interfering with the 
 plans of the Almighty?" 
 
 "I don't know, my child!" 
 
 The calm accent would have been dry upon an- 
 other's tongue. Helen twisted herself around for 
 a full view of the other's face. 
 
 "Does anybody know? You are a truth- teller, 
 and don't hesitate to say right out that you are as 
 ignorant as if the Bible had never been translated 
 into King James's Version, and never a sermon 
 upon effectual calling and predestination had been 
 preached. Oh! I am sick and tired of it all I I 
 have my own life to live and my own career to make, 
 and I am a free agent not a jumping-jack, jerked
 
 6 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 by a string held by somebody I have never seen, 
 and who has a million billions of other puppets to 
 pull ! Grandmother would send me off to bed for 
 a week, and feed me upon bread and water until 
 I 'professed conversion,' if she were to hear me. 
 You were made on a different pattern. I can be 
 blasphemous to you when the spirit moves me." 
 
 A soft hand was laid upon her lips. But the gen- 
 tle voice did not vary by a half-tone: 
 
 "You are mixing your figures! You were tell- 
 ing us at breakfast of attending Quaker meetings 
 in Philadelphia, and ought to know that the spirit 
 does not move anybody to blasphemy. It is not 
 wise it certainly is not safe for two people as 
 ignorant about such matters as you and I, to dis- 
 cuss creeds and doctrines. I have never known 
 any good to come of such talks, even among men and 
 women who profess to be learned in theology." 
 
 Helen's mute kiss upon the small hand before she 
 let it go, was the only response. 
 
 In the Southern homestead of the forties, the 
 "chamber" still held the place of honor awarded it 
 by colonial freeholders. Since the eyes of the mis- 
 tress must be ever on the watch to see that rules 
 were not defied, and daily and hourly orders were 
 obeyed at least, in part, the chamber named as 
 though there were no other in the mansion was 
 invariably upon the first, or what the original Eng- 
 lish settlers would have called "the ground floor." 
 The waste of time and strength involved in climbing 
 Stairs to carry on the surveillance of the dwelling,
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 7 
 
 garden and kitchen, requisite to secure a tolerable 
 degree of comfort for the household, would have 
 worn the delicately reared matron of the age into 
 an untimely grave. The chamber occupied by 
 Madam Carrington had descended to her by ordi- 
 nary generation, her great-grandmother and her 
 husband's great-grandfather having been sister and 
 brother. Four generations of the women of her 
 blood had been born, had lived out useful, domestic 
 lives, given birth to large families of children, and 
 died in their beds in the big room in which the first 
 scene of this chronicle is laid. The chamber was 
 twenty-five feet square, and flanked the front door 
 on the right as one mounted the steps of the long, 
 deep porch, which nobody thought of calling "ve- 
 randa" or "portico." There were four big windows 
 in the room, two overlooking the front yard. The 
 word "lawn" crept into the Virginia vocabulary a 
 generation thereafter. The other two were on either 
 side of the wide " chimneypiece " opposite the door 
 leading into the entrance-hall. The high mantel 
 was of carved oak and framed a huge fireplace. 
 
 The season was mid-May, the air was balmy and 
 the sky without a cloud, yet the andirons brass 
 sphinxes brought from "the old country" a century 
 and-a-half ago were laden with hickory logs, all 
 of equal size and form, underlaid by yellow "light- 
 wood " kindlings, ready to flash into a roaring flame 
 at the touch of match or "chunk of fire." Without 
 having heard of hygienic precautions, and not 
 knowing "sanitation" by name, the mistress of the
 
 8 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 chamber claimed that the uniform health of her 
 family was due in no small degree to her practice 
 of having a blaze upon the hearth every morning 
 of the year until the Fourth of July, and after that, 
 whenever damp or cool mornings warranted it. 
 
 The "blaze" had done its duty that day, and 
 been supplanted by the orderly construction that 
 now graced the hearth. 
 
 At the corner of the room most remote from the 
 fireplace stood the curtained four-poster. The 
 ample feather-bed was like a smooth snow-drift 
 under a counterpane embroidered by the present 
 owner and her three sisters, in as many different 
 designs, all original with the respective needle- 
 women. 
 
 Full white dimity curtains, depending from a 
 carved cornice, enclosed the bed on three sides, and 
 were looped back with blue ribbons on the side fac- 
 ing the room. A mahogany bureau of the late 
 Georgian period; a wardrobe of the same date 
 whose double doors were mirrors ten feet in height; 
 three armchairs; a "light stand" bearing two silver 
 candlesticks at the head of the bed; two folding 
 card- tables, genuine Sheratons; three small Windsor 
 chairs and the low rocker in which Beth sat with 
 her work-basket, completed the furniture of the 
 spacious room which was the heart of the home. 
 
 Madam Carrington had told, tunes without num- 
 ber, that the card-tables were bought by her grand- 
 father at the auction of the effects of one of the 
 Williamsburg Custises, a cousin of Martha Wash-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 9 
 
 ington's first husband, and how the baize covering 
 of the folding-leaf of one table bore the marks of a 
 toddy-bowl and smaller rings left by tumblers of 
 "hot stuff." 
 
 "My grandmother had new baize put on, of 
 course," she would add, "but the old covers were 
 never thrown away. I have them still. For, my 
 grandfather, who fought under Washington and had 
 messed with him very often, used to say: 'There is 
 no telling but that one or more of the stains may 
 have been made by the general's own toddy tum- 
 bler.' The dear old gentleman was too good a 
 Presbyterian to care for cards or toddy for himself, 
 but like all true patriots, he reverenced Washington." 
 
 Beth could repeat the tale, word for word. Once 
 in a great while when madam was safely out of 
 hearing, she would confide to a discreet kinswoman 
 or man the commentary of the veteran's grand- 
 son, the late Edmund Carrington, that "if one might 
 judge from the rubicund complexion and bulbous 
 nose of the sainted Presbyterian's portrait, hanging 
 over the sideboard in the dining-room, he was not 
 converted to teetotalism until his wild oats were 
 sowed, cut, and harvested." 
 
 It is doubtful if the irreverent remark was ever 
 made by the husband in the august presence of his 
 consort. If it had drifted to her at second hand, 
 she made no sign. She relegated it, along with other 
 signs of the growing irreverence of the present age, 
 to the limbo appointed for "things not convenient 
 to be spoken of."
 
 io THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 In Beth Moore's constant heart her adoptive 
 father held a higher place than that accorded by 
 his relict to the Father of his Country. His genial 
 courtesy to all classes; his tender care of her from 
 the day he lifted her in strong, caressing arms from 
 the carriage that brought the orphan to his door, 
 to the hour when he opened his dying eyes upon 
 her grief-stricken face, and the stiffening lips tried 
 to frame her name he was the embodiment of her 
 ideal of manly virtues and graces. He had been 
 friend, champion, teacher, and fondest of parents 
 to her for six years. She had passed her twelfth 
 birthday just a week before he died. She had taken 
 her last ride with him that day the first ride upon 
 the horse he had had trained for her, "to be given 
 to her when she entered her teens." She had car- 
 ried the phrase in her memory as a sacred bequest. 
 
 She could not have told why she was saying it 
 over to herself, or why his image should have been 
 especially distinct in her mind on this May day. 
 Nor why the child, leaning on her lap, her dreamful 
 eyes bent upon the cumulous clouds asleep in the 
 blue sky above the tree-tops, should at that instant 
 have put a leading question to her: 
 
 "Aunt Beth! What sort of a man was my 
 grandfather?"
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE thrill that went through her companion's 
 frame brought Helen's eyes from cloudland to the 
 present scene. 
 
 There was nothing in the commonplace query 
 to startle or surprise the little lady. Grandfather 
 had been dead these twenty-odd years, and Beth 
 was really not related to him. The thought flashed 
 through her brain before the answer came, uttered 
 deliberately and with no token of emotion: 
 
 "One of the best men God ever made, my child, 
 or that He will ever make. Why do you ask ? " 
 
 Helen laughed gleefully: 
 
 "Because I heard Mr. Robinson say a funny thing 
 about him the day I spent with Carrie Robinson 
 in Richmond. He was talking with another man 
 on the back porch, and they did not know I could 
 hear what was said. The other man a Mr. Sel- 
 den from down the river, who had dined with the 
 Robinsons that day said: 'I met Paul Carrington 
 on the street this morning. He told me that he 
 was on his way home from Philadelphia, where he 
 had been to bring his daughter from boarding- 
 school. He looks well and like his mother. She 
 was the handsomest woman in the county when 
 Edmund Carrington courted her.' Then he laughed 
 
 ii
 
 12 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 a horrid kind of chuckle and said: 'You recol- 
 lect that we used to speak of them as "Mrs. Carring- 
 ton, Et Cetera " ? His name was " Edmund Travers 
 Carrington," you know. But I tell you, she was a 
 "clipper!" Then Mr. Robinson said something 
 in a low voice and they moved away. I suppose 
 he may have told who I was, and was afraid that I 
 might be near enough to overhear them." 
 
 "It would have been better if you had not stayed 
 there after your father's name was mentioned. 
 The only honorable and safe thing to do in such 
 circumstances is to get out of hearing as soon as 
 possible. The old saying that 'Listeners never hear 
 any good of themselves' is true in ninety-nine out 
 of a hundred cases. I am very, very sorry you heard 
 the 'disrespectful remark about your grandfather. 
 Forget it as soon as you can ! I know Mr. Selden. 
 I thought he was a gentleman !" 
 
 "He is, auntie! The Robinsons think the world 
 and all of him ! He was only joking, and he did not 
 know I heard him !" 
 
 "Don't try to defend an unkind and unjust speech 
 a foolish play upon the accidental arrangement 
 of initials! I have heard of it before, but never 
 imagined that a man of Mr. Selden's character would 
 mention it. Listen, child ! never give the silly joke 
 a second thought. 
 
 "Your grandfather was a Christian gentleman, 
 with the kindest heart that ever beat. He was so 
 far superior to some men with whom he was obliged 
 to associate that they did not understand him. He
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 13 
 
 loved books, and they loved horse-racing. He was 
 chivalrous to women, and they were careless of the 
 common civilities of life. But I have not patience 
 to talk of it. It was monstrous 1 disgraceful ! " 
 
 To Helen's distress and amazement the words 
 were lost hi a sob, and the speaker raised the hand- 
 kerchief she was hemstitching to dry a tear. The 
 display of weakness in serene, even-pulsed Aunt 
 Beth was unprecedented in the girl's experience. 
 Both arms went around the bowed form, and a 
 flood of regretful apologies half-articulated in her 
 haste and contrition were poured into Beth's ear. 
 
 The outbreak was quickly over. The unfinished 
 cambric was used to dry the apologist's face, and 
 Beth smiled naturally into the moist eyes. 
 
 "I ought not to be sorry that you told me the 
 ridiculous story, for it gave me the chance to set 
 wrong right. I don't want you to be afraid to ask 
 me any questions that bother you, and which I 
 may be able to answer. It is far better to get rid 
 of perplexities by plain speaking than to let them 
 fester in the heart until they change to poison. 
 Open confession is good for the soul, we are told." 
 
 Helen was perched upon the window-bench, now, 
 and her smile was fading before a blending of wist- 
 fulness and diffidence it was not easy to put into 
 words. She twisted her ringers tightly while she 
 murmured slowly: "That is a Roman Catholic 
 proverb, isn't it?" 
 
 "Perhaps so. It is true, no matter who said it !" 
 
 "That reminds me " began the girl, an odd mix-
 
 14 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HELL 
 
 ture of wistfulness and incertitude gaining upon 
 her as she tortured the slim hands. 
 
 "Of what else?" smiled Beth, resuming her stitch- 
 ing to grant the girl time to collect her wits and put 
 words in order. 
 
 "I ought not to say 'reminds me,' for the idea has 
 not been out of my thoughts for one waking hour 
 since I came home. I can't tell you how I have 
 longed to ask you a few questions, and how I, some- 
 how, couldn't bring myself to speak of what has 
 never been talked of when I was by. Yet it would 
 seem that I, of all living creatures, ought to know 
 all about it. I seem to have had the luck of hear- 
 ing things! when I was in Richmond. I met at 
 the same Robinson dinner an old lady a Mrs. 
 Poitiaux who said I looked like my mother !" 
 
 She stopped short and looked straight into eyes 
 that widened suddenly, as in alarm, or in amazement. 
 Then Beth threaded a needle with hands that did 
 not quiver, and spoke calmly: 
 
 "Yes? Goon!" 
 
 "You won't be vexed if I do?" 
 
 "Why should I? Didn't I tell you to speak out 
 frankly?" 
 
 "I know, but you see, I have never heard her 
 spoken of by any of you at home. I thought when 
 I was younger that was because we Virginians don't 
 talk about dead relations. It isn't considered 
 proper for some reason I don't comprehend. And 
 it is not so, everywhere. In Philadelphia, for in- 
 stance, it is quite different- "
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HELL 15 
 
 She was feeling her way from one sentence to 
 another, still searching the eyes that did not quail 
 under the questioning that was a demand. 
 
 "So it never struck me as singular that I grew 
 up without being told anything of the mother who 
 died when I was a baby. Once a colored nurse 
 took me down to the burying-ground at the foot of 
 the garden, and showed me a hollow she said was 
 my mother's grave! Ugh! my flesh creeps now 
 when I think what a forlorn spot it was! The 
 Germans call a graveyard 'God's acre/ The High 
 Hill burial-ground must be the devil's playground 
 overgrown with grass and weeds for three-quarters 
 of the year ! Three times, between March and No- 
 vember, the tangled stuff is cut and carried away to 
 make bedding for cows and horses. I coaxed the 
 girl to take me there once a week, and to help me 
 trim the grass from my mother's grave. Then, 
 somehow, grandmother found us out and punished 
 Molly, and changed my nurse. I was told there 
 were snakes there!" She shuddered again. 
 
 " Dear child ! " Beth chafed with her warm hands 
 the fingers that were growing cold. "You were an 
 imaginative baby, and it was unwholesome for your 
 mind, as well as for your body, for you to visit that 
 place often. You know that we do not think of 
 those who are gone from us as lying in the earth, 
 but as living and happy. This is why so little atten- 
 tion is paid to graveyards." 
 
 An impatient gesture checked her. 
 
 "We won't discuss that now! What I began to
 
 16 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 say was that this Mrs. Poitiaux is a Catholic. She 
 had met my mother several times when my father 
 took her to Richmond, spring and fall, to buy new 
 clothes, and as Mrs. Poitiaux told me in a half- 
 whisper, lest Mrs. Robinson should guess what we 
 were talking about 'to get a chance to go to her 
 own church and to confession.' She cautioned me 
 to say nothing to the Robinsons about it when she 
 found that I had not known until then that my 
 mother was not a Presbyterian, or even a Protestant. 
 Now that the black secret is out of my mouth 
 I want you to tell me all about my very own mother. 
 Was there any other disgraceful secret connected 
 with her? If so, I have a right to know it. When 
 I turn over the question in my mind particularly 
 at night when I ought to be sleeping I cannot be- 
 lieve that I am the same girl who declared not half 
 an hour ago that she was the happiest being alive. 
 You often say that I am 'mercurial' and have the 
 'sunniest temperament of anybody you have ever 
 known.' But I can, and I do suffer when I let 
 myself think, and I have done some hard thinking 
 this last week. 
 
 11 Now before grandmother and father come back 
 from making the rounds of the plantation which 
 will take them for an hour more I beg you the 
 only mother I have ever known to tell me who and 
 what I am, and who was my real mother." 
 
 She was actually kneeling, her hands clasped ; her 
 gaze into Beth's eyes was an agony of supplication. 
 
 Without offering to raise her from the floor, the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 17 
 
 older woman laid aside her work and put her hand 
 under the quivering chin of the suppliant. 
 
 "'Disgrace' is not a word to be named in this 
 matter, my dear. I will clear away every shred of 
 the 'mystery' in a very few words. Your mother, 
 Cecile Larue, was a New Orleans beauty and belle 
 when your father, who was making a tour of the 
 South, fell in love with her, and after a month's ac- 
 quaintance married her and brought her to his home. 
 Your grandmother was not pleased, at first, because 
 the marriage was brought about so suddenly. Your 
 father had written to inform her of it, and to pre- 
 pare her for their coming. But, as happened more 
 frequently then than now, the letter miscarried, 
 and we did not get it until he had been at home a 
 week. 
 
 "By then, the bride had taken all hearts captive. 
 She introduced new life into the quiet neighborhood, 
 and the young people blessed her for it. She was 
 full of life and gayety. In a year you were born, 
 and the old house was happier than ever. But the 
 climate was never quite suited to your mother's 
 constitution. She took cold easily and grew list- 
 less and nervous. Your father went with her to the 
 White Sulphur when you were two years old, and 
 she rallied for a while. The next winter she was 
 thin and pale, and had a cough that alarmed us. 
 In January your father took her back to New Orleans. 
 It was a tedious journey, but he wrote that she bore 
 it well, and that he would leave her with her mar- 
 ried brother for the rest of the whiter. He came
 
 i8 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 home alone in March. In May he had word that 
 your mother was ill again, and set out at once for 
 New Orleans. We heard nothing for several weeks. 
 Then a letter came to say that she was dead, and 
 that her husband was bringing the remains home. 
 He reached High Hill the last of June. The next 
 day she was buried in the family graveyard. 
 
 "You know the rest; how you have been the 
 dearest thing upon earth to us three ever since. 
 How, when your father and grandmother thought 
 it best to give you better educational advantages 
 than were to be had hi Virginia, they entered you 
 in a Philadelphia seminary, the principal of which 
 was a distant relative and old friend of your grand- 
 mother. 
 
 "And now" gathering the trembling figure into 
 her bosom as if she were still the baby that had 
 slept there until the little one developed into the 
 maiden who had outgrown her protector "now 
 that you have heard the long, sad story, we will 
 talk of other things to get these worrying fancies 
 out of your head. Let them go, my child ! There 
 is enough real misery in the world without torturing 
 ourselves with ghosts of our own making. Did 
 Mr. Rice tell you that the white Dorking hen, sent 
 to him from England, has hatched out a fine brood 
 of chickens ? You knew didn't you that he built 
 a separate house for her when she was ready to bring 
 up a family?" 
 
 The little jest fell flat. The ghosts were far from 
 being laid. Helen had braced herself in the em-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 19 
 
 brasure of the window, her arms wrapped about her 
 knees. She looked away from the would-be com- 
 forter, in putting the next question. Her eyes were 
 set and hard, her intonations inquisitorial. 
 
 "I am not to be put off in that fashion, Aunt 
 Beth ! As I have said, I have a right to know all 
 I wish to learn about my personal history, and I 
 mean to get the facts in the case. Did my father 
 love my mother? Was he unkind to her?" 
 
 ' ' Helen Carrington ! ' ' 
 
 The exclamation rang out like the snap of a whip, 
 but the stiff attitude was not relaxed; the eyes 
 stared unwaveringly at the opposite side of the 
 recess. 
 
 "Yes! it is Helen Carrington who is bold enough 
 to demand her rights. You promised to be frank 
 with me. Keep your word !" 
 
 Angry as she was, she was forced to respect the 
 dignity of the reply. 
 
 "It is not strange that I should be shocked by the 
 question. You ought to know your father too well 
 to think much less to insinuate that he could 
 be unkind to any one. He loved your mother de- 
 votedly! He has mourned her sincerely all these 
 years. Let that satisfy your curiosity. I thought 
 everybody who had any knowledge of his character 
 and actions must be aware of that. You should be 
 the last person on earth to doubt the long, sad story. 
 I take it you have no more to say on the subject ? " 
 
 She arose as if to leave the room. For her the 
 inquisition was closed.
 
 20 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Still without looking at her, Helen held the skirt 
 of Beth's dress fast. 
 
 "There are one or two more points to be settled. 
 Did my grandmother hate her son's wife because 
 he married her without her permission? Or be- 
 cause she was a Roman Catholic?" 
 
 "If you do not know her well enough to answer 
 the questions for yourself, it is useless for me to 
 tell you the truth." 
 
 Never in the whole course of their united lives 
 had Helen seen Beth wrought up to positive anger. 
 The soft rose-tint that kept her face young took on 
 a deeper flush; her tone was vibrant. Gathering 
 up her work into the basket, she walked to the door, 
 features set and head erect. 
 
 In the sudden revulsion of a nature at once mer- 
 curial and passionate, Helen sprang after her, over- 
 taking her in the wide porch which was the family 
 sitting-room from April until November. It was 
 dim with the green glooms of honeysuckle and 
 "virgin's-bower," and besides themselves there was 
 no one in sight. With loving vehemence the peni- 
 tent dragged her mentor to the far end of the re- 
 treat and forced her into the big rocker which was 
 Madam Carrington's usual seat. Holding her there, 
 the girl poured out a torrent of contrition. 
 
 Some devil must have taken possession of her 
 to-day ! She hated herself for yielding to it ! She 
 could never forgive herself! But if Aunt Beth 
 could and would she would promise never, never, 
 NEVER
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 21 
 
 She was not allowed to go further. 
 
 "There ! there ! " The tone was the same that had 
 hushed her childish rages. "We will go up to my 
 room and quiet down before any one comes in to 
 see us. A little cold water and cologne will set you 
 all right again! No, my child! I am not angry 
 with you only sorry that we forgot ourselves for 
 a few minutes." 
 
 "Forgot ourselves!" That was the tone of the 
 woman's life and conduct. 
 
 Before Helen was sent to the Philadelphia semi- 
 nary to "mellow down," as she put it, she had de- 
 clared that "Aunt Beth insisted upon sharing the 
 sins of other folks, and gave them all the credit of 
 their virtues." 
 
 Refusing now to listen to more confessions, and 
 turning a deaf ear to incoherent petitions, she forced 
 the culprit to lie down upon the lounge in the cool, 
 shaded upper chamber, of which it might truly be 
 said that "the name was 'Peace,'" administered a 
 draught of sal volatile and water, and fanned her 
 patient until the convulsive heavings of the recum- 
 bent form subsided into natural breathing. 
 
 "Asleep poor baby!" whispered the watcher, 
 drawing a tall-backed chair between the lounge and 
 the window to shut out every ray of light. For 
 herself, she sat in the shadow, motionless and 
 thoughtful, reviewing the stormy scene she would 
 fain have averted. She had a sensitive conscience, 
 and to tamper with the truth was a sin at that tri- 
 bunal. She dealt honestly with the part she had
 
 22 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 played in fulfilling the pledge to be candid with 
 the daughter who had been kept all her life in ig- 
 norance of the leading facts of her parents' wedded 
 life. 
 
 "Every word was true," was the ruling. "Had 
 I told her all, nothing but trouble would have come 
 of it." 
 
 Then memory, cruel as the grave, bowed head and 
 heart. The June day she had named to Helen as 
 the date of the home-bringing of the Southern bride 
 was years ago. Yet in fancy she was sitting upon 
 the shady side of the porch with Paul's mother and 
 Mr. Rice, then the pastor of the church in which 
 the Carringtons worshipped chatting naturally of 
 indifferent affairs. The forenoon was windless but 
 not sultry, and the roses were in richest bloom. 
 Madam Carrington wore white habitually in summer, 
 as did Beth, and Mr. Rice had on that day a suit 
 of immaculate white linen. 
 
 Beth had picked a tea-rose for him, and he had 
 fastened it nattily in his buttonhole. The front 
 gate was not visible from this side of the porch, and 
 they were too busy talking to hear the roll of a 
 carriage that halted there. The crunch of foot- 
 steps upon the gravel walk skirting the corner of 
 the house attracted no attention until they halted 
 at the foot of the steps, and Paul Carrington led 
 to the level of the porch floor the radiant creature 
 none of the three had ever seen before. Draperies 
 of filmy pink and gray floated about her like twi- 
 light mists, her beautiful face dimpled with smiles.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 23 
 
 As Paul began to speak she held out two white- 
 gloved hands in wooing appeal: 
 
 "Mother! This is my wife! You must love 
 her!" 
 
 Then Beth could never forget the crowning 
 horror of the scene Madam Carrington swooned 
 for the first time in her life. Her son, from one 
 side, and Mr. Rice, from the other, saved her from 
 falling, and laid her back in the chair from which 
 she had sprung erect like one shot through the 
 heart. . . . 
 
 Beth pressed her hands upon her eyes as if to 
 shut out the weeks and months that followed. 
 She had forced herself to outline the tale to the 
 child of the enchantress who changed the whole 
 complexion of county life for the next three years. 
 Beth had told Helen that the bride captivated the 
 neighborhood. The particulars of the conquest she 
 would not detail. 
 
 The chain of fine plantations bordering the river 
 on both sides had a reputation throughout the 
 State for intelligence, breeding, and a refinement 
 of prosperity utterly dissimilar to the meretricious 
 polish which is all that mere wealth can impart. 
 Without exception the "best people" of the region 
 were old families bound into the charmed confed- 
 eration by generations of college-bred freeholders 
 and high-born women. Their lands were well-cul- 
 tivated; their negroes well- treated and contented; 
 their churches were well-attended. Nine- tenths of 
 the white population were Presbyterians with a
 
 24 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 sprinkling of Episcopalians. The latter might be 
 said to add frosting to the seemly loaf of highly 
 respectable Christianity. Heredity might be char- 
 acterized as the understudy of an approving Provi- 
 dence that had shaped the ends of county families, 
 preserved accredited pedigrees and assured incomes. 
 
 Paul Carrington's beautiful wife had French 
 blood in her veins. She was a mad lover of plea- 
 sure, of power, and of prestige. In the three years 
 of her reign as a society leader in the neighborhood 
 we have indicated in a few, feeble strokes, she 
 wrought cyclonic changes. In place of staidly 
 elegant "dining-days," she set the fashion of dinner- 
 parties and suppers, the last followed by dancing 
 kept up into the small hours. 
 
 She was a clever musician, and she introduced 
 ballads that "took" like wild-fire with the young of 
 both sexes, and horrified their elders. Making no 
 secret of her own ecclesiastical affiliations, she yet 
 gave conspicuous proof of wifely duty and the de- 
 sire to pay due respect to her mother-in-law and her 
 congeners, by attending their church with conscien- 
 tious regularity. While there she comported her- 
 self with devout decorum that aroused in the elder 
 women presumptuous hopes that she might in time 
 be led to see the error of her ways for which, 
 misguided dear! she was less to blame than the 
 parents who had brought her up in the worship of 
 the Scarlet Woman. It would have been amazing 
 to one unversed in the subtleties of social diplomacy 
 to note how surely the imported leader conquered
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 25 
 
 the prejudices of all classes and ages. Fascination 
 was, with her, a genius. Madam Carrington's 
 oldest and warmest friends whispered among them- 
 selves that Madam "did not make allowance for 
 Paul's wife, and that it was a pity she took no 
 pains to conceal her disapproval of her works and 
 ways." Policy and Christian charity (alas, too often 
 divorced !), if not her love for the handsome son 
 who had always proved himself loving and dutiful 
 even if he had fallen in love with a Papist should 
 have dictated moderate measures. 
 
 Cecile Carrington was on the topmost crest of 
 popular favor when the birth of her child secluded 
 her for a while from the stage she had not merely 
 adorned, but had built, and "set." The baby was 
 not a week old when the first open break in the armed 
 neutrality of mother-in-law and the young wife oc- 
 curred. Cecile had never before exhibited the ob- 
 stinacy which is the underpinning sometimes un- 
 suspected of what we applaud as "will-power." 
 Before her confinement she had selected a healthy 
 young mulatto whose child was a few days older than 
 Cecile's own, as the prospective foster-mother of 
 the expected infant. She took the mulatto into 
 confidence, and possibly her adoring Paul, with re- 
 gard to her intention, but no one else, prior to the 
 great event. The trial safely past, she made no 
 secret of her design. She could not and she would 
 not nurse her child ! Her health and her inclina- 
 tions, her duty to her husband and to society, for- 
 bade it.
 
 26 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Could Beth ever forget the altercation that en- 
 sued upon Madam Carrington's discovery of the 
 plot menacing the physical and moral being of her 
 first grandchild? She had seldom, if ever, been 
 vituperative with her idolized son, but she brought 
 all the powers of denunciation to bear upon his 
 mind and affections in the final battle of right against 
 wrong. When he steadfastly supported his wife's 
 views and resolution, she shut herself up in her 
 room for three days, and would admit no visitor 
 except her adopted daughter. 
 
 In the revery that bound her thoughts to the 
 rack of memory, Beth writhed and moaned feebly. 
 
 To no mortal confidante could she ever speak of 
 the varied tortures of those days. When the mother 
 finally yielded to the inevitable and resumed her 
 position as nominal head of the home in face and 
 carriage she bore the signs of struggle and defeat. 
 The baby was consigned to the care of the wet- 
 nurse, and the vanquished grandparent made no 
 sign of repugnance to what she had told Beth, over 
 and over, was "a burning disgrace to the family 
 an outrage to decency that was never allowed by 
 any of the connection, unless in the event of the 
 mother's death. And that," she broke out bit- 
 terly during one repetition of the protest, "might 
 be the best thing that could happen in this case!" 
 
 The awful admission had never been repeated by 
 the solitary auditor. She put it away now as too 
 terrible to be recalled. 
 
 Baby Helen was six months old when the Virginia
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 27 
 
 climate began to tell adversely upon Cecile. She 
 pined in the monotony of a rural community in 
 which the diversions she had introduced now palled 
 upon her. She had travelled on both sides of the 
 ocean, and change was a prune necessity of her 
 being. 
 
 Paul's acquiescence in her every caprice may 
 have become irksome slavery by the time he had 
 accompanied her to watering-place and seashore, 
 season after season, and spent much of his substance 
 in riotous specialists' bills. No intimation of this 
 in word, look, or gesture corroborated the sus- 
 picions which former comrades dared whisper among 
 themselves. When Cecile made known to him her 
 conviction that she was in a decline, and that 
 nothing could save her life except a long sojourn 
 in her beloved old home, he bowed to the mandate 
 with grace that never forsook him. Less than half 
 a dozen sentences of the recital to Helen carried the 
 pitiful story to a conclusion. 
 
 Against her will, the woman who had filled what 
 should have been the mother's place to the deserted 
 infant, saw, as if it had happened but yesterday, 
 the open grave under the weeping willow, the heaps 
 of sodden earth defining the awesome oblong, and 
 beyond the red-brown ridges a group of men and 
 women, collected hastily to assist in the last rites. 
 There was a short committal prayer after the leaden 
 coffin was lowered to its resting-place, then slow 
 spadefuls of redder clay filled in the pit. 
 
 And all this time the white drawn face of the
 
 28 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 chief mourner (she had nearly said "the only 
 mourner") haunted her like a spectre of his once 
 blithe and buoyant self. She had cried out to God 
 that night upon her knees beside his baby's crib, 
 that the punishment for a single false step was too 
 great. She repeated the passionate protest now 
 mentally. 
 
 From that crucial period to this, Paul Carrington 
 had played the man in every relation of life. How 
 gallantly she could have told more eloquently than 
 any other witness of his demeanor and work. Surely, 
 if there were mercy in heaven and justice upon 
 earth, he must some day see of the travail of his 
 heroic soul and be consoled, if not "satisfied." 
 
 God grant that the child who grew to look more 
 like her mother every day avid of personal enjoy- 
 ment, brilliant in speech as in face might not in- 
 augurate a second era of self-immolation for the two 
 who loved her best !
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 "THE rounds of the plantation," upon which 
 Helen had said her father and grandmother were 
 bent, was a triweekly function all summer long. 
 For shrewd and cogent reasons, it was performed 
 with systematic irregularity as regarded the days 
 of the week. If the tour of inspection were to be 
 confidently anticipated on Monday, everything 
 would be in apple-pie order on that day, whatever 
 might be the aspect of field, barn, and woodland 
 for the five "workadays" succeeding it. If the 
 apparition of the "no- top" buggy and the sleek 
 chestnut roadster driven by "Marse Paul," accom- 
 panied by the "mistis," haunted the gangs of field- 
 hands on Tuesday of this week, again on Saturday, 
 next week on Wednesday and Friday, it was beyond 
 the power of mortal calculations to forecast future 
 visitations. 
 
 "Ung' Cyrus," the headman for a score of years, 
 and noted as "mighty preverlent in pra'r," found a 
 Scripture parallel in the situation which he improved 
 to edification at a cabin-meeting when madcap 
 Helen had stolen to the back window with a couple 
 of girls as bent upon fun, and heard it all: 
 
 "When de Marster of us all, white and black, 
 bon' an' free, visits His plantation which is de worl' 
 He comes same like de marster an' mistis of High 
 
 29
 
 30 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Hill keeps an eye 'pon we-all, thar servants. He 
 don' soun' a trumpet before Him" suiting the 
 action to the word by bringing his hollowed hands 
 together and "tooting" through them. "He comes 
 when He listeth that means when He chooses, 
 and when He thinks we need Him mos', whether we 
 know it or not. An' what I been said one hundred 
 times, to you young folks what ain't got settled to 
 your work, I say to you all in dis here room, dis 
 blessed arternoon WATCH ! " 
 
 The exhortation may have had something to do 
 with the established fact that the High Hill plan- 
 tation had maintained for a half-century the reputa- 
 tion for skilful farming and profitable results that 
 kept it in the vanguard of agricultural enterprise in 
 a State renowned for producing the finest tobacco 
 and wheat sent to the Southern market. It is cer- 
 tain that the model plantation was a monumental 
 tribute to the talent and energy of the woman who 
 had held the reins of government since her hus- 
 band's decease. It was what might be called 
 figuratively an open secret that hers was the ruling 
 spirit and guiding hand before the event that re- 
 moved Edmund Travers Carrington, Esquire, from 
 the scene of earthly action. The sobriquet embody- 
 ing his initials, which had kindled Beth to generous 
 indignation, was fastened upon him by disrespectful 
 wits early in his wedded life. 
 
 The tour of inspection of this particular forenoon 
 had been longer than usual. It was eleven o'clock 
 when the topless buggy was driven into the stable-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 31 
 
 yard by a groom, and Madam Carrington was es- 
 corted by her son around to the side-porch where 
 Beth and Helen were sitting, work-baskets in lap. 
 Her half-hour nap had made the volatile sprite over 
 as good as new. Eyes and lips laughed together as 
 she jumped up to draw an armchair forward for 
 her grandmother, and untied the strings of the big 
 " calash" of drawn gray silk the wearer refused to 
 discard in favor of the lighter sunbonnets affected 
 by her acquaintances throughout the region. 
 
 "You have stayed out so long that you are tired 
 and hot my ! how hot !" scolded the granddaughter 
 with the insolence of youth. "Sit right down here ! 
 out of the draft! You might catch your death of 
 cold ! You must cool off a little before you have 
 your snack ! It has been ready this great while." 
 
 "Only five minutes by the hall-clock, my dear!" 
 admonished Beth's gentlest tone. "Here comes 
 Tom with the rest of it." 
 
 The colored footman set down his tray upon a 
 round table and shifted it to a spot directly in front 
 of his mistress. 
 
 Breakfast was served at High Hill for eight months 
 of the year at half past seven o'clock. The dinner- 
 hour in the country was two, in town, three. The 
 foodless stretch of the intervening hours was broken 
 by a "snack," more or less abundant as suited the 
 tastes of different families. Unless the day were 
 very stormy, the refection at High Hill was par- 
 taken of in summer upon the side-porch. A door 
 led directly into the dining-room, and the location
 
 32 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 was convenient, besides being deliciously cool, and 
 screened from showers and gusts by the thick net- 
 work of vines. 
 
 " Afternoon- tea " would be unknown to American 
 house-mothers for threescore years to come, or 
 iced tea a la Russe would have usurped the place 
 of the chilled raspberry shrub which was filming 
 the outside of the tall silver pitcher. There was 
 milk for Helen and iced water for everybody. A 
 plate piled with "Mam' Tina's" incomparable 
 " wafers" flanked the pitcher upon one side, and 
 another of sponge-cake completed the intermediary 
 repast. 
 
 The author of the epigrammatic definition of 
 afternoon- tea "A reflection upon luncheon and an 
 insult to dinner" had 'not been born. Madam 
 Carrington would have set the seal of her august 
 approval upon it. 
 
 "A snack," she was wont to say, "is not strictly 
 speaking a meal. It is only a stay to the stomach 
 which would, without it, become faint and incapable 
 of digesting food properly." Therefore, she dis- 
 countenanced the practice of certain less enlightened 
 house-mothers of dulling appetite by hot breads 
 and cold meats with marmalade and pickles and, 
 in their season, melons and roasted green corn. 
 The dignified chatelaine was marvellously wise for 
 her generation in other matters than dietetics and 
 fine cookery. 
 
 Now that her calash very like a barouche-top 
 in shape and not so far inferior in size as a twentieth-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 33 
 
 century woman might imagine was laid aside, one 
 could easily credit the encomium passed upon her by 
 the ancient admirer and overheard by her grand- 
 daughter. Her eyes were unfaded, her color was 
 clear and healthy; her teeth were sound, and her 
 skin which tradition reported to have been a mir- 
 acle of smoothness and bloom in her far-off youth 
 was unwrinkled, although lines about the mouth 
 and eyes bore witness to sorrow and conflict. Her 
 dark hair, heavily stippled with silver, was banded 
 evenly beneath the fluted border of a cap not un- 
 like the "mob" at which we smile in seeing it in 
 old portraits and engravings. It was of the finest 
 lace and became her rarely. Every other elderly 
 gentlewoman in the county hid her hair, or the loss 
 of it, under a false front which merited the name so 
 shamelessly that the obviousness of the "deception" 
 was extenuation. Madam Carrington defied con- 
 vention and "wore her own hair." She clung faith- 
 fully to the immemorial custom of the Southern 
 widow of never doffing her "black" except when 
 she alternated it with white, accentuated by black 
 "love" ribbons. A rosette of the same nestled in 
 the frills that were pronounced above the "part" 
 in the banded hair, and the strings of crepy 
 ribbon, the name of which suggested bereavement 
 and constant remembrance, were knotted under 
 the slightly doubled chin. Her gown was of cam- 
 bric with never a crease in the skirt to betray the 
 excursion of the forenoon. She neither panted nor 
 mumbled in her talk.
 
 34 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Before she tasted the shrub poured out for her 
 by her son, she turned to Beth: 
 
 "Have you seen Mr. Rice since we went out? 
 He ought to have something to eat. I fancied that 
 his appetite was not quite up to the mark at break- 
 fast." 
 
 Beth touched a hand-bell left by the footman 
 within her reach. And to Tom, when he appeared, 
 she said: "Find Mr. Rice and tell him we should 
 be glad to have him take a glass of something cool 
 with us. It is getting very hot. And say that 
 your mistress and Master Paul have come in." 
 
 In five minutes footsteps on the walk announced 
 the coming of a little gentleman, who removed his 
 broad-brimmed straw hat from a bald head in 
 mounting the steps. Evidently a gentleman, yet 
 his garb hardly warranted the presumption. Coat, 
 waistcoat, and trousers were of unbleached muslin 
 yclept "cotton cloth," in Virginia and fitted 
 him as well as they might have fitted any other 
 man of equal height. They were made as were the 
 clothes of all the negro "hands" by a plantation 
 seamstress, and betrayed the fact in every line. 
 The coat bagged between the shoulders and sagged 
 in the skirt; the trousers made a swishing noise at 
 the knees as he walked. 
 
 Paul brought forward a chair, and Helen hastened 
 to pour out a brimming glass of the ruby "shrub." 
 
 He looked warm and weary, but he thanked both 
 of them before mopping his forehead and his shining 
 pate with a damp silk handkerchief. His voice
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 35 
 
 was husky and weak, and he sipped the ice-cold 
 beverage as a child might shiver away from a hot 
 drink. 
 
 It is essential to explain here the position held by 
 this man in the family of an erstwhile parishioner. 
 The Presbyterian church of Mount Hor was his 
 first and only charge. He had come to it as a licen- 
 tiate, and been ordained to the Gospel ministry in 
 the building which was demolished at a later date 
 to make room for a larger "edifice" erected upon 
 foundations laid a century before. 
 
 "When" as Madam Carrington was wont to re- 
 mark impressively "masons were honest. Mount 
 Hor is literally founded upon a rock, and the masonry 
 within the excavation was as solid as the stone itself 
 when it was uncovered. They don't do such work 
 now ! " 
 
 She was not the only one of the "older members" 
 who worshipped the God of their fathers with more 
 fervor of devotion for the knowledge that beneath 
 beams and flooring was the ancient foundation 
 consecrated by ancestors who 
 
 "Kept unstained what there they found, 
 Freedom to worship God." 
 
 It was not to be marvelled at that the blend of 
 Huguenot blood with a strong strain of Scotch- 
 Irish should have held the church firm to the faith 
 delivered to the fathers. Nor as was piously be- 
 lieved and openly asserted by pastors and parish-
 
 36 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HELL 
 
 loners that an especial blessing abode with the 
 flock that made the wilderness of the New World 
 to blossom as the rose. It was a large and pros- 
 perous flock over which the Reverend Mahlon Rice 
 was ordained to minister by East Manover Pres- 
 bytery. He was twenty-four years old, and that 
 was more than twenty years ago. He was unmar- 
 ried, but his sister lived with him. 
 
 When the very slender bond of nominal union of 
 the State with the Church of England parted natu- 
 rally and quietly, The Glebe, erected a score of 
 years earlier upon a small farm within a couple of 
 miles of High Hill, passed into the hands of Paul 
 Carrington the Third, and was by him made over 
 formally as a parsonage to the church to which he 
 belonged. With true Virginian aversion to unneces- 
 sary changes in established methods, the house and 
 land were The Glebe long after tenants and neigh- 
 bors had forgotten the origin of the name. 
 
 "The minister's" family had always been on in- 
 timate terms with the High Hill Carringtons. Next 
 to her own home and kindred, the mistress of the 
 stately house on the hill gave a place in her heart 
 to her church. The highest Anglican could not have 
 pronounced the word more reverently. She con- 
 tributed liberally of her wealth for the support of 
 its temporal interests. Yet more liberal and far 
 more effective was the consecration of time and 
 energy to the furtherance of the higher purposes and 
 holy possibilities of the spiritual Zion of which the 
 temporal was but a faint symbol and antepast.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 37 
 
 Mahlon Rice and his sister Naomi were her guests 
 for a month while The Glebe was undergoing repairs 
 and alterations she deemed essential for the resi- 
 dence of the newcomers. It was she who secretly 
 incited and engineered the movement on the part of 
 house-mothers that stocked storeroom, smoke-house, 
 and stables with provisions and industrial imple- 
 ments. She it was who confidentially "lent" two 
 of her own trained servants, an able-bodied man 
 and his wife, to the brother and sister, and gave a 
 fine young horse for the use of the pastor in his 
 rounds of the extensive area covered by the parish. 
 All this was executed with delicacy and address 
 that left the recipients but dimly aware of the extent 
 of their obligations to the author of manifold bene- 
 fits. It was not strange that, under auspices such 
 as these, the incumbent of Mount Hor should be 
 able to report truthfully, and with devout gratitude 
 at spring and fall sessions of his presbytery, that 
 the "work of the Lord was prospering in his hands." 
 He had a genius for organization, and the Sunday- 
 school and weekly-catechism class established by 
 himself and carried forward zealously by devoted 
 lieutenants, were a matter of State pride. 
 
 Each church organization was a close corporation, 
 and this to an extent incomprehensible to the Chris- 
 tians in this day of personal service and extensions 
 of every conceivable name and aim. Once a year, 
 perhaps, a returned missionary occupied the Mount 
 Hor pulpit and "presented his cause." Whether he 
 were from the South Sea Islands or Lapland, he
 
 38 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 was sure knowing the reputation of the Mount 
 Hor-ites of a handsome collection at the conclu- 
 sion of the service, and eager hospitality during the 
 few days he could spare from his itinerary. In the 
 third year of Mr. Rice's incumbency, Madam Car- 
 rington instigated and pushed on into fairly success- 
 ful operation a Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society, 
 which contributed regularly, and in no niggardly 
 measure, boxes of clothing, religious reading, and 
 toys for native children, to be duly forwarded to 
 Greece or Liberia. 
 
 Thus ran on the shining current of home and 
 church life broken into, but not up, for a season 
 by the brilliant episode of Cecile Carrington's 
 career. Like the fall of a meteoric stone into a 
 landlocked bay, the whole course of nature was 
 changed for the time. The subsiding waves re- 
 stored the dear familiar scene to placidity. 
 
 The nameless grave in the sequestered graveyard 
 had been mounded by the snow-drifts of ten winters 
 when gentle Naomi Rice, whom the ruling passion 
 of her life devotion to her only brother alone re- 
 deemed from neutral-colored commonplaceness 
 sickened and died as quietly as she had lived. 
 Close upon this followed the pastor's own illness. 
 He had ridden on horseback ten miles through a 
 furious storm to visit a sick parishioner, returning 
 to his desolate home, wet to the skin and shivering 
 in a violent chill. Word of his illness was carried 
 to High Hill late that night. The next morning 
 brought Madam Carrington's chariot to the door of
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 39 
 
 The Glebe. She alighted from it with her son, fol- 
 lowed by her own maid, bearing a basket of "com- 
 forts" the lady foresaw would be needed in a bachelor 
 establishment. A brief and thorough survey of 
 prevailing conditions was terminated by a coup 
 d'etat that took by surprise even Beth, waiting 
 anxiously at home for news of the expedition. The 
 sick man was done up skilfully in blankets and borne 
 to the carriage in the strong arms of Paul Carring- 
 ton. The carriage-driver who would be a "coach- 
 man" now Madam, and her maid had already im- 
 provised a bed of pillows and boards in the vehicle. 
 Paul, in one corner of the back seat, supported the 
 unconscious man as he might a child during the 
 slow drive to High Hill. 
 
 Meanwhile the Rices' servant had galloped ahead 
 to prepare the household for the unexpected guest. 
 Within an hour the family doctor was in attendance 
 upon a delirious patient, installed in the best guest 
 chamber of the mansion, and the entire corps of 
 the plantation was at his service. 
 
 Before he was able to walk down stairs all his 
 personal effects were transferred from The Glebe to 
 what he was bidden to consider his home as long as 
 he would make his hosts happy by remaining with 
 them. 
 
 He was destined to have no other earthly habita- 
 tion. When what the doctor diagnosed as "quinsy," 
 yielded to remedial measures, and pitiable weakness 
 more slowly to loving nursing and such generous 
 diet as the best cook in the county served for him
 
 40 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 under her mistress's supervision it was apparent 
 that permanent damage had been wrought upon a 
 system never robust, albeit tenacious of vital forces. 
 
 What went by the name of " minister's sore throat " 
 was then comparatively a new malady, but already 
 enough was known of it to excite curiosity among 
 the laity, and apprehension in clerical circles. 
 Oddly enough, the victims, so far as heard from in 
 central Virginia, were invariably Presbyterians and 
 Episcopalians a circumstance that created a lively 
 sensation among Baptists and Methodists. For, 
 be it known to modern readers, written sermons were 
 discountenanced by these communions. That holy 
 men of old spake as the Holy Ghost moved them 
 was a warrant that had the force of an edict in the 
 opinion of these successors of the apostles. Ser- 
 mons should be thought out with prayer and wrest- 
 lings of spirit, in secret communion with the Master 
 of souls. This done, He might be trusted to put, and 
 to keep, the right words into His servants' mouths. 
 The Presbyterian and Episcopal divine was, in com- 
 mon parlance, "liberally educated," and carried the 
 training of college and theological seminary into the 
 pulpit with him. This took the form of written 
 notes, to be consulted at need or will, by the preacher 
 of discourses written out in full from text to "Finally, 
 brethren" "delivered" with or without emphasis 
 and discretion, as talent, or practice, or native apti- 
 tude for oratory, lent force and freedom of speech. 
 
 "Minister's sore throat" ingenious opponents of 
 pulpit-readings hi contradistinction to extemporane-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 41 
 
 ous speaking, contended was due to the unnatural 
 contraction of, and pressure upon the vocal organs 
 by the lowered chin in the act of reading aloud from 
 a MS. laid upon the desk or table, behind which the 
 speaker stood. It should have been more preva- 
 lent with Episcopalians, who read the entire service, 
 prayers and all. That statistics did not support 
 this theory was readily explained by the patent fact 
 that the sermon in a liturgical church was proverbi- 
 ally short, and subordinate hi importance to readings 
 from the prayer-book. 
 
 Mr. Rice's sermons were never long, but he wrote 
 every line and conned each thoughtfully afterward. 
 College professors and literary visitors to the neigh- 
 borhood had been heard to say that every word 
 might be printed as it fell from his lips, without cor- 
 rection from editor or proof-reader. 
 
 Sweeping hypotheses aside, it is enough for us to 
 know that the new disease had the faithful shepherd 
 of the Mount Hor flock by the throat in a grip that 
 robbed him of profession and office, and, for long, 
 of physical vigor. It was a voiceless spectre of his 
 former erect and buoyant self who was tended by 
 Madam and her aides, until, one bleak November 
 day, he bade farewell to his motherly hostess and 
 accompanied her son to Richmond en route for New 
 York. Thence they were to sail for Nice with the 
 anticipation of a winter in Italy. 
 
 In a life which was affluent in gracious benefits 
 to his fellow-men, Paul Carrington was never more 
 royally beneficent than in charging himself with
 
 42 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the task of bringing back health and hope to a wreck 
 that contrasted pitifully with the superbly sane 
 manhood of his guardian. The conception and exe- 
 cution of the scheme were Paul's own, although 
 warmly approved and abetted by the mother, whose 
 parting with him wrung her strong heart to breaking. 
 
 She said, and candidly, that she was repaid for 
 all the separation had cost her when, in the flush and 
 fragrance of mid-May, her "boy" brought home 
 the whilom patient, so nearly well physically and 
 so thoroughly himself in mind and mood, that the 
 whole community held high jubilation for weeks 
 together. "Nearly well physically," with one 
 drawback, the growing perception of which sub- 
 dued the general rejoicing into loving solicitude. 
 The injury wrought upon the vocal organs by ill- 
 ness was beyond repair by medicines or climate. 
 He would never be able to preach again. Resonance 
 and power had departed forever from the voice that 
 for strength and sweetness had had no equal in the 
 bounds of presbytery or synod. Madam Carring- 
 ton was measurably prepared for the truth by 
 Paul's letters, and, as usually came to pass when 
 mother and son took counsel together upon weighty 
 issues, they had an expedient ready to meet the 
 crisis. 
 
 "The Office," a detached building usually but a 
 story in height, was so common an adjunct of the 
 Virginia home, that the lack of it was exceptional. 
 To this day it is a matter of conjecture for what 
 purpose these buildings were erected, and why they
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 43 
 
 invariably bore the name of "office." Few of the 
 early planters were doctors, or practising lawyers, 
 although subsequently the latter profession became 
 popular with younger sons and embryo politicians. 
 One or two such instances in preceding generations 
 may have fixed the title upon what was doubtless 
 built as a school-room, with an upper story for the 
 tutor's dormitory. The office at High Hill was a 
 stone's throw from the dwelling, in a shaded corner 
 of the yard, and fronted the plantation road leading 
 from the nearest highway. Into this "office" had 
 been packed Mr. Rice's furniture and books when 
 The Glebe was vacated. Madam Carrington had 
 the key during his absence abroad. The day suc- 
 ceeding his arrival she commissioned Paul to induct 
 his friend into quarters prepared for his occupancy. 
 "As long as you will make us happy by staying, 
 dear old fellow," was the sequel to the invitation. 
 "We will not give you up until you are tired of us. 
 That is settled ! Now, listen ! " 
 
 In five minutes he had well nigh convinced the 
 amazed hearer that affairs at High Hill could not 
 be rightly administered without the co-operation of 
 another white man. His mother, in particular, he 
 urged, was no longer young, and she had leaned too 
 long upon the judgment and intelligent sympathy 
 of one whom she loved as a son, to be deprived of 
 these now. 
 
 "But all this is a waste of words " Paul wound 
 up by saying. "Here you are, and here you will 
 stay, please God, while we both live."
 
 44 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Visits of indefinite length were a feature in that 
 age and region, which did much to earn for the State 
 the reputation for abounding and gracious hos- 
 pitality it enjoys to this day. As I write, there 
 recurs to me an instance which was not accounted 
 remarkable at the time, of an elderly distant cousin- 
 in-law who prolonged a visit of a week into five years, 
 making himself at home so agreeably and usefully 
 that hosts and acquaintances ceased to think or to 
 speak of him as a guest. 
 
 When, after waiting a decent time as behooved 
 a bereaved congregation, Mount Hor made out a 
 call to a younger man with aggressive tendencies, 
 and what a brother clergyman dryly characterized 
 as "a laudable degree of self-appreciation," Mr. 
 Rice was referred to at the meeting of Presbytery 
 called for the installation, as "our beloved brother 
 whose faithful labors in this quarter of the vineyard 
 will bear fruit for many years to come." 
 
 At the numerous feasts of welcome made in honor 
 of the new shepherd, the former incumbent, with 
 humility that had in it the elements of real dignity, 
 took a lower seat, with no expectation of being 
 bidden to go up higher. 
 
 In the High Hill family he was chaplain, adviser, 
 comforter, and colleague in affairs, temporal, spirit- 
 ual, and intellectual. He was scholarly in taste and 
 habit, and ever ready to share gleanings of fact 
 and riches of thought with his best-beloved friends. 
 He laid out courses of reading for Beth, who was 
 Helen's governess until the girl went to the Phila-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 45 
 
 delphia seminary. The two preceptors fitted the 
 child so well for the classes she entered there that 
 her proficiency in more than one branch of education 
 received honorable mention from principal and 
 teachers. 
 
 Long before his sister's death left him alone in 
 the world, Mahlon Rice had made choice of poultry- 
 raising as a special study and active pursuit. At 
 High Hill the fad bloomed into an avocation. Under 
 his enlightened management, the chicken-houses 
 and "runs" of the estate became famous all over 
 the county. He wrote articles upon the poultry- 
 yard which were published in The Farmer's Regis- 
 ter the one agricultural periodical of the South 
 and brought him letters of congratulation and in- 
 quiry from four different States. If he imagined, 
 in the humility that never approximated its degen- 
 erate parasite, humiliation that he occupied a 
 mere niche in the household he served with heart 
 and soul he yet stood upon a right goodly pedestal.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 "I SHOULD first of all have apologized to you, 
 Madam, and to the young ladies for appearing in 
 your presence in this sorry garb," said the little 
 minister, setting down the emptied glass with a 
 comprehensive bow, addressed chiefly to Madam 
 Carrington, then including the other two. "I was 
 on my way to my room to make the needful changes 
 when I received your tempting invitation, I was 
 thirsty, the day is warm and I knew what awaited 
 me here!" 
 
 A second bow left no need of further speech. 
 In attire, he might be the peasant. In deportment 
 and speech he was a Chesterfield. Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes characterized the school to which this man 
 and his compeers belonged as "the Brahmin Caste." 
 One of my girlish reminiscences is of one of the 
 vast, informal guild who had taken the place of a 
 missing ploughman when laborers were scarce and 
 plantation work was pressing. The young fellow 
 had driven a straight furrow all day, and was on 
 his way home, bareheaded, and in his shirt-sleeves 
 when he espied his sister and a schoolmate coming 
 to meet him. Without seeming to see them, he 
 slipped into a thicket to put on the coat thrown 
 over his arm, and to wipe his face dry. The instinct 
 
 4 6
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 47 
 
 was inborn, and nourished by early training in the 
 duty he owed to himself and to women. 
 
 Madam met the apology indulgently: "Don't 
 trouble yourself to make explanations on this hot 
 day. We all understand that broadcloth and fine 
 linen would be out of place in the 'hennery." 1 
 
 Beth seconded her smilingly: 
 
 "I hope Mrs. Dorking and the baby Dorkings 
 are doing well? When may we see them?" 
 
 "Thank you ! They could hardly be doing better. 
 I hope to show them to you in a couple of days. 
 There are ten of them animated puff-balls." 
 
 "Where is Dorking?" put in Helen. "And how 
 do you know that the mother-hen really came from 
 England ? We hear of so many cheats and humbugs 
 nowadays that we don't know what to believe." 
 
 "Dorking is a town in Surrey County, England. 
 I believe that my Dame Partlet came from that 
 place because the men who consigned her and her 
 mate to me through a poultry dealer in New York 
 are honest, and so is the American firm." 
 
 "The fowls may have been stolen on the way, 
 and plain vulgar Yankee rooster and hen put in 
 the coop. Stranger things have happened," per- 
 sisted the spoiled child. 
 
 Mr. Rice's good humor was invincible: "They 
 carry their credentials on their backs in color, 
 shape, comb and in other particulars. I am toler- 
 ably familiar with the breed, and I am satisfied. 
 If I were not why my dear young lady, we must 
 take some things in this world upon faith."
 
 48 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Paul Carrington leaned against a pillar of the 
 veranda behind his daughter, and bent to stroke the 
 curly head. 
 
 "As you grow older, pet, you will find that you 
 must believe in many more things than can be 
 proved. That is one of the hardest lessons youth 
 has to learn. I heard you say yesterday that you 
 would not believe what you couldn't understand. 
 That is the talk of infidels and fools and of little 
 girls who will be wiser when they know less." 
 
 The saucy face she lifted to him was so like her 
 mother's at that moment that a pang wrung Beth's 
 heart. Could he fail to notice it? Helen's wild 
 talk and passionate questioning of the morning had 
 unsealed gates of memory the confidante had not 
 trusted herself to pass for long, long years. And 
 just where Madam Carrington's chair was, now, she 
 had sat on that day of the fateful home-coming! 
 Beth stole an apprehensive look at the father's 
 face. There was not a cloud to betray that he, 
 too, was haunted. Cecile's name had not been ut- 
 tered in her hearing since the dour funeral she had 
 lived through again in fancy, three hours agone. 
 She had no reason to think that the like reticence 
 did not control the intercourse of mother and son. 
 Had their dead past buried its dead clean out of 
 the reach of memory and of regret? Why should 
 she, alone of the trio, be visited by ghosts that would 
 not down at the bidding of reason and pride? 
 
 The thread of musing was snapped by the mad 
 rush around the corner of the house of a barefooted
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 49 
 
 boy in a smock of unbleached cotton cloth that 
 waved like a pennon behind his naked brown legs. 
 He brought up suddenly at the foot of the steps, 
 and squealed his message between broken breaths: 
 
 "Please, mistis, mammy sont me to tell you dat 
 Mr. Winston's buggy is comin' down de road!" 
 
 Mr. Rice was upon his feet hi a second: 
 
 "You will excuse my hasty retreat, Madam? 
 Clerical conventions must be observed ! " 
 
 Without waiting for a reply, he vanished into the 
 house, through the back door of which he could 
 make good his retreat to the office. 
 
 A shout of laughter from Paul, echoed by the 
 others he had left, followed him. 
 
 "Poor fellow!" gasped Beth, and Madam Car- 
 rington: 
 
 "But for the credit of the cloth I could wish that 
 he had been discovered in his working-costume! 
 Beth, daughter ! ring for Tom to take the tray ! 
 Helen ! tell Tina that Mr. Winston will be here to 
 dinner. My son, you will see that somebody is 
 ready to take his horse !" 
 
 She sat still in issuing the quiet commands, and 
 did not raise her eyes from her knitting until Paul 
 reappeared with the visitor. 
 
 The Reverend John Knox Winston was from 
 "the Valley," a fair territory bounded and crossed 
 by twin spurs of the mighty Appalachian Range, 
 and destined to be known in post-Civil War history 
 as "West Virginia." The liberal admixture of 
 Scotch and Irish settlers in the original population
 
 50 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 lent stability to their politics, and buckram to their 
 orthodoxy. Some of the ablest divines in the South- 
 ern and Western churches, and erudite professors in 
 college and seminary, were drawn from the mountain 
 fastnesses among which, as residents gloried in relat- 
 ing, the Father of his country had declared his in- 
 tention to make his last stand for liberty should 
 the conflict go against the Continental forces. 
 
 John Knox Winston abated not one whit of his 
 orthodoxy in pitching his tent in eastern Virginia. 
 He had taken his academic degree in Hampden 
 Sidney College, and studied divinity at Princeton 
 Seminary. One course of study he called his 
 "shield," the other his "buckler." Thus panoplied, 
 he enlisted, with never a misgiving, in the war against 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil, eager to battle 
 with spiritual wickedness in high and in low places. 
 In the sacred desk he was a Boanerges; out of it, 
 genial and social, kind-hearted and ever ready to 
 lend a word of advice or of encouragement. A 
 powerful "revival" had starred the first year of his 
 pastorate, and similar awakenings of interest in 
 personal piety were not lacking at any subsequent 
 period. Congregations were larger with each month, 
 and the roll of church members had gratifying 
 
 accessions. 
 tt 
 
 Success" was stamped all over the man who 
 took the porch steps at two strides and gained the 
 side of the hostess with two more. His resonant 
 baritone rang down the length of the hall and rever- 
 berated from stair to stair.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 51 
 
 "Suttinly, is a mighty man o' God!" murmured 
 Mirny, Beth's maid, who hung over the balustrade 
 of the second flight. 
 
 Hat in hand, he grasped Madam Carrington's 
 slender fingers in his mighty fist, and, as is the man- 
 ner of many more refined folk, when addressing the 
 aged, articulated with precision and adapted the 
 volume of sound to presumedly dull hearing. 
 
 "I hope I have the pleasure of seeing you quite 
 well, my dear Madam ? Not that I need inquire ! 
 You look to be in radiant health. Do not rise, I 
 beg ! " foiling her motion to gain her feet, by placing 
 the disengaged hand upon her shoulder. "Miss 
 Elizabeth! you are well I hope? Miss Helen! I 
 am glad to see you at home again !" 
 
 Practice had made his rendition of the formula 
 perfect. Conventional observations upon the 
 weather and its beneficent effect upon growing 
 crops, befitted the watchman upon the walls of a 
 bucolic Zion. It was easy to draw Paul and 
 Beth into the general conversation that followed. 
 "ADAPTATION" is the keystone of the "method" 
 prescribed by instructors in pastoral theology, and 
 this post-graduate had mastered the Art. As Paul 
 Carrington hearkened for the next half hour to the 
 duet between his mother and her guest, varied by 
 an occasional reference to himself and to Beth Moore, 
 he found himself wondering if any other profession, 
 unless it were politics, were better adapted to stul- 
 tify personal independence of thought and action 
 than that which he had been taught from his cradle
 
 52 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 to reverence as the holiest to which man could dedi- 
 cate his life and all his powers. The man before 
 him spent at least one-third of his waking hours in 
 "pastoral visitation." It was safe to compute that 
 half of this time was devoted to church-members 
 whose walk and conversation attested the power of 
 practical piety upon their lives. Here and there 
 might be found one weak in the faith delivered to 
 the fathers, or a "reading man" with doubts as to 
 the authenticity of the Pentateuch, or the miracle 
 of Jonah's temporary residence in the finny monster 
 of the deep. Or a girl had listened to a sermon 
 upon immersion as the one and only means of sal- 
 vation. All of them needed spiritual medicament. 
 The neighborhood was healthy, and the bill of mor- 
 tality commendably low. The shepherd's minis- 
 trations to the sick and afflicted of the flock were 
 faithful, and brought in rich returns of love and 
 gratitude. This was legitimate obedience to his 
 "high calling." Could the same be said of the dis- 
 cussion of current events in county, state, and nation, 
 politics taking the lead; of the comparison of opin- 
 ions upon the relative merits of "Bleak House" 
 and "Vanity Fair," both of which Beth had read 
 aloud in the family last winter? Sensible and in 
 the main bright society talk, all of it but was it 
 worth the expenditure of a third of the mortal exist- 
 ence of one who had given long years of toil to the 
 acquisition of that which would fit him to declare 
 the whole counsel of God to a perishing world ? 
 Upon the pretext of overlooking the men who
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 53 
 
 were trimming shrubbery upon the lawn, Paul got 
 up presently, walked to the far end of the porch, 
 and leaned over the railing, out of hearing of the 
 animated colloquy. 
 
 The day was unseasonably warm for May, but 
 a cool breath from the river stole to him across the 
 distant low grounds visible from his lookout. Aro- 
 matic whiffs from the cut shrubs blended with the 
 fragrance of rose and honeysuckle. Beyond, the 
 gardens, fields, green with lush grain, stretched to the 
 horizon of native forest. Ah ! it was a fair domain, 
 this ! deeded by royal grant to his forefathers, and 
 held intact down to the present day by gentlemen 
 without fear and without reproach ! And there 
 was to be no son of his to carry the line down to 
 ensuing generations ! His teeth were locked sav- 
 agely, and the knuckles whitened in the hands 
 clenched upon the rail. It was not the first time 
 by many that a burning sense of injustice which 
 arraigned divine Providence obsessed his soul. The 
 inspired edict: " Whatsoever a man soweth that shall 
 he also reap," might be as just as it is immutable, 
 but was there no end to harvest-time? Fifteen 
 years was a long term of what he called in his hot 
 heart "penal servitude," enforced for the hasty 
 action of a passionate, headstrong boy. And the 
 end might not be in sight for as many years more. 
 
 A sudden pause in the chat at the other end of 
 the porch broke up his sombre musings. He turned 
 to behold Mr. Rice in irreproachable attire of white 
 flannel and cap to match, presenting the mail-bag
 
 54 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 to the lady of the Manor. The receipt of the tri- 
 weekly mail was an event of prime importance to 
 the entire household. It was brought from the 
 post-office three miles away by a mounted groom, 
 who was fully alive to the dignity and responsibility 
 of the office. One key of the bag was kept at High 
 Hill; the postmaster had the other. It was rather 
 a portmanteau than a wallet, made of stout leather 
 and bound at the corners with brass. "HiGH HILL " 
 was lettered upon the side also in brass that was 
 never allowed to grow dim. 
 
 It elicited a finished descriptive phrase from Mr. 
 Winston : 
 
 "'Plethoric and portentous/ are the words that 
 come to me whenever I see that brought in full. 
 And I am as pleased as a boy when I am fortunate 
 enough to be here to witness the ceremony of open- 
 ing it." 
 
 Madam was too much engaged in unlocking and 
 emptying the contents of the portmanteau upon her 
 work-stand to heed the remark, but Helen laughed 
 and nodded acquiescence, and Beth's silent smile 
 was, as ever, ready to show that the speaker had 
 not cast a pet saying into empty air. Madam con- 
 centrated her attention for the next five minutes 
 upon the business of assorting the huge and motley 
 pile, assigning papers and letters to respective own- 
 ers. Helen was all a-quiver with expectation. As 
 the youngest of the party she would be the last 
 served, but in violation of precedent and decorum, 
 she pounced upon the heap with a glad cry while
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 55 
 
 her grandmother was still busy with what the ir- 
 reverent minx called in the minister's hearing, 
 "dividing the sheep from the goats." That is, 
 selecting newspapers and pamphlets and laying 
 them aside to proceed at leisure with the correspond- 
 ence. 
 
 "Oh! oh! grandmother! I know this must be 
 for me from Emily Martin, who went abroad for 
 her vacation with the French teacher! She prom- 
 ised to write as soon as she got over. And that is a 
 foreign letter." 
 
 The words tumbled over one another as she actu- 
 ally tried to undo the hold of the restraining hand 
 upon the pile. 
 
 "Be quiet, my child! You are mistaken. You 
 are not the only one who has foreign correspondents. 
 This is your father's letter." 
 
 She passed it over to him with five or six others, 
 and went on with the distribution. 
 
 Mr. Rice withdrew a little space with his budget, 
 The Farmer's Register being conspicuous among 
 miscellaneous matter. Beth, with a murmured 
 apology to Mr. Winston, opened and glanced over 
 her one letter and then undid the cover of Godey's 
 Lady's Book. Madam swept her mail into her work- 
 basket and carried it off to her chamber for deliberate 
 examination. Helen dropped flat upon the floor and 
 tore open eight letters, one by one, before plunging 
 into those she surmised would interest her most. 
 Mr. Winston was the only observer of the gray pallor 
 that drove the color from Paul Carrington's face
 
 56 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 and stiffened the lines, as he opened the thin blue 
 sheet his mother had passed to him. Then he crushed 
 it convulsively in his hand and turned abruptly 
 into the house. 
 
 Beth had a hasty glimpse of his face as he dis- 
 appeared in the open door and was startled. Re- 
 flecting in a moment that the odd effect was doubt- 
 less a trick of the light shimmering through the 
 vines, she gave it no more thought. Two of the 
 group were to recall the trifling incident in months 
 to come. 
 
 An hour thereafter, Paul walked out upon the 
 porch, booted and spurred, hat in hand: 
 
 "Mother ! I am obliged to leave in your capable 
 hands the entertainment of our always-welcome 
 visitor" holding out his hand to the minister with 
 frank cordiality. "I am called away by business 
 that may take me as far as the court-house, so I 
 shall not be at home to dinner." And in response 
 to the mute inquiry of the mother's anxious eyes: 
 "Trust me not to go fasting because I am not eating 
 in my own house ! I shall be at home in time for 
 supper. Good-by, all ! " 
 
 He stooped to kiss Helen, who ran after him to 
 the top of the steps, waved his hat smilingly to the 
 rest, and was gone. 
 
 Helen strolled back, pouting: "I shall never for- 
 give him if he is not home in time to see my new 
 party dress! It is a love, Mr. Winston!" reading 
 indulgent sympathy in his smile. "And I am to 
 wear it for the first time to-night to Amelia Carter's 
 birthday party."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 57 
 
 "I am sorry I am too old to be invited," the 
 visitor followed her lead. "But I shall hope to have 
 the pleasure of seeing the new beauty before it has 
 lost its first bloom." He turned to his hostess. "I 
 suppose you have been told, my dear Madam, so 
 many times that your son is the handsomest man 
 in three counties, that you can hear it again without 
 a thrill of pride?" 
 
 She blushed as her granddaughter might. "I 
 am more proud to know that he is the best son hi 
 fifty counties. Indeed, I have yet to see a better 
 man !" 
 
 The deferential, affirmative bend of the pastor's 
 head was inimitable. "Higher praise can no man 
 crave than that from a mother's lips." 
 
 As if fearing lest sentiment might lapse into sen- 
 timentality, he arose and accosted Mr. Rice: "Mrs. 
 Winston will never forgive me if I do not see the 
 new hen-house and the distinguished tenants. May 
 we not have the pleasure of your company, Miss 
 Helen?" 
 
 Decidedly the incumbent of the Mount Hor 
 church had learned to excellent purpose the article 
 in the Pauline Creed that advises the postulant to 
 be "all things to all men."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 i 
 
 THE word "chaperon" was unknown in our neigh- 
 borhood except to readers of French and English 
 tales of high Me. Yet the conventionalities fencing 
 in the debutante (who would not have recognized 
 herself under the title) were as rigidly observed as 
 in fashionable circles in our day. If not convoyed 
 by masculine relative, or an elder sister, cousin, 
 or aunt, our Virginia party-goer took her maid in 
 the carriage with her, ostensibly to put the finishing 
 touches to her toilet in the dressing-room, in real- 
 ity, whether it were confessed to herself or not, to 
 conserve the proprieties. 
 
 Beth Moore no longer ranked herself among the 
 young girls of her set. That she was thirty-six years 
 old was no secret to anybody. She stood serenely 
 in her lot as a confirmed spinster, yet was never 
 relegated to the "old-maid list." She was Helen's 
 companion to social gatherings large or small, and 
 of whatever character and complexion. The elastic 
 appellation "function" was not to be invented for 
 fifty years to come. 
 
 The Carters were near neighbors, living but four 
 miles away. The party was in honor of the nineteen- 
 year-old eldest daughter of the house, a general 
 favorite who, it was whispered, would be a bride 
 before another birthday rolled by. Engagements 
 
 58
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HELL 59 
 
 'announced," only taken for granted 
 and "whispered," until but a farce of secrecy was 
 left. 
 
 The porch floor was washed white by the full 
 moon, when the gay little procession swept out of 
 the doorway. A private exhibition of toilets had 
 been held in the hall, the blaze of a half-a-dozen 
 spermaceti candles held high by sable attendants 
 blending with the paler lustre flooding the threshold. 
 Madam Carrington, her son, and Mr. Rice were 
 an informal committee of inspection. Helen was 
 at her most bewitching best and brightest in filmy 
 white, embroidered with pink roses. Real roses, 
 cunningly selected to match them in tint, were in 
 the corsage, and one looped back a curl above the 
 left temple. Pale pink shoes and long gloves were 
 of the same shade. 
 
 "I never imagined you could look so charmingly 
 pretty!" her father had confessed when admitted 
 to a private view of the dazzling vision. 
 
 The chorus of applause below-stairs was unquali- 
 fied. A score of dark-skinned spectators formed 
 the privileged front row. At the far end of the stage 
 and in what might be called "the pit" beyond, on 
 either side of the front steps, and half-way to the 
 gate and the waiting carriage, urchins pranced and 
 gurgled low exclamations of rapture. Beth looked 
 surprisingly youthful, yet with a gentle stateliness 
 that accorded perfectly with her gown of silver- 
 gray tissue which Mr. Rice informed her gallantly 
 (l matched the moonlight."
 
 60 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Madam Carrington stood alone at the head of 
 the steps when her son and Mr. Rice returned after 
 escorting the revellers to the carriage. 
 
 "I wish you could have watched the procession 
 with me !" she laughed. "It was like a royal prog- 
 ress with the distinguished personages in their robes 
 of office in the van, and an irregular dark line trail- 
 ing after them. It was the funniest exhibition you 
 can imagine. All that was lacking was the blare 
 of trumpets and the shouts of the populace!" 
 
 "Which could have been quickly supplied if you 
 had intimated a wish to complete the pageant," 
 replied Mr. Rice. "A word from you would have 
 invoked all the horns and howls needed to fill out 
 the programme. For my part, I am most grateful 
 for being allowed to see the principal actors in gala 
 attire. I predict that they will be the belles of the 
 ball to-night. No, thank you ! " as the hostess waved 
 her hand invitingly toward a chair. "I have a mass 
 of correspondence that must be attended to to- 
 night. You may care to know that my humble 
 papers upon 'Poultry Farming' have excited in- 
 terest among those whom I had in mind while writ- 
 ing. A dozen or more readers of The Register have 
 written to me for detailed information." 
 
 " I predicted as much ! " answered Madam heartily. 
 And Paul : "Good for you, old fellow ! May the good 
 work go on!" 
 
 "I thank you both from my heart. You com- 
 prehend that I would not have spoken of it to any- 
 body else. Good night !" 
 
 " There goes one of God's noblemen!" uttered
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 61 
 
 Paul, when his friend was beyond hearing. "He 
 will never get the title on earth. Up yonder!" He 
 pointed heavenward significantly. 
 
 "It is waiting for him there !" assented his mother, 
 and for a little while neither spoke again. 
 
 Paul lighted a cigar. His mother sank back con- 
 tentedly in the depths of her armchair, and both 
 feasted eyes and thought upon the picture glorified 
 by the moon. The twilight that had tempered the 
 heat of the day had silvered shrubbery and turf 
 with dew. The air was crystal clear; the outline 
 of the distant forest was drawn blackly distinct 
 against the pale horizon. The song of the whippoor- 
 will in the meadows was softened into music, and 
 presently a mocking-bird in the nearest grove es- 
 sayed an imitation of the night-bird, passing, as 
 if in disgust, into an original rhapsody in perfect 
 harmony with the hour and scene. 
 
 The listeners laughed softly at the transition. 
 
 "Wise bird!" commented Paul. "I hope Rice 
 hears him ! It is just the touch of natural poetry 
 that will go to his heart. The office-windows are 
 all open. He can't help hearing the serenade. He 
 could write a book upon bird-lore, if he would. 
 Hark!" 
 
 The bird was trilling a different opus ineffably 
 tuneful it might be a reminiscence of wildwood 
 love and rapture and loss and pain ! 
 
 When at last Madam Carrington spoke it was 
 evident that her thoughts had not wandered far 
 afield : 
 
 "I shall always regret that he never married!"
 
 62 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Her son started and turned his head in momentary 
 bewilderment. 
 
 "He? Do you mean Rice? I am afraid it is 
 too late to correct the error if error it was !" 
 
 Madam answered in her most decided tone: 
 
 "As it was undoubtedly ! Always supposing he 
 had chosen the right woman. Which he did not !" 
 
 Paul faced her abruptly. 
 
 "What do you mean? You suspected then' " 
 
 She filled up the pause: 
 
 cc 
 
 '' I suspected nothing ! Naomi told me the truth 
 the night before she died. What do you know about 
 it?" 
 
 Response did not follow at once. When it came 
 it was tentative: 
 
 "I have never spoken of it because I felt I had 
 no right to betray even a half-confidence. I can 
 say no more now." 
 
 "/ was under no promise of secrecy. I kept my 
 own counsel because I could not see that anything 
 but trouble could come from telling the story. 
 Naomi was heart-broken over it. And I guessed 
 I believe correctly that more went to the deplor- 
 able state of mind and body that followed his sister's 
 death than that event itself. We may as well stop 
 beating about the bush, my son, and speak out the 
 ugly truth both of us have known all the years 
 that have passed over our heads since that wretched 
 creature toyed with a man's heart as a cat might 
 play with a mouse, and then ran away with another 
 woman's husband !
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 63 
 
 "There! It is said! and you are no wiser than 
 if I had continued to hold my tongue. In all the 
 years that Mahlon Rice has lived in my family as 
 one of us, I have never hinted by word or look that 
 his dying sister had poured the story into my ears 
 when she was too weak to hold it back any longer. 
 I gave her what comfort I could by volunteering 
 to care for the wreck that wretch had made of him 
 as long as he or I lived." 
 
 Paul was on his feet and at her side. Dropping 
 upon one knee he gathered her in his arms. 
 
 "Mother ! I thought I knew before what a mag- 
 nificent woman you are ! I seem never to have 
 appreciated the fulness of your glorious woman- 
 hood until this moment. When I think what you 
 have done for him and to keep his name clean, his 
 reputation unstained in the sight of the world 
 God forgive me for never fathoming the depths of 
 a nature that makes all other women weak by com- 
 parison." 
 
 Her head lay upon his heart -while he spoke. Her 
 hand stole up to his cheek as he said the last words, 
 and felt that it was wet. 
 
 "My boy! my blessing! Your love and praise 
 would reward me if I were what you think. And 
 to see what a man I have helped to save to us all 
 has already been all the recompense I could wish. 
 I am glad we have broken the seal of silence with 
 regard to this matter. Yet I am glad we have held 
 on our respective ways without consultation until 
 the task to which we believed that we were called
 
 64 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 by God was practically finished. My blood boiled 
 while Naomi told of the various traps and nets set 
 for her brother. Do you know that thing ac- 
 tually pretended to be under deep conviction for 
 sin and even to have been converted by his teach- 
 ing? She wrote dozens of letters to him while this 
 was going on. Clever letters, too. She was the 
 brightest girl in her classes and an omnivorous 
 reader. 
 
 "Her mother was pleased beyond measure when 
 Molly begged to continue her studies in Latin. 
 Mr. Rice had offered to give her lessons when she 
 confided to him her wish to carry on her education 
 at home. Mrs. Watkins consented upon condition 
 that the arrangement should be kept quiet. She 
 was afraid there would be talk in the congregation 
 if it got out. That chimed in exactly with Molly's 
 fondness for mystery and intrigue and all that sort 
 of thing. So he directed her reading by letter, and 
 lent her books and she wrote reports as a school- 
 girl might, and contrived clandestine meetings at 
 The Glebe under pretense of taking fruit and cakes 
 and such things from her mother to Naomi. Then, 
 I suppose she got tired of the play, and managed 
 to get an invitation to spend the winter in Rich- 
 mond with her father's sister, and you know the 
 rest ! It turned out that she had been correspond- 
 ing with the man who ran away with her, ever since 
 they had met at the White Sulphur the summer 
 before, hiding her tracks by mailing the letters in 
 different post-offices and directing them to several
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 6$ 
 
 fictitious names agreed upon between them. The 
 man came back a few months later, to wind up his 
 affairs, it was said, in order to go into business in 
 Savannah. His wife got a separation, but declared 
 she would not please him and let him marry again 
 by applying for a divorce. 
 
 "The Watkinses had no other children living, 
 and after the father and mother died and the plan- 
 tation was sold, the ugly story seemed to pass out 
 of people's minds. I have not heard it mentioned 
 in years. But ours is. not a gossiping county, take 
 it as a whole, and this scandal was somewhat of a 
 reflection upon it. We were thankful it died so 
 soon. It is not once in a century that a respectable 
 family is disgraced by such an affair." 
 
 She said it without misgivings. The social cyclone 
 that had torn through the respectable community 
 less than a score of years before had wrecked no 
 reputations. Excess of folly was the worst accusa- 
 tion that could be brought against High Hill, when 
 it might be said to be the head centre of the tem- 
 porary revolution. Ce"cile's most envious detractors 
 had never dared impugn her fidelity to her husband, 
 and his blind idolatry of her was a proverb to this 
 day. His stainless life and decorous widowerhood 
 would have been complete refutation of calumny 
 had any one dared to circulate it. 
 
 As the silence succeeding her reminiscences be- 
 came awkward, a far-fetched foreboding crept upon 
 the narrator's complacency. It was no secret that 
 the "creature" whose character she had figura-
 
 66 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 tively cast to the moles and the bats was a mad 
 worshipper of Paul Carrington's wife. Had her 
 social status been lower she would have been called 
 a parasite of the imported leader of fashion and 
 fancy. As it was, Molly Watkins was envied by 
 girls with less pretension to the nameless charm 
 that makes fools of men and drives minor beauties 
 to jealous frenzy. 
 
 It was plain that Paul heard the whole tale for 
 the first time. He had surmised that his invalid 
 companion in the foreign tour which brought back 
 lost health and spirits had loved the frail, fair woman 
 whose fall horrified the community. He had alluded 
 to the surmise as having been born of a "half-con- 
 fidence." It was right and expedient that he should 
 be put into possession of the unvarnished facts. 
 
 And a more propitious hour and place for unre- 
 strained confidence could hardly be imagined. 
 
 While they talked, the mocking-bird, waxing 
 confident in his powers of improvisation, took new 
 and bold flights into the heaven of song-venture, 
 as brilliant as audacious. They could see him rising, 
 floating, and sinking as upon a wave of melody, 
 above the tree-top, carried out of himself by a 
 fantasia of delight. 
 
 Madam laughed low again. 
 
 "He is excelling himself! All mocking-birds do 
 not sing at night. I think that most of them go 
 to bed, like sober housekeepers, and sleep until day- 
 light. Naomi had one whose pedigree must have 
 been crossed by a nightingale. He would sing all
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 67 
 
 night if she did not lock him up in a dark closet. 
 Although he had lived in a cage for months, she 
 fancied that he longed for freedom. She let him go 
 the summer before she died. After that he used 
 to sing every night in the tree under her window, 
 and she fed him regularly tender-hearted little 
 soul!" 
 
 Paul made a palpable effort to fall into her mood : 
 
 "This fellow may be a lineal descendant. Who 
 knows? We must tell Helen the story, I foresee 
 that she will adopt our Philomel and contrive to 
 make his acquaintance." 
 
 "The child is growing into a fine woman," re- 
 turned the grandmother. "Philadelphia has done 
 much for her." 
 
 A nameless quality in her intonation prepared 
 the listener for what came next: 
 
 "We must not forget, son, that she is not a child 
 any longer. Nor that with her temperament and 
 ready wit and other natural gifts, she must be 
 guarded tactfully until she finds herself, so to speak. 
 It is very fortunate that she and Elizabeth remain 
 upon such affectionate terms. I believe that Helen 
 speaks more freely to her than to any of her girl 
 friends. And she could not have a safer confidante. 
 So much depends upon a girl's associates at the time 
 when her character is in the making." 
 
 "God knows that is true!" The sudden vehe- 
 mence of the speech startled his mother. "And 
 we" the slight emphasis upon the word did not 
 escape the fine ear of his companion "cannot afford
 
 68 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 to take risks. As you say, she could not have a 
 safer guide, companion, and friend than the angel 
 in human form who is with her to-night." 
 
 The solemn fervor of his tone emboldened his 
 mother to make a daring move: 
 
 "We are talking as heart-to-heart to-night, my 
 boy. Will you let me go further than I have ever 
 gone before and put a direct question to you? I 
 have never owned to you or to any one except 
 the Searcher of hearts" head and voice sinking 
 reverently in uttering it "that the dearest wish 
 of my heart for years has been to see her whom you 
 call an angel your wife ! " 
 
 It was a tremendous moment, and even her spirit 
 quailed as she brought out the words. Back of 
 them lay years of unspoken yearning, of crushed 
 hopes, of strong crying and tears when the mother- 
 heart was unveiled to the Friend to whom unavail- 
 ing prayer had gone up for "how long, oh, Lord, 
 how long ? " 
 
 She had nearly said it aloud while she awaited 
 tremblingly the result of her desperate stroke. 
 
 "As 'heady' as a steam-engine when once her 
 mind is made up ! " a blunt planter had said of her 
 to Mr. Rice. "There's but one man upon the green 
 earth who can make her budge an inch, and that's 
 her son. She asks his advice once in a blue moon 
 yes, sir! and takes it ! I have known that to happen 
 a couple of times. I wouldn't have believed it if 
 I hadn't seen it with my own eyes and heard it with 
 my ears. Ed Carrington hadn't a sneaking notion
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 69 
 
 that his soul was his own after he'd been married 
 to her ten years. After that, he trotted as meekly 
 in harness as a twenty-year-old mare. Paul's made 
 out of different stuff. As good a son as ever trod 
 shoe-leather if he was a leettle 'gayly' for a while. 
 But there never was a sign of the 'etcetera' about 
 him. Folks did think the Madam would marry 
 him to Beth Moore, and it would have been a tip- 
 top match, take it all around. They say Madam 
 sets more store by her adopted daughter than by 
 all her blood-kin put together and she is a blame 
 fine girl ! with a pretty property of her own. But 
 young folks will fly the track at one time or another, 
 and a match of quite another kind was struck by 
 the boy." 
 
 Had Mr. Rice been privy to the present inter- 
 view he must have recalled the summary of the 
 relative positions occupied by father and son toward 
 the queen of the home. 
 
 "This is very plain talk, mother !" 
 
 To a woman of different caliber the words and 
 tone would have been the fall of a portcullis of final- 
 ity. Her spirit rallied to the occasion: 
 
 " I told you just now that I meant to speak frankly. 
 I need not remind you of how many years I have 
 respected your reserve upon everything that con- 
 cerned this subject. I am growing old. The future 
 of the home of your child of yourself should be 
 provided for. Should I die to-morrow the family 
 would be broken up, and your child virtually home- 
 less. These are hard facts. They must be faced."
 
 70 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 He leaned toward her, elbows upon knees; his 
 face, clearly seen in the moonlight, wore a smile 
 that puzzled her. His voice had the undertone of 
 affectionate raillery which nobody else dared use 
 to her. 
 
 "To make your meaning plainer still, you would 
 have me ask the woman I have rightly called 'an 
 angel in human form ' to marry me in order to keep 
 the High Hill family from breaking up in the event 
 of your untimely decease?" Straightening up, his 
 tone changed to fierce demand: "Mother! do you 
 appreciate what that little sentence implies? What 
 right have I to offer the rest of a blasted life and 
 the wreck of a heart to any good woman to say 
 nothing of a peerless pearl of womanhood, like Eliza- 
 beth Moore ? Don't interrupt me yet ! Do you 
 suppose I have lived under the same roof with her 
 all these years without seeing and knowing her as 
 she is? She has been more than a daughter to you; 
 more than a mother to the almost-orphaned child 
 to me salvation from unbelief in God and in man ! 
 Great Heaven ! Don't I say all this over to myself 
 every day and hour that I live?" 
 
 The mother was not dismayed. She had met 
 him and come off victorious in fiercer conflicts than 
 this. He had admitted enough to make her sanguine 
 of the sequel of the crucial interview. 
 
 "What have you to give her?" The query rang 
 out confidently. "A man who has been tried in 
 the fire and is not found wanting ! A heart the truer 
 and better worth the having than if you had never
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 71 
 
 suffered and fought and overcome temptations 
 to misanthropy and infidelity. Let us be reason- 
 able, dear boy! Put another man in your place 
 and knowing our treasure to be what she is what 
 would you advise him to do?" 
 
 The fine sense of humor that had blunted many a 
 jagged point for Paul Carrington loosened the ten- 
 sion of the scene. He laughed, in tossing a hand 
 into the air as one might fling away a ball. 
 
 "If you please, I decline to put any other man 
 in my place in the circumstances !" And, seriously: 
 "Until very lately, I have not dared think of what 
 you have spoken of as a possibility. I must get 
 used to the thought by degrees, as it were as a 
 prisoner who has lived in a dungeon for years wears 
 ground glasses for a while. And there must always 
 be the consciousness of utter unworthiness. And 
 that she, knowing all must feel and comprehend !" 
 
 He got upon hi's feet and offered to raise her. 
 
 " I can't talk more of it now, dear mother ! Thank 
 you for loving me well enough to say all that you 
 have said to-night ! You must go to bed. I will 
 sit up for the party-goers. I shall not be sleepy 
 for hours." 
 
 As she gathered up her various belongings, the 
 astute parent let fly a Parthian dart: 
 
 "It is more than likely that Mr. Wirt Cocke will 
 escort them home. He has found out lately that 
 High Hill is directly on his way to Beaumont, and 
 improves the knowledge when Elizabeth may be 
 met on the road."
 
 72 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Paul stooped to chase a rolling spool escaped 
 from her work-basket and spoke incredulously 
 one might imagine, resentfully: 
 
 "You don't mean it ? That old graybeard ! How 
 long has his wife been dead?" 
 
 "Two years And a man of fifty has no time to 
 lose ! Good night, my dear ! Send the girls directly 
 to bed when they come, and say that I hope they 
 have had a pleasant time." 
 
 They parted at the open door of the chamber, 
 and Paul returned to keep his solitary vigil. 
 
 The tall hall-clock struck one as he espied dark 
 objects clustering about the plantation-gate a quar- 
 ter-mile away. These proved, as they took shape 
 in the white road, to be the High Hill equipage at- 
 tended by two mounted figures, one on each side 
 of the vehicle. 
 
 As Paul strolled down to the yard-gate to meet 
 them, he recognized the well-set-up figures of Wirt 
 Cocke and his jaunty son. 
 
 In their progress to the house the widower ten- 
 dered his arm to Beth, while the junior took charge 
 of Helen. 
 
 The quartette chattered cheerfully, lowering the 
 hilarious tone, at Beth's initiative, in nearing the 
 goal for fear of awakening Madam Carrington. 
 
 Father and son rode away down the avenue, 
 watched by those left on the porch until the moon- 
 light swallowed them up. 
 
 "Like a silver river!" said Helen's guarded sub- 
 tone in kissing her father "good night." And nod-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 73 
 
 ding toward the outer gate: "Do you suppose they 
 always hunt in couples? It's mighty funny when 
 it's father and son !" 
 
 Her father did not betoken enjoyment of the 
 witticism. Instead, he waved a warning finger 
 toward her grandmother's room. Perhaps his sense 
 of humor was not in working order in the small 
 hours of the day.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE fourth Sunday of May that year was one Helen 
 Carrington was never to forget. 
 
 The whole family had attended church in the 
 forenoon. The congregation was large. Church- 
 going came as naturally to the respectable free- 
 holder of the day as eating breakfast on Sunday 
 morning a big dinner with, perhaps, half-a-dozen 
 guests, expected or impromptu, a postprandial 
 smoke on the porch, and genial neighborly talk. 
 The second service took the form of "plantation 
 preaching," often in a part of the county so remote 
 from the regular sanctuary that the denizens were 
 alluded to compassionately as "destitute of church 
 privileges." Or the "free church," owned by no 
 particular denomination, was appropriated by the 
 few Presbyterians resident in the vicinity for an 
 "evening service," "evening" signifying so much 
 of the sunlit day as remained after the two o'clock 
 dinner. As a rule, a second church service on the 
 day of rest and gladness was impracticable to wor- 
 shippers who drove from three to ten miles over 
 country highways to reach the church in season for 
 the eleven o'clock service. In August of each year 
 there were "protracted meetings" in the afore- 
 mentioned Free Church, conducted by the Metho- 
 dists and Baptists. One eloquent circuit-rider was 
 
 74
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 75 
 
 wont to name August "the harvest month of souls." 
 Meetings were kept up for seven days of the week, 
 and if the harvest justified the extension of time, 
 sometimes for a full fortnight. 
 
 Mount Hor had the privilege, about once in three 
 years, of "entertaining" East Hanover Presbytery 
 in her appointed turn of succession. Those were 
 high days no less than holy days. A protracted 
 meeting banded Sabbath to Sabbath, and the county 
 turned out en masse to enjoy sermons delivered by 
 the ablest men in the Virginia pulpit. 
 
 Mr. Winston had preached on this third Sunday 
 in May a "live sermon" of an hour that let none 
 of his auditors sleep. The customary gathering of 
 friends and acquaintances followed the benediction. 
 Hand-shakings and cordial salutations were ex- 
 changed before the congregation moved to leave 
 the building. The murmur and buzz were those of 
 a social assembly as the slowly drifting throng found 
 its way at length to the doors where carriages of 
 all sorts were waiting to receive feminine worshippers, 
 and blooded hunters their cavaliers. Only aged snd 
 invalid men occupied seats in the family chariot. 
 
 "It takes me some time to get used to it all," 
 Helen remarked to her father in a late-afternoon 
 talk. "You see it is so different in Philadelphia, 
 and I have been there more months in the year than 
 here for two years now. But I like the dear Old 
 Virginia ways best. It is good to think that I am 
 really and truly going to live here altogether and 
 always!"
 
 76 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 They were sitting upon a rustic bench under a 
 rose-covered arbor in the garden, " resting," as she 
 put it, after a ramble through orchard and grounds. 
 The weather was perfect even for May; everything 
 that could bloom had burst buds into flowering. 
 The ineffable peace of a country Sabbath was in 
 the brooding air; the blue sky bowed benignantly 
 over a smiling earth. 
 
 The image was born in Helen's mind, but she 
 clothed it in other words. 
 
 "Somebody writes of the 'eternal fitness of 
 things,'" she resumed thoughtfully as the subtle in- 
 fluences of scene and hour gained upon her imagina- 
 tion. "I can understand just what he meant on a 
 day like this and sitting just here and with you!" 
 
 The sudden, rapturous hug that stood for a double 
 exclamation-point in her affectionate mood finished 
 the tribute to nature and to her companion. He put 
 his arm about her and held her close; a silent kiss 
 left no need of words. 
 
 He had been very gentle and loving with her since 
 her home-coming. She comprehended, as she fondly 
 believed he intended she should, that they were 
 to be, in future, chums. She was no longer a play- 
 thing. In leaving school for good and all, she had 
 stepped into a place at his side. Henceforward, 
 they were upon the level plane of man and woman. 
 It was a stage in the wide beautiful new life she was 
 to lead hereafter a part she added mentally and 
 complacently of what was no longer metaphysical 
 but present truth "The Eternal fitness of Things."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 77 
 
 She took in great drafts of courage in the few min- 
 utes of pregnant silence. 
 
 "Father!" she broke it by saying, slipping her 
 hand into that which closed encouragingly upon 
 it. "There is something that has been in my mind 
 constantly lately. Ever since we were in Rich- 
 mond. Several things I heard there set me to won- 
 dering why I have never been told more of matters 
 that certainly concern me more than anybody else 
 alive. When I couldn't keep silent any longer, I 
 broke out one day upon Auntie Beth. I am afraid 
 I was very abrupt and unreasonable, but she was 
 heavenly sweet, as she always is, and I got from 
 her a sort of skeleton story of my early life. It was 
 all true, I know, as far as it went, but oh, father, 
 darling ! I want to know so much more about my 
 own beautiful, brilliant mother ! Don't be angry 
 with me !" feeling the involuntary shiver that went 
 through the man against whom she leaned. "I 
 know it must be painful for you to speak freely when 
 you have kept silent so long and that there are 
 things too sacred to be discussed with one's dearest 
 friend. But father ! she was my very own mother, 
 and I am the only child she left to you. Can't you 
 talk to me of her, if to nobody else?" 
 
 He looked over her head, not into her eyes, in 
 answering: 
 
 "What do you wish to know that has not been 
 told to you? I must know first what you have 
 heard." 
 
 The dry monotone was not encouraging, but
 
 78 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Helen was not to be quelled when the Carrington 
 blood was up. She hurried on: 
 
 "Only that my mother's name was Cecile Larue; 
 that she was a Southern belle whom you met in 
 New Orleans; that you married her after a short 
 courtship, and brought her to High Hill before your 
 letter telling my grandmother of your coming reached 
 her. That my mother was very beautiful and that 
 everybody in the county was in love with her at 
 once. Then I was born and she fell into bad health 
 and you took her South to her friends for the winter. 
 You came home, leaving her there, and better, as 
 you supposed. She grew worse and you were sent 
 for. Auntie did not even say that you got to New 
 Orleans before she died. I took it for granted that 
 you did. Oh, father ! I am sure I hope you did !" 
 burying her face in his bosom. "Then you brought 
 her home. That is all of auntie's story," she raised 
 her head to say, bravely swallowing her sobs and 
 trying with all her might to speak distinctly. "But 
 I ought to tell you that when I was in Richmond 
 I met a Mrs. Poitiaux who told me that my mother 
 was a Roman Catholic, and how good you were 
 to take her to town three or four times a year that 
 she might go to confession. 
 
 "That is everything I know. Really and truly! 
 I have not one single thing that belonged to my 
 mother not so much as a bit of lace or a piece of 
 jewelry such as other motherless girls keep and 
 love and" temper rising with courage as she 
 rushed on "she lies there in the burying-ground
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 79 
 
 without a stone to mark her grave. And when I, 
 a little lonely child, found out from a servant which 
 was her grave, my grandmother would not let me 
 take care of it, or so much as go to see it. Do you 
 think it strange that, when all these things work 
 like poison in my mind, I wonder what terrible mys- 
 tery lies back of it all? My mother had relatives. 
 She died in her brother's house. Why have I never 
 known, or heard from any of them? My grand- 
 father and my aunt, who died when she was but 
 ten years old, have gravestones to let people know 
 that they are remembered and loved still. For all 
 the sign that my mother ever lived and bore the 
 same name with me, she might as well have been 
 buried in the colored servants' graveyard on the 
 hill over yonder!" 
 
 She nodded her head backward to indicate the 
 location of the hill cemetery. She had wrought 
 herself into a fury of fearless indignation that would 
 have alarmed the beholder but for the fascination 
 wrought upon him by the sight of the convulsed 
 features and blazing . eyes. Yielding to the first 
 impulse of horrified memory, he pushed her from 
 him, and dropped his face upon his clenched hands. 
 
 "Oh, my God!" 
 
 Gesture and groan transfixed Helen to the spot. 
 Never in all her life had she heard from her father's 
 lips aught approximating an oath. To the Presby- 
 terian conscience the ejaculation was profanity. 
 Nor had he ever laid an ungentle hand upon her, 
 or in her sight been guilty of disrespect to a woman.
 
 8o THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HELL 
 
 Had she sinned beyond forgiveness in her blind fury ? 
 What could she do? What should she say? What 
 mad words had turned her idolized parent against 
 her? 
 
 Before she could stir he had arisen, and without 
 speaking, took her by the arm. Not rudely, but 
 in a firm grasp from which she could not es- 
 cape if she were to attempt flight. The rose-arbor 
 was in the central alley of the garden and not far 
 from the entrance-gate. Paul Carrington struck off 
 from this into a side-path, and then into another, 
 following this until the cultivated squares were 
 merged into an area bordered by willows and aspens 
 and dotted with time-stained tombstones. These 
 were not numerous when one reflected upon the 
 antiquity of the plantation and the wealth of the 
 owners. 
 
 But in the earlier years of State life, stonecutters 
 were few even in the cities, and of sculptors there 
 were none. A plain upright headstone or, more 
 often, a huge oblong slab laid horizontally upon 
 brick walls four or five feet high, commemorated 
 the name and virtues of the deceased. Even in 
 city cemeteries so little attention was bestowed 
 upon the resting-places of the beloved and honored 
 dead that descendants cast vainly about in their 
 minds for adequate explanation of what certainly 
 did not betoken forgetfulness of deeds done in the 
 body, or disrespect to the names of deceased kindred. 
 Moreover, as Beth Moore had explained to Paul 
 Carrington's daughter, the devout believer in the 
 life-to-come put out of mind so far as possible, and
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 81 
 
 as soon as he could, the thought of the "poor body 
 mouldering in the clay," and fed fancy and faith 
 upon the glorious imagery of eternal life and ever- 
 lasting peace promised in all things and sure to the 
 Father's children. 
 
 Madam Carrington was one of a mighty class 
 of Christians who discountenance visits to the fam- 
 ily graveyard. Hervey's "Meditations Among the 
 Tombs" was in her library, but she had never 
 cared to read it. The "God's acre" to which her 
 son and granddaughter were now bending their 
 steps was no more unpleasing than that of dozens 
 of plantations in her county and State, but it con- 
 trasted forlornly with the trim fields, and the garden 
 which was the finest of the region. The tall herbage 
 that had masked mounds and memorial tablets all 
 the spring, had had the periodical mowing the first 
 week in May, and was now sprouting greenly every- 
 where. It was a level surface over an unmarked 
 space perhaps twenty feet from a modest headstone 
 bearing the name of "Edmonia, daughter of E. T. 
 and Paulina Carrington, aged eleven" 
 
 A giant weeping willow with a bole twice as thick 
 as a man's body shaded the plot at which Paul 
 halted. A rude seat of planks was set between the 
 big willow and its neighbor, and upon this he sat 
 down and took his daughter, trembling and mute, 
 into his arms. 
 
 Every symptom of displeasure had gone from his 
 face; the eyes that drew hers to look into them 
 were warm with tenderness. 
 
 "My darling must not think that I am displeased
 
 82 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 with her!" he said, and Beth could not have been 
 gentler. "But there are things in the past of the 
 happiest of us which hurt too much in reviewing 
 them for us to live them over even in thought. I 
 am glad we have had this talk to-day. It is best 
 to get rid of hot spots in the heart when we can do 
 it safely. I am glad, too, that you have had a true 
 outline of your mother's life in Virginia. She was, 
 as you have been told, a beautiful and brilliant 
 woman and made a host of friends here before her 
 health failed. As to your not having jewelry or 
 other keepsake belonging to her, you must recollect 
 that she died a long distance away from home. 
 Nothing of hers was brought back to Virginia. She 
 had one sister and two brothers, all of whom are 
 dead. I know nothing of their children with the 
 exception of a nephew who had led a wandering 
 life, and whom I should not like to have you know 
 if he lived in this country. His father and mother 
 died years ago. 
 
 "You shall have your wish with regard to the 
 tombstone. I can understand how you feel about 
 it. No, dear !" as she tried to speak through a rush 
 of hot tears. "Do not try to thank me! It shall 
 be your memorial to the mother you do not recollect, 
 I brought you here to say this to you. The tablet 
 shall be a stone of remembrance to you and to me, 
 also. A silent pledge that we, henceforward, trust 
 one another so well that we will let no dark mys- 
 teries creep into our hearts. We will believe in each 
 other's love and forget what we cannot quite under- 
 stand of one another's actions. What do you say?"
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 83 
 
 They strolled leisurely back to the house as the 
 sunset was flushing the sky. The rest of the family 
 were watching it from the side-porch. 
 
 "We need not ask if you had a pleasant walk," 
 smiled Mr. Rice into Helen's eyes. "You have 
 caught the color of the sunset." 
 
 "The very happiest walk I ever had in all my 
 life!" ejaculated the girl glancing brightly at her 
 father. 
 
 "In saying it, she more than repaid me for what 
 the talk cost me." Paul confided to his mother 
 before he slept that night: "I owe to her what she 
 asked for, and the debt shall be paid. I go to Rich- 
 mond to-morrow to give the order." 
 
 In the depths of her practical soul Madam may 
 have thought the sudden resolution a sentimental 
 whim. She held back protest in word or look. The 
 blunt planter had said truly that she never corn- 
 batted her son's settled resolve. And that his will, 
 once formulated, "had no etcetera about it." 
 
 In a month's time there arrived by wagon from 
 Richmond a heavy box for the passage of which 
 into the graveyard, part of the lower fence was pulled 
 down. Workmen from the city accompanied the 
 freight, and spent two days in setting in place upon 
 a granite foundation at the head of a newly turfed 
 mound an upright slab bearing the inscription: 
 
 CECILS 
 WIFE or PAUL CARRINGTON 
 
 REQUIESCAT IN PACE
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 "MR. RICE ! I hope you and father will not forget 
 the missionary meeting here at half-after-three 
 o'clock this evening?" said Helen Carrington de- 
 murely at breakfast on the morning of July 2. 
 "The thunder-storm last night cleared the air and 
 made it delightfully cool. A full attendance is con- 
 fidently expected !" 
 
 "Helen!" admonished her grandmother, shaking 
 her head at the sinner whose imitation of Mr. Win- 
 ston's best pulpit tone was inimitable. 
 
 The monitor hardly repressed a smile and the 
 others laughed. Paul carried on the jest. 
 
 "We recollect it so well that we will leave written 
 regrets with you that an errand to the court-house 
 will compel our absence upon the auspicious oc- 
 casion. Our horses are ordered for three o'clock, 
 sharp!" 
 
 "You have much to regret!" Helen pursued 
 gravely. "Miss Zephine Anderson has canvassed 
 the county for 'suitable reading-matter for the 
 poor deluded heathen/ She had a wheelbarrow- 
 load of our best authors (expurgated) when I last 
 talked with her. She is particularly proud of a 
 second volume of Mrs. Hemans she picked up last 
 week. The first volume was lost, or this would not 
 have been given to her. ' Wasn't that just too provi- 
 
 8 4
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 85 
 
 dential?'" her powers of mimicry again in play. 
 "But all of 'The Forest Sanctuary' is in that vol- 
 ume and several juvenile poems which the poor be- 
 nighted savage children can learn by heart. 'Cas- 
 abianca,' you know? They must have shipwrecks 
 in the Cannibal Islands sometimes, so they will un- 
 derstand about the 'boy on the burning deck' and 
 all that, you know? And then that sweet, sweet 
 thing 'Prayer in a girls' school' that I can never 
 read without tears: 
 
 '"To make you idols and to find them clay 
 And then bewail their worship therefore, pray ! ' 
 
 " 'Could anything be more appropriate for 
 idolaters? It seems like a special providence that 
 I got hold of the volume that had it in. But I al- 
 ways say there are "leadings" that are past finding 
 out!'" 
 
 The flutter of a fan, picked up from the table, 
 and a sentimental sigh and devout upcasting of 
 the eyes perfected the comedy. 
 
 It was impossible not to laugh, and equally out 
 of the question to scold her. Mr. Rice was the first 
 to find his voice: 
 
 "Your talent is wasted in private life!" he an- 
 nounced, wiping his glasses before he could go on 
 with his meal. 
 
 Helen glanced over her shoulder to make sure 
 neither the butler nor his assistant was within ear- 
 shot.
 
 86 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "You cannot claim the credit of the discovery," 
 she retorted. "Only yesterday I overheard Mirny 
 tell Chloe that 'Miss Helen suttinly ken take off 
 colored folks talk 'tel you couldn't tell her apart 
 from dem ef you warn't lookin' at her!' ; 
 
 When the mirth excited by the last bit of drollery 
 subsided, she was ready with another "subject." 
 
 "Father! I don't believe you thought that old 
 Mrs. Harrison is to be 'in our midst,' when you 
 made the engagement with Mr. Rice. I have it 
 upon excellent authority that she has added ten 
 new anecdotes to her stock in trade since the last 
 monthly missionary meeting. You don't know 
 what you will miss. " 
 
 "My child!" interposed Madam seriously. "I 
 do not want to find fault with lively talk, and I 
 know there is nothing ill-natured in yours, but I 
 must object to your speaking of my friend as 'old 
 Mrs. Harrison.' It is not respectful. I sent the 
 servants out of the room when the talk became 
 personal. I have never allowed them to remain 
 within hearing of unfriendly criticisms of acquain- 
 tances. It savors too much of gossip, which is the 
 least refined species of conversation." 
 
 "She is entirely right, daughter!" affirmed Paul 
 kindly. 
 
 Helen forestalled further remark: 
 
 "But, grandmother! how am I to let you know 
 which Mrs. Harrison I mean? There are three 
 of them." 
 
 "The senior is 'Mrs. Matthew Harrison'; the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 87 
 
 next in age is ' Mrs. John' ; the third is ' Mrs. Mark,' " 
 pursued the chatelaine, unmindful of the broadening 
 smile upon Mr. Rice's face and the answering gleam 
 in Beth's and Paul's eyes, as the apostolic list went 
 on. 
 
 The opening was not lost upon Helen: 
 
 "What had poor Luke done that he should be 
 left out in the cold?" 
 
 "You are incorrigible, child !" was the sole rebuke 
 the scapegrace received, and she risked one more 
 shot: 
 
 "But, grandmother ! you must admit that the 
 good lady is in her anec-dotage ! " 
 
 Disraeli had already coined the composite word, 
 but so far as Helen knew, the play upon it was 
 original with her. She had never read "Lothair." 
 Nor, it is charitable to assume, had the wits who, 
 a half-century later, exploited the witticism as their 
 own. 
 
 It sent the party from the table in a merry mood. 
 Yet Beth's eye did not lose the exchange of glances 
 between mother and son. The slight shake of Paul's 
 head and the uplift of Madam's brows told that the 
 same dread was in the mind of each. The giddy 
 child's resemblance to her mother in feature, manner, 
 and speech grew daily more striking. The flippant 
 rattle of the breakfast-table, irrepressible in spirits, 
 unscrupulous in her play upon the salient peculiari- 
 ties of her "subjects" might have been the bride 
 of twenty years agone. 
 
 Elizabeth Moore had once defined her creed to
 
 88 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Mr. Rice in one of the rare periods of introspective 
 expression she granted herself: 
 
 "There is one rule by which I do not fear to be 
 judged. I cannot recollect when I first took it as 
 the law of my conduct: 'Whatsoever, therefore, ye 
 would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto 
 them. 1 If I am a little weak upon other points of 
 faith and doctrine, it is because obedience to this 
 one takes all my time and thought." 
 
 And the scholar who had buffeted his way through 
 deep and dark waters to the Isle of Peace, bowed 
 a reverent head and bade her "not vex her soul with 
 theological disquisitions." 
 
 "Live out your creed, my child, and the Master 
 Who gave it to us, will see to the rest." 
 
 In his heart he added : "Of such is the Kingdom of 
 Heaven." 
 
 She was very busy living it to-day. Comprehend- 
 ing, intuitively, that Madam Carrington had dis- 
 tracting cares in mind besides the responsibilities 
 of the impending "occasion," she tactfully assumed 
 the entire direction of household arrangements for 
 the afternoon and engaged Helen as her lieutenant. 
 
 "Leave it to us, just this once please!" was 
 her plea. "We have one or two Philadelphia kinks 
 in our heads that we want to surprise country folks 
 with. It will be great fun ! Go out with Paul just 
 as usual! The day is too fine for you to stay in- 
 doors." 
 
 When the pair returned from the "round of the 
 plantation," they found the visible display of the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 89 
 
 "kinks" in the transfer of a double-leaved side- 
 table from the dining-room to the great square draw- 
 ing-room corresponding in shape and dimensions 
 with the chamber across the hall; an array of small 
 stands, collected from other parts of the house, and 
 covered with white cloths, ranged against the inner 
 wall of the vine-shaded porch, and a profusion of 
 flowers that filled all indoors with fragrance. 
 
 Helen, radiantly important, rushed forward with 
 explanations. 
 
 The meeting would be in the parlor, the ladies 
 sitting around the room until business began. Then 
 the donations would be displayed upon the big table, 
 and done up in bundles to be sent to Richmond, 
 from which depot they would be shipped to New 
 York, thence to Hong Kong or Labrador or wherever 
 the heathen were in most perishing need of clothes 
 and religious poetry. The packing over, they would 
 have a picnic on the porch of cool drinks and cake, 
 and such light refreshments. Bouquets were to be 
 distributed to attending members as souvenirs of 
 the most successful meeting of the season. 
 
 "'Where an enjoyable time was had by all!' 
 That is the way a Philadelphia paper wrote up a 
 Sunday-school tea-party last winter. It sounds so 
 deliciously professional !" 
 
 " That's right ! Get all the fun out of it you can ! " 
 was her father's grim comment. "Mother! you 
 must rest as soon as dinner is over ! I foresee what 
 an ordeal is before you ! " 
 
 "She wouldn't miss it for the world!" affirmed
 
 90 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Helen. "As to the ordeal Mrs. Winston is presi- 
 dent. Elected at the last meeting, 'vice Madam 
 Carrington resigned.' There were resolutions of 
 regret by the bushel. I danced for joy. As if the 
 blessed grandmother hadn't enough to do without 
 looking after the souls of baby-cannibals, ten thou- 
 sand miles away !" 
 
 In saying it she took off her grandmother's calash 
 and led her hi to the house "to lie down until dinner 
 was ready." 
 
 Paul's and Beth's eyes met in tolerant amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 "The witch's heart is in the right place!" said 
 he. "And I wish you could know, as I do, how much 
 you have had to do with keeping it there! I can 
 never tell you half of the gratitude I feel for your 
 work in that direction. And hi every other mission 
 of mercy, for that matter. It is a long story that 
 I am hoping to tell you when the right time comes. 
 I only hope you may not find it wearisome." 
 
 They stood together in the silent drawing-room, 
 cool with gray-green shadows, and redolent of rose- 
 scent. 
 
 The warm brown eyes that were her chief beauty 
 were raised in frank pleasure at his praise. 
 
 "I love the child so dearly " she began. 
 
 Then, as his look did not release hers, she hesi- 
 tated, and spoke slowly, as if perplexed and groping 
 for right utterance: "You exaggerate the little I 
 have been allowed to do for her and for any of 
 you."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 91 
 
 She came to a dead stop, the color mounting 
 slowly to her forehead then rallied her thought: 
 
 "You forget how much I owe to your mother 
 and to all of you." 
 
 He released the hand he had taken at the last 
 word, as Helen flew into the room. Instinctively, 
 Paul placed himself between her and Beth. 
 
 "What is it?" He had nearly added an impa- 
 tient "Now/" 
 
 "Only that the dear grandmother won't sleep a 
 wink until you are reminded that you are to draw 
 the corks of the bottles shrub, currant-wine, cider, 
 and all, before you go. And see they are packed 
 in ice. She cannot trust anybody but you or Mr. 
 Rice to do it when there are to be so many drinkers. 
 Mark! I didn't say 'drunkards'! I have promised 
 for you that you would attend to it, as soon as you 
 swallow your dinner." 
 
 Mr. Winston had as reported by Helen, "hoped 
 for a full attendance of members of the Ladies' For- 
 eign Missionary Society." The hope was bounti- 
 fully fulfilled. By half past three, the string of 
 carriages in front of the High Hill gate extended 
 clear to the stables a hundred yards distant. The 
 double-leaved table in the parlor was heaped high 
 with parcels and bags; every one of the horsehair 
 chairs lining the walls was occupied, and a dozen 
 more seats of varying patterns and sizes were pro- 
 duced to meet the overflow. The society was but 
 six years old, and, up to the last monthly meeting, 
 Madam Carrington unanimously elected at the
 
 92 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH BILL 
 
 organization of the band had been the presiding 
 officer. Her reasons for resigning were sufficient 
 for herself, and when she expounded them, convinced 
 the judgment of her coadjutors. 
 
 The pastor's wife was the right woman for the 
 office. She was in the prime of life, hale and ener- 
 getic, and an adept in church work, having occupied 
 this office in her husband's former charge and ac- 
 quitted herself creditably. Madam pledged herself 
 to labor as earnestly as a private as she had as an 
 officer. In short, she had "made up her mind," 
 and everybody who heard her say it comprehended 
 the futility of opposition. 
 
 Mrs. Winston opened the meeting with an original 
 extemporaneous prayer, an innovation upon prec- 
 edent that was almost a shock to certain conserva- 
 tives, reared in the nurture and admonition of a 
 denomination that was pro-Pauline with respect to 
 the sound of feminine voices in religious assemblies. 
 Madam Carrington's practice was, after calling the 
 meeting to order, to invite all present to repeat 
 the Lord's Prayer in unison, her mellow contralto 
 sounding the pitch and leading reverently. Then 
 a hymn was sung and the secretary read a report. 
 After which preliminaries the business of soliciting 
 contributions for the next invoice of gifts, and pack- 
 ing and addressing those in hand was carried out, 
 and the usual "light" refection prescribed by the 
 By-laws served. Madam's strong common sense 
 dictated that unrestricted hospitality would lead to 
 degeneration of a religious service into feasting, if 
 not revelry.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 93 
 
 "I will say that was as handsome a prayer as 
 any preacher could have made!" Helen had the 
 luck to hear the wife of the Beaumant overseer 
 (who was a Presbyterian, hence eligible to member- 
 ship) whisper to a lady who sat near her. 
 
 The petition was well conceived and devoutly 
 uttered. Then the fourteenth chapter of Saint 
 John was read responsively, and the newly installed 
 incumbent addressed the meeting briefly. After 
 thanking them in a few well-chosen words for tide 
 honor they had shown her in electing her to preside 
 over their deliberations, and expressing the fervent 
 hope that their association might be for their common 
 improvement in the Christian life and to the glory 
 of the Master, she brought forward the first item 
 of business suggested by her a scheme that had 
 been approved by the few to whom she had men- 
 tioned it as likely to advance the cause they had 
 at heart because they would take a more intelligent 
 interest in speqific than in general work. She held 
 in her hand the copy of a letter from a woman mis- 
 sionary in Ceylon which had been forwarded to her 
 from the main missionary society in New York. 
 If, after hearing the story the writer had to tell of 
 existing conditions in that beautiful island, members 
 agreed with her hi deciding to devote their offerings 
 for this quarter-year, at least, to the support of the 
 Ceylon Mission they could vote to that effect. 
 
 The letter was undeniably interesting and graphic. 
 The deplorable ignorance and debasement of their 
 sister-women in the island was described with un-
 
 94 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 feigned feeling, and the plea for help in the task 
 of bettering them physically and morally, and above 
 all, spiritually, was touching in its very simplicity 
 and tenderness. 
 
 Madam Carrington's deep tone broke the eloquent 
 silence that ensued: "I move that, for the next 
 year, the contributions of the Ladies' Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Society of Mount Hor church be devoted 
 to the Presbyterian Mission in the Island of Cey- 
 lon." 
 
 "I second the motion!" said Mrs. Matthew Har- 
 rison. It was carried unanimously and enthusiasti- 
 cally. 
 
 Mrs. Winston held an open hymn-book, and looked 
 over it at her audience: 
 
 "I think it would stimulate our zeal in the task 
 we have undertaken if we were to sing two verses 
 of the hymn 
 
 " ' From Greenland's icy mountains ' 
 
 beginning with 
 
 "'What 'though the spicy breezes 
 Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle.' 
 
 The hymn is so familiar to us all that I need not 
 read it." 
 
 Beth had been notified in advance what would 
 be required of her, and was in her seat at the piano 
 by the time the president ceased to speak. At the 
 first bar of the grand old tune, every woman arose
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 95 
 
 to her feet as by one impulse, and the music went 
 with a will. Tears struggled with smiles of religious 
 exaltation upon many faces as they resumed their 
 seats. Ceylon seemed very near, and the pious 
 phrase that had fallen trippingly hundreds of times 
 from their lips "Zeal for souls for whom Christ 
 died" had borrowed meaning it would never lose.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 "Ix was more solemn than being in church," Helen 
 said that afternoon to Mr. Rice. "And" her 
 face dimpling roguishly "even old I mean Mrs. 
 Matthew Harrison did not tell an anecdote for 
 the next half-hour. Give me credit for not asking 
 Miss Zephine Anderson if there are baby-cannibals 
 in Ceylon. Somehow I can't exactly express what 
 I mean but when one gets so much as a glimpse 
 of the real thing in religion, and in everything 
 else foolish fancies slink out of sight. It is only 
 shams that are ridiculous." 
 
 "Thank you for telling me all about it," said 
 the Little Minister, in his kindest tone. "And most 
 of all, I am glad that you know the real pearl of 
 price when, as you say, you get a glimpse of it." 
 
 They were in the office-door. Helen had run in 
 to return "Oliver Twist" and to borrow "The Old 
 Curiosity Shop." She fluttered the leaves carelessly 
 as she talked. 
 
 "I am not a bit afraid of ministers, Mr. Rice. 
 Most of the girls I know are. They are afraid they 
 will be talked to on 'the subject of religion.' Ugh! 
 how I hate the canting phrase! One girl says 
 preachers are prime company six days in the week, 
 but she runs as soon as they begin to quote Scrip- 
 ture. I think it is dreadful to make the Bible a bug- 
 bear. One of the first things I can recollect was 
 
 9 6
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 97 
 
 sitting in your lap in this very door and begging 
 for Bible stories. You made little Samuel and David 
 as real to me as if they lived on the next plantation. 
 New Testament stories were the best of all!" 
 
 "Not 'were,' dear child, but 'are'! And when 
 we talk them over in heaven we shall find that we 
 have just begun to understand how beautiful they 
 are." 
 
 Helen sat down upon the broad door-step and 
 her host turned the rush-bottomed chair that stood 
 on the turf beside the door, so as to face her. To 
 remain indoors at this hour and in such weather 
 was not to be thought of. 
 
 The acacia- tree shading the front of "the office" 
 was in full flower. The rising evening breeze shook 
 a cluster of pink-and-white filaments upon the girl's 
 book. She picked them up and threaded them lov- 
 ingly through her fingers. 
 
 "'Our rocks are bare, but smiling there, 
 The acacia waves her yellow hair.' " 
 
 She hummed the tune with the words, musingly. 
 
 "Auntie says there is a variety that has yellow 
 blossoms. The home of the acacia must be Arabia. 
 You know how the song runs?" 
 
 She sang softly and clearly: 
 
 " ' Come to the desert ! fly with me ! 
 Our Arab tents are rude for thee. 
 But oh ! the choice what heart can doubt 
 Of tents with love, and thrones without?'
 
 98 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "I suppose" dreamily "they are heathen there, 
 too?" 
 
 "To whom the church has sent missionaries. 
 Look at the bright side." 
 
 She went on as if he had not spoken: 
 
 "Ignorant savages, who never say a prayer, or 
 hear of Christ; who beat their children to death 
 when they get angry, and treat their wives worse 
 than American men treat dumb animals. Men, 
 women, and children who live like the beasts and 
 die, generation after generation, and go where?" 
 
 "It is very dreadful, my child! Thank God that 
 Christians are awakening to a sense of our duty to 
 the outer 'world lying in wickedness and sin.' The 
 progress of missions in the last half-century has 
 been most gratifying. And the promise is explicit. 
 'The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth 
 as the waters cover the sea.' I am glad you do not 
 run away as soon as a minister quotes Scripture! 
 It comes naturally to my lips and I say the words 
 before I know it. Nothing of man's devising is ever 
 so appropriate." 
 
 Helen was separating the pink-and-white strands 
 of the acacia, and strewing them on the ground, 
 but, it was evident, not in idle thought. 
 
 "Mr. Rice!" she broke out abruptly, "have you 
 ever been to the poorhouse? What sort of place 
 is it?" 
 
 He looked around at her in amused surprise. 
 
 "You mean the poorhouse in this county? I 
 have not been there of late years. When I before
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 99 
 
 I lost my voice I used to preach there nearly every 
 month. I imagine it is very much now what it was 
 then. There are more inmates, I have heard." 
 
 "Tell me more about it! It is a dreadful place 
 isn't it?" 
 
 "If you mean by 'dreadful' that the inmates 
 are starved, or ill-treated in any way, the county 
 authorities see to that. The superintendent, the 
 'Poor Master' as he might be called lives on the 
 premises although in a separate house from the 
 main building where most of the paupers are lodged. 
 He has held the office for twenty years and must 
 understand his business, or he would not be re- 
 tained." 
 
 ' ' The paupers ! ' ' repeated Helen, f rowning. ' ' Who 
 are they? Are they all white men and women? 
 And how many are there ? And how did they happen 
 to be there ? Are they all there for the rest of their 
 lives? Could not some of them make an honest 
 living if they were given the chance to work?" 
 
 "What a storm of questions!" He patted the 
 nervous hands playfully. "Give a fellow tune to 
 answer half of them! There are, in the county 
 poorhouse, which would be an 'almshouse' in your 
 better-spoken Philadelphia, perhaps thirty maybe 
 forty people who would be a burden and a danger 
 to the community if suffered to try to take care of 
 themselves. Some are too old to earn a living; and 
 having no relatives or friends able or willing to sup- 
 port them, have 'come on the county,' as we say. 
 Others are lazy and inefficient and worn out by
 
 ioo THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 dissipation. The law that a man must earn his 
 bread by the sweat of his face holds good the world 
 over. If a man is not able, physically and mentally, 
 to do this, the community takes pity on him and 
 sees that he is fed, clothed, and lodged for the rest 
 of his life." 
 
 In response to the painfully perplexed face up- 
 turned to his, he pursued in a yet more fatherly 
 tone: 
 
 "It seems hard, I know, but it is really the most 
 merciful course that can be pursued. It is adopted 
 in all Christian communities. But for religion, 
 paupers would be put to death as offense to able- 
 bodied and prosperous folks. Don't you see?" 
 
 She ignored the query again. 
 
 "Are there any colored paupers?" 
 
 "None except free negroes. One of the beneficent 
 features of slavery is that the master regards his 
 servants as an integral part of his family. I have 
 never heard of an old or diseased negro who was 
 neglected or turned out to shift for himself. You 
 know as well as I do, how old and infirm and sickly 
 servants are treated on this plantation." 
 
 "I know! I know!" impatiently. "Do the col- 
 ored paupers live in the same house with the white ? " 
 
 " Child, what a silly question ! They have sepa- 
 rate quarters in another part of the grounds. There 
 are not many of them, and nearly all are able to do 
 some work part of the time. The men take care 
 of the chickens and mules and work in the garden. 
 Nearly all the housework is done by the colored
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 101 
 
 women. They are, as everybody knows, the laziest 
 creatures alive, and they would crowd the poor- 
 house if they were not forced to work when 
 there." 
 
 The questioner grew more judicial in pushing 
 investigations. All traces of her habitual flippancy 
 were gone. 
 
 "You say you used to preach there once a month 
 or so. Are there church-members there? If so, 
 why do not their churches look after them? It 
 is a disgrace to the Christian religion to let a brother 
 or sister 'go on the county,' as you call it. Saint 
 James would not have allowed it, I am sure. You 
 recollect what he says about telling a brother or 
 sister who is naked, or destitute of daily food, to 
 'run along and take care of himself.' Those are 
 not quite the words he used, but that is what he 
 meant." 
 
 The Little Minister laughed outright. He was 
 fond of Helen and he was enjoying her hugely now. 
 
 "You've got the gist of it, all right. And let it 
 be said in justice to the church of to-day, that it 
 does take care of its poor. There are not many in 
 our prosperous county. I do not think that we 
 have one really indigent member in our own church. 
 When I knew the poorhouse there were perhaps 
 three or four paupers who professed to have once 
 belonged to the Methodist Church. If they told 
 the truth, the 'fall from grace' was far and hard. 
 To sum up the facts in the case that seems to puzzle 
 you it would be hard to find a more disreputable
 
 102 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 crew in a civilized land than the men and women 
 whom the Poor Master used to drive into the dining- 
 room when the monthly preaching service was held. 
 He was very strict in requiring their attendance 
 and insisted that they should behave decently when 
 there. But it was a sorry show throughout poor 
 wretches! I had the horrors for a week afterward. 
 The women brought their children with them, and 
 they were apt to be noisy and there was always a 
 baby or two that cried and had to be taken out. 
 It was hard to restore even a show of order after- 
 ward. It is not a pleasant memory, you may be 
 sure!" 
 
 Helen's eyes were wide with the excitement of a 
 new discovery. 
 
 "Children! Babies!" she ejaculated. "You did 
 not tell me there were married people there! 
 Think of poor innocent babies being born and 
 brought up in the poorhouse! They ought to be 
 taken away and adopted into well-off families where 
 they would have a chance to grow up respectable 
 citizens. What becomes of them when they are 
 old enough to be taught to read and to work ? And 
 how many of them are born to this fate?" 
 
 The bachelor under fire was restless. Unwilling 
 to remind the inquisitor of Saint Paul's reference 
 to things "not convenient to be spoken of," he 
 writhed in the rush-bottomed chair like an impaled 
 angleworm. 
 
 "Dear child!" he protested feebly. "As I told 
 you, I know next to nothing about the condition
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 103 
 
 of matters at the county poorhouse now. And, 
 to be frank with you, the subject is not agreeable 
 or profitable. There are plenty of others better 
 worth thinking and talking of!" 
 
 "Hindoo mothers drowning their babies in the 
 Ganges, for example ? " 
 
 The retort was more like a snarl than a sneer. 
 "And cannibals lunching upon cold missionary! 
 And Ceylon's isle that is not converted by spicy 
 breezes and pleasing prospects! That is decent 
 and edifying stuff for Presbyterian Virginia Chris- 
 tians to talk about and pray and sing over! And 
 here within six miles of us and within four of Mount 
 Hor church is what I make out, from what I have 
 dragged out of you, to be a den of iniquity into which 
 no 'nice,' God-fearing woman should step for fear 
 of soiling her shoes ! I heard something of this to- 
 day but I could not believe it. So I had my reasons 
 for cross-examining you." She was talking very 
 fast and her eyes were live coals. "The delicate- 
 minded sisters who rolled the savory morsel under 
 their tongues were whispering together over the 
 box of pious poetry they were packing for Ceylon. 
 Grandmother will not allow gossiping at missionary 
 meetings. But my ears are quick and I picked up 
 enough to inflame my curiosity. They were ex- 
 changing poorhouse yarns by the dozen. The latest 
 and most thrilling was the tale of a woman who 
 used to live in this county and ran away to be 
 married, ever and ever so many years ago. And 
 now she has got sick of eating husks (and hers don't
 
 104 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 seem to have been buttered) and she has come back 
 to find that there is no father's house, and 'many 
 servants/ and bread to spare for her. All her kith 
 and kin have died or moved away to parts unknown. 
 The only place open to the prodigal is the poorhouse. 
 God help her! It's a wonder they took her in there! 
 It was Mrs. Matthew Harrison who was best in- 
 formed, as might have been expected. She is primed 
 with anecdotes for a year to come. She had 
 apologized for being late in coming to the meeting 
 by saying she was 'unexpectedly detained.' It 
 seems she heard the poorhouse tale at the Cross 
 Roads post-office. She had her carriage turned 
 right around and drove three miles out of the way 
 to call by the poorhouse and 'get at the truth.' That 
 was the way she put it. She was pouring it all out 
 to Miss Louise Marshall, who had 'heard part of 
 the story but couldn't believe it.' Mrs. Harrison 
 certified that it was true. She had seen the Poor 
 Master with her own eyes (she spoke as if she were 
 in the habit of borrowing other folks' optics). Mr. 
 Blankenship (that's the Poor Master's name) knew 
 Molly Watkins as well as if she had been his own 
 child, and there was no mistake I beg your par- 
 don!" 
 
 Her auditor had arisen hastily and brushed her 
 shoulder on his way into the room behind her. Worse 
 and worse! He shut the door and locked it. Con- 
 science-stricken into a horror of remorse and amaze- 
 ment, and driven by the mad impulse to find a lonely 
 corner in which she might weep out her passion of
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 105 
 
 dismay and anger she sped across the lawn to 
 the garden-gate and down the alley to the rose- 
 arbor to behold her father and Beth Moore seated 
 within in close converse.
 
 CHAPTER DC 
 
 THE location of the Poor House was selected by the 
 freeholders of the county, seventy odd years before 
 my story began, for what were in their eyes good 
 and sufficient reasons. 
 
 Imprimis and indisputable the institution was 
 not a credit to State or neighborhood. It was, at 
 the best, reluctant recognition of an inevitable ex- 
 isting evil incurable poverty. 
 
 Secondly, room must be made for the necessary 
 buildings and grounds at as little expense and in- 
 convenience to prosperous folk as was consistent 
 with a merciful degree of comfort to the prospective 
 paupers. Sanitary conditions must be regarded, 
 since neglect of these would invite sickness and 
 consequent increase of expense to the board of 
 management. To appropriate for the site fertile 
 low grounds and arable slopes would involve the 
 loss of tobacco and wheat crops. Flat old fields 
 drained into barrenness by successions of "yields" 
 without enrichment of the once-generous soil, com- 
 mended themselves to the economic interests of 
 opulent planters. Belts of native pines and clumps 
 of scrub-oaks would supply firewood for years to 
 come and serve the double purpose of screening 
 the uncomely groups of buildings that were to take 
 shape with the increase of the pauper population. 
 
 106
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 107 
 
 Lastly, the projected eyesore must not be so near 
 the public road as to invite curious or mischievous 
 visitors and penniless tramps. 
 
 Accordingly, when, on the morning succeeding 
 the missionary meeting, Paul Carrington drew rein 
 at the by-road diverging from the main highway 
 known as the "Richmond and Lynchburg Stage 
 Road," he alighted to let down "draw-bars" in the 
 "snake" fence of split rails hoary with age that 
 stretched its dreary length for many rods on either 
 hand. After dropping the bars back in their sockets, 
 Paul remounted and rode slowly onward. The 
 ill-kept road wound in a slovenly fashion, following 
 the natural undulations of the ground through the 
 aforementioned "old field." An expanse of yellow- 
 ing broom-straw that brushed his stirrups when, 
 as often happened, it encroached upon the wheel- 
 track, was dotted by rotting tree stumps, relics of 
 a day when land was abundant and laborers were 
 lazy. Large tracts of virgin forests were cleared 
 for the cultivation of soil black with fatness from 
 the deposit of dead leaves for centuries past. Hun- 
 dreds of acres were made available for receiving 
 seeds of wheat, corn, and tobacco by "girdling" the 
 larger trees eight or ten feet above the roots, and 
 leaving them to die and decay at leisure. For years, 
 crops were gathered from fields that had not had 
 in that time one pound of manure or fertilizer of 
 any kind. When, in the processes of nature, they 
 became sterile, they were abandoned to tough wild 
 grasses, and in the edges of the woods, to chincapin-
 
 io8 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 bushes. Clumps of these hardy natives fringed 
 the belt of pines and scrub-oaks that mercifully 
 veiled from the main road that which came into 
 our pedestrian's view at the last crook of the wheel- 
 track. 
 
 A long, low frame house, a story and a haK in height 
 was flanked on the right by a dozen or more huts, 
 some of logs, others of clapboards. A smaller col- 
 lection of log cabins constructed after the most 
 primitive fashion, was on the left, and back of all 
 were log stables. Beyond the houses a snake fence 
 protected a garden, several acres in extent, from 
 the depredations of straying cattle. In a wing of 
 the main building lived the overseer of the poor. 
 
 The baying of three miserable curs brought him 
 to a back-door. He waddled around to the front 
 by the time the visitor halted at the horse-rack. 
 
 "Well! I suttinly warn't expectin' to see you, 
 suh! and so early in the day!" he bellowed when 
 within speaking distance. "I ain't seen you in a 
 dog's age, so to speak. Shan't I have your animal 
 carried 'round to the stable?" as the rider looped 
 the bridle over a hook of the rack. 
 
 "How do you do, Mr. Blankenship ? " said Paul, 
 gravely courteous. "No, thank you! I will leave 
 him here. I can stay but a short time. I hope that 
 you and your family are in good health?" 
 
 He shook hands with the big fellow in saying it. 
 Eight out of ten men in the county would have 
 hailed the Poor Master as "Rashe !" and but a little 
 more respectfully than they would have greeted
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 109 
 
 a free negro. He had sprung from humble stock 
 and the fact was patent in every word and action. 
 A majority of the board of freeholders were agreed 
 that he was "just the man for the place," and backed 
 up the decision by keeping him in it for a long term 
 of years. His burly body, rising six feet in height, 
 was encased in a striped blue shirt, without cuffs or 
 collar, and a pair of faded nankeen trousers. His 
 hair and face were of different shades of red, and a 
 bristling beard a week old was shot with gray. The 
 day was warm and his sleeves were rolled to the 
 shoulders. 
 
 " Come in ! Come in, suh ! won't you ? " he urged, 
 stentorian and hospitable. "We are all right well, 
 suh, thank God! If you don't feel like comin' in, 
 I'll have some cheers brought out under the trees 
 whar it's cooler." 
 
 " If you will be so kind ? " assented Paul, and when 
 the stentor had ordered, "Jake, you black nigger! 
 fetch two cheers out hyar quick as lightnin'! do 
 you hear, suh!" the two men were seated in the 
 shade of an aspen, their feet upon a patch of de- 
 jected turf, and far enough away from the windows 
 in which Paul could not fail to see heads were pop- 
 ping up and down to render conversation safe. 
 
 "Rashe" took the lead. He signed bills and re- 
 ceipts "H. G. Blankenship," and rumor had it that 
 the initials stood for Horatio Gates who was a pop- 
 ular military hero when Rashe's father was young. 
 
 "Madam Carrington and the young ladies pretty 
 well ? She's a wonderful lady for her years. I often
 
 no THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 tell folks they don't make sech any me'. They sut- 
 tinly broke the mould after she was turned out." 
 
 Paul's grave smile was inimitable. He would 
 not discuss his mother with the man, but while upon 
 his premises, he would be civil. 
 
 "I thank you! They are all in their usual good 
 health. I will not trespass upon your valuable time, 
 Mr. Blankenship, but I am here in consequence of 
 a report that has reached my mother and has given 
 her much concern. Is it true that a person call- 
 ing herself 'Mary Watkins/ and claiming to be 
 one of the name who once lived in this county, 
 has lately been entered in the poorhouse as an in- 
 mate ? It sounds highly improbable to us ! " 
 
 "It was so highly improberbul to me, suh, that 
 I would 'a' swore on a stack o' Bibles a mile high, 
 that it couldn't be true nohow, ef I hadn't seen it 
 with my own eyes. She come here on the stage las' 
 Wednesday a week ago, an' somehow, hired or coaxed 
 a free nigger who come up from town on the top 
 of the stage, to tote her trunk over here from the 
 road. Wasn't that jes' like the ole Molly Watkins ? 
 I was a-standin' at the door as she came steppin' 
 along, for all the world like she hadn't walked all 
 the way from the Richmon' road and says she 
 'This can't be Mr. Blankenship? You look too 
 young to be the gentleman of that name I used to 
 know! Time hasn't been so kind to me, my ole 
 friend!' And with that up went her handkerchief 
 to ketch the tears. She looked so beat-out I thought 
 she was goin' to faint, an' I sung out to my wife
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL ill 
 
 to bring some brandy and cologne. Well, suh, we 
 got her into my house, and when she come to, she 
 tole us who she was and how she had been married 
 to the man she run away with, and how she'd 
 travelled pretty nigh all over the worP with him, 
 an' then the rascal had left her in Injy, or some sech 
 place, and she had worked her way on a vessel to 
 Ameriky, and so from New York to Richmon', and 
 spent her las' dollar to 'git back to the dear old 
 county/ She'd heerd in Richmon' that her folks 
 was all dead an' gone, years ago. Then she says 
 to herself: 'I'd ruther die in sight of the ole home 
 than live like a lady anywhere else.' 
 
 "An' when she foun' by askin' a man on the stage 
 that 'Rashe Blankenship' was still in charge of the 
 po 'house, she made up her mind 'to come to me 
 and die happy!' Them was her identickle words. 
 I believed her from the fust, suh. But my wife 
 well, you know how unbelievin' these women can 
 be of one another; specially ef the other woman 
 is pretty an' has winnin' ways with her. So, my 
 wife she would have it that this mought be a smart 
 empostor. She'd never knowed Molly Watkins, 
 I havin' married her in Goochland for my second, 
 after Molly run away. An' my wife, she must have 
 some more evidence than my word an' hern. An' 
 would you believe it? (it mus' 'a' been a 'specific 
 Providence,' as my ole mother used to call it) 
 it come to me all on a suddint that Molly Watkins 
 had a brother as wild as she was, who went as a 
 sailor, and died soon after he got back from one of
 
 112 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 his v'yages. And in one of his sprees he got her to 
 agree to have him tattoo her on the shoulder. 
 
 "I needn't tell you, Mr. Carrington, that me and 
 the Watkinses warn't cut off the same piece of goods ! 
 But I reckon the ole man knowed his boy mought 
 be in wuss comp'ny than with me when he went 
 a-fishin' and huntin' and we see quite a smart 
 deal of one another. We was out in the middle of 
 Jeemses' River one day fishin' when he up and tells 
 me 'bout the tattooin' and how mad his mother was 
 when she found it out, and how his sister stood up 
 for him and declared she had made him do it, so's 
 she could be ketched and brought back ef she took 
 a notion to run away. And how the ole lady never 
 knew nothin' about it 'tell the marks was healed and 
 couldn't be got out. 
 
 "Maybe you mought 'a' heered about it? She 
 used to joke about bein' 'branded like any other 
 runaway/ She was wild as a hawk, and bright as 
 a dollar. Now, suh, to come down to business it 
 may be accordin' to the law that this 'ere lady havin' 
 been born and raised in the county, has a right to 
 be taken into the po 'house and keered for for the 
 rest of her life, seein' she's no ways rugged in health 
 and not able to work for a livin'. It may be, as 
 some has tole me a'ready, that she hain't got no 
 claim on the county, seein' as how she run away 
 and hes lived the life of a common tramp for nigh 
 upon sixteen year. 
 
 "Whatever comes of the dispute, here she stays 
 as a visitor to my wife if not a county boarder.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 113 
 
 "Lordy! how I'm runnin' on, to be sho'! I ain't 
 tole you yet that I let my wife into the secret of 
 the tattooin' that fust night, and she managed to 
 help her ondress pretendin' she wanted to rub 
 her back with linermint or somethin' like that. An' 
 sho' as you are and I are born an' alive this blessed 
 minnit, thai was the 'M. W.' plain as print on the 
 po' creetur's shoulder!" 
 
 He extracted by difficult degrees a voluminous 
 red bandanna from a hip-pocket and blew his nose 
 sonorously. 
 
 Deep as was Paul's interest in the extraordinary 
 narrative, he had not failed to see that every one 
 of the front windows held two or more heads, and, 
 glancing toward the wing of the house, he plainly 
 descried the figure of a woman peering between 
 the white curtains of a dormer casement. Now 
 that the main object of his call was gained, the sooner 
 he brought it to a conclusion the better. 
 
 "What you say leaves no doubt as to the identity 
 of the person to whom you have given shelter," 
 he said. "I thank you for going so fully into the 
 particulars of the sad story. My mother will be 
 very grateful when she hears of it. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Watkins were her neighbors and friends and their 
 daughter was a frequent visitor. My mother was 
 much troubled by the strange tale she heard through 
 an acquaintance yesterday." 
 
 Rashe nodded sagaciously. "Ole Mrs. Matt 
 Harrison, I'll bet a hat! She come by yestiday on 
 a-purpose to hear all there was to hear and I, mis-
 
 H4 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 trustin' what she was arfter, sent my wife to do 
 the talkin'. She's got no use J pon the top o' the 
 groun' for the ole high-flier. So she got jes the plain 
 fac's in the case an' no 'rousements, as you mought 
 say. 
 
 " 'Tain't wuth while for me to say to you, suh, 
 that you an' Madam Carrington (and she is born 
 quality ef ever thar was one!) are welcome to any- 
 thing I can find out for you." He raised a dissuasive 
 hand as the other would have replied. "The truth 
 is, suh, that Miss Molly Watkins always had a pleas- 
 ant smile an' kind word for me whenever I happened 
 to meet her. An' one Chris'mas I was trompin' 
 along the road (hard-froze it was, too !) an' cussin' 
 all creation because my ma was sick, and I hadn't 
 had so much as a ginger-cake for Chris'mas gift, 
 and up she come, ridin' her blooded mare an' in a 
 blue ridin'-skirt an' a long feather in her cap an' 
 a spry young chap from town with her. And would 
 you believe it, suh? she stopped short and ast me 
 how was my ma, and tole me thar would be a basket 
 of good things sont to our house from Mrs. Watkins's 
 kitchen, and with that she took out of her pocket a 
 shiny silver dollar and thro wed it to me. 
 
 " 'That's fur you!' says she. 'An' I hope you'll 
 have a nice Chris'mas!' 
 
 "All that makes me say what I do say, Mr. Car- 
 rington. Her that was good to me then, ain't goin' 
 to find me a-goin' back on her when she's in trouble. 
 That ain't my sort!" 
 
 Paul held out his hand impulsively: "I honor you
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 115 
 
 for the resolution, and if I have any influence with 
 the board of management, it shall be exerted to 
 keep the poor woman under your hospitable roof. 
 She may have gone wrong in the past. It is not 
 for us to judge her. If, at any tune, I can be of 
 any service to you in this matter, you will do me a 
 favor by letting me know it." 
 
 A big fist, in color, shape, and texture not unlike 
 a Westphalia ham, closed upon the other's fingers. 
 The red bandanna was again hi evidence. 
 
 "You may depend upon it, that I will do that 
 same, suh! 'Tain't them that thinks themselves 
 saints that has the softest hearts. I ain't lived 
 forty-seven years in this 'ere world o' sin and sor- 
 row not to know that." 
 
 "May I ask if there is anything my mother can 
 send to you to make your guest more comfortable? 
 You say she is not strong? Is she ill?" 
 
 "Not just that, suh, but weakly like. She's 
 changed mightily, of course, in all these years an' 
 knockin' around the world as she's done. But she's 
 mighty peart with it all ! You wouldn't believe 
 how much int'rust the paupers" (he pronounced it 
 "poppers") "take in her already. She goes 'round 
 among them and says funny things jest as she 
 useter, you recollect? and the children Lordy! 
 if you could see her with 'em! Tellin' 'em stories 
 and carryin'-on like she was twenty, instid of fifty. 
 She can't be far from that ! She looks every day of 
 it. Maybe you would like to see her for yourself?" 
 rising with surprising alacrity for one of his bulk.
 
 Paul recoiled with an inward shudder. 
 
 "No, thank you! It would be painful for us both. 
 But you will not forget what I have said of our wish 
 to be of service to you should occasion require? 
 Pardon me for taking so much of your valuable time. 
 Again I thank you! Good morning!" 
 
 Rashe walked to the horse-rack with him and 
 stood watching the well-built figure ride away until 
 lost behind the screen of pines and scrub-oaks. 
 
 "A gentleman, through and through, ef ever 
 thar was one!" he muttered in the bristly growth 
 on lips and chin. "I wisht he had a-gone in to speak 
 to her, but I s'pose 'twoul' been a trial to both on 
 'em." 
 
 His wife met him in the house door, wild with 
 curiosity. She was a scrawny woman in a purple 
 calico gown and checked blue-gingham apron. Her 
 hair was twisted up so tightly in curl-papers that 
 the row outlining her forehead had the effect of 
 pulling the eyebrows into two peaks. 
 
 "Well! well I WELL!" was the salutation that 
 assailed him. "What did the high-and-mighty 
 lord of all the earth want with you ? Set down and 
 tell us all about it. Every livin' cretur on the place 
 has been a-watchin' of you two, a-settin' under 
 the tree and lookin' like you was a-settlin' the affairs 
 of creation." 
 
 "My friend, Mr. Paul Carrington, called to see 
 me upon a matter of business that didn't concern 
 you or the rest of the females who disgraced the 
 institution by starin' out of every winder as if they
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 117 
 
 hadn't never saw a live gentleman before. Folks 
 don't have sech manners now as they useter when 
 we was young, Miss Molly." 
 
 "Allow me to make a few exceptions, Mr. Blan- 
 kenship ! " said the person addressed with a smile 
 that aimed the compliment. "And you two did 
 make a picture worth seeing, sitting in the shade, 
 with the sunshine falling down upon you through 
 the leaves. Mrs. Blankenship and I could not re- 
 sist the temptation to 'steal a sly glance at you.' 
 I am sure you have not forgotten that old song: 
 
 "'The Captain with his whiskers stole a sly glance at me'? 
 
 "It was all the rage when I was a girl. Ah, me ! 
 how everything I see about here brings back some 
 memory of that dear old time!" 
 
 Her voice was sweet still, although it had lost 
 the ring of her girlish days. The soft elisions and 
 legate effects that characterize the patois of the 
 native-born Virginian still lingered. Rashe's wife 
 and Rashe himself would have pronounced the 
 provincial phrase "about here" "'boutcher," em- 
 phasizing the first syllable slightly. But her phrase- 
 ology was that of an educated gentlewoman, and 
 as unlike the uncouth talk of her present hosts as 
 if she had been born of another race. 
 
 She was dressed very simply in white with a black 
 belt and necktie. A small cap of what was known 
 as "bobbinet lace" was tied under the chin with 
 narrow lutestring ribbon. Any garb more unlike
 
 n8 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the dashing toilets of the Molly Watkins of the 
 "dear old time" she lamented could hardly be imag- 
 ined. There were radiating lines from depressions 
 that were once bewitching dimples; the thinned 
 lips were flatter for the loss of two teeth in the lower 
 jaw and one an eye-tooth in the upper. The 
 shoulders were bowed slightly and the stoop nar- 
 rowed the chest. Yet the wreck of a once-beau- 
 tiful woman had, in less than a week, completed 
 the fascination of burly Rashe, awakened the jeal- 
 ousy of his scrawny spouse, and stirred the muddy 
 pool of pauper-life to its depths. Her inquiries con- 
 cerning the various families of note in the length 
 and breadth of the county usually prefaced snatches 
 and details of fresh gossip that were as honey of 
 Hymettus and wine of Cyprus to the recluses who 
 flocked to listen. She had tales, too, of foreign life 
 that thrilled the starvelings with the sense of ac- 
 quiring information that was an education HI itself. 
 With racy tidbits of each of these varieties of dis- 
 course she had kept Mrs. Blankenship passably 
 tolerant of the prolonged conference under the as- 
 pens. In return, the returned prodigal had heark- 
 ened to an abstract of High Hill modern history 
 that would have astonished any of the actors in 
 the drama. 
 
 Shrewish accents struck in raspingly upon the 
 reminiscence of the song of long ago: 
 
 "All we could see was that you were gabbling 
 sixteen to the dozen, and he was a-listenin' very 
 polite. What was it all about? You mought as
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 119 
 
 well let it out now, as to wait until you can't hold 
 it in no longer. For I give you faar warnin' that 
 you'll have no peace of your life 'tell you do. Don't 
 be a downright fool, Rashe Blankenship!" 
 
 The baited husband turned his back squarely 
 upon the tormentor and dragged a chair across the 
 bare floor to plant it in front of the third party to 
 the confabulation. 
 
 "Ez I come in here on a-purpose fur to say, Miss 
 Molly, our frien' Mr. Paul Carrington of High Hill 
 rid over this mornin' fur to fetch a message for you 
 from his mother, Madam Carrington." 
 
 She laughed in his face at that and made a spor- 
 tive pass at him with the turkey-tail fan she was 
 waving lazily while the chat went on. 
 
 "Tell that to the marines! The last tune I saw 
 the old calaripper she lectured me for flirting with 
 half the men in the county and warned me that I 
 would come to a bad end if I didn't turn right about 
 and join the church. You must make up a more 
 likely story, my friend." 
 
 Rashe roared at what was to him the most refined 
 badinage he had heard in an age. He slapped his 
 fat legs until they shook like oblong moulds of jelly. 
 
 "Fact be hanged ef 'tain't ! She had heard you 
 were hi town" (jocosely) "and wanted to know 
 ef 'twas a hoax." 
 
 "What bird of the air carried the news?" 
 
 Rashe roared himself to a fine magenta face, 
 bare arms, and all. 
 
 "By Jingo that's a good one! 'Twas a bird! a
 
 120 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 turkey-buzzard! Ole Mrs. Matt Harrison who 
 is forever snoopin' around for news. So she flew 
 with the mouthful to Madam, and she sends her 
 son and hair to know ef Miss Mary Watkins (as 
 was) is a-stayin' with Mr. and Mrs. Blankenship 
 at present. I 'lowed that she was, and he said his 
 mother would be blamed glad to hear it, and how 
 Mr. and Mrs. Watkins was old friends and Miss 
 Mary useter be at High Hill quite frequent, and 
 all that sort of polite talk. You may be sure he 
 would say the right and proper thing always. Then 
 I ast him if he wouldn't step in the house and see 
 the lady for himself and he reckoned 'twarn't wuth 
 while, seein' she wasn't feelin' too well arfter travel- 
 lin' so fur. Then he ast if I'd let him know ef thar 
 was anything he or his mar could do at any time 
 for me an' mine, and 'reckoned 'twas time to go.' 
 An' now you've had it all, Betsey ! " wheeling toward 
 his wife, whose growing chagrin was manifest. 
 " 'S'pose you 'lotted upon havin' a high-seasoned 
 plate o' hash for your popper cronies ole Aggie 
 and Sally and Judy and the balance of the hags. 
 Well ! you can cook up one without no mo' help from 
 me." " 
 
 Without resentment or gratification at the tribute 
 to her inventive genius, she did not abate inquiry: 
 
 "He didn't go out of his way, I s'pose, even seein' 
 you two are so thick all on a suddint, to invite you 
 to his weddin' nor say when 'twas to come off? 
 It's all the talk (and it has been more or less for's 
 long's I've lived hi this darned ole county) that
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 121 
 
 he an* that meachin', mealy-mouthed ole maid, 
 Beth Moore, is goin' to be made man 'n' wife at 
 last! I don't see why!" with vicious significance. 
 
 "You heish your mouth an' keep it shet!" 
 vociferated her husband. Further exchange of 
 conjugal amenities was interrupted by a shriek of 
 hysterical laughter from Molly Watkins. 
 
 " 'Meachin' an' mealy-mouthed!' " she repeated. 
 "That's the best thing I ever heard, Mrs. Blanken- 
 ship ! I wish / had said it ! I could see her standing 
 there when you brought it out so patly. 'Meach- 
 in' an' mealy-mouthed ! ' I saw it coming long ago. 
 I told his first wife that she'd find a spider hi her 
 dumpling some day if she didn't look out. And 
 now that she is dead and gone what's to hinder 
 the wedding ? " 
 
 Betsey swallowed the bait: 
 
 "Folks do say that she wouldn't marry him 'tell 
 he put up a tombstone for No. i. An' do you know, 
 they say he paid a thousan' dollars for the one that 
 come up from Richmon' this summer? Of course 
 I ain't seen it, not bein' on sech intermit terms with 
 the fambly ez Mr. Blankenship!" drawling the 
 name sardonically. "But them that has got a look 
 at it says it's fine 'nough for a queen's monerment. 
 He must 'sot a deal o' store by her. Some says 
 that's why he ain't never married this one before. 
 You knowed her right well didn't you?" to the 
 guest who was listening with the flattering intent- 
 ness she accorded to the woman whom it was politic 
 to conciliate.
 
 122 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "She was as good a friend as I ever had," was 
 the serious response. "I certainly was mighty sorry 
 for her sometimes. She and the old lady didn't 
 agree very well, and the son, knowing on which 
 side his bread was buttered, wouldn't stand up for 
 anybody, not even his wife, against the ole cat ! The 
 baby is grown-up, they tell me, and a pretty girl?" 
 
 "Folks say she is the very spit an' image of her 
 mar!" struck in Betsey, seeing Rashe's lips part. 
 "I seen her two or three tunes at the cote-house 
 when she come thar with her grandma and her ant, 
 or whatever they make her call what's goin' to be 
 her stepma' befo' long. She had big black eyes and 
 white teeth and she looks lively as a cricket. I've 
 heerd that Wirt Cocke's oldest son is shinin' up 
 to her. Thar'll be no trouble in marryin' of her off. 
 Thar's piles o' money in the fambly and her new 
 ma is rich, too." 
 
 "And I hear that little Rice has walked in and 
 hung up his hat in the High Hill hall for good and 
 all?" pursued Miss Watkins (that was) carelessly. 
 "Does he look as much like his name as ever?" 
 
 Husband and wife stared uncomprehendingly. 
 
 "Heigh?" grunted Rashe inquiringly. 
 
 "He used to be small and white and smooth for 
 all the world like a big gram of rice. I don't sup- 
 pose he has altered much?" 
 
 Rashe doubled himself over his big stomach and 
 haw-hawed. 
 
 "Ain't you the beater ee! He does look jest like 
 his name, and that's a fac'" but nobody else never
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 123 
 
 thought of it but you. He ain't never married 
 neither." 
 
 "What man would care to marry him? And 
 he's too ladylike to attract a woman." She said 
 it wearily, picking up her fan and yawning. 
 
 "My good friends! this is very pleasant, but I 
 did not sleep well last night, and I must catch a 
 nap before dinner. If you will excuse me, Mrs. Blan- 
 kenship, I will go to my room." 
 
 The invariable courtesy of her demeanor toward 
 the pair was the cunningest stroke in a system that 
 was enmeshing them as deftly and gradually as 
 the spider casts his "attenuated web" about an 
 overgorged bluebottle fly. She had a web of dif- 
 ferent mesh for each of her victims. 
 
 With a parting smile addressed to both impar- 
 tially, she mounted to the upper chamber from the 
 dormer-window of which she and her hostess had 
 surveyed Paul Carrington, handsome and debonair, 
 leaning back in the capacious "rocker" brought 
 out by black Jack at his master's summons. 
 
 The temporary guest-room was a mean-enough 
 place in dimensions and appointments. But Mary 
 Watkins, in entering it, heaved a sigh of relief that 
 was a groaning sob and locked the door. Then she 
 stood in the middle of the bare floor and surveyed 
 her surroundings. Four whitewashed walls bounded 
 carpetless boards embrowned by the wear and tear 
 of a succession of tenants, and that creaked as she 
 trod them. A trundle-bed covered with a calico 
 patchwork quilt, a pine table that did duty as a
 
 124 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 dressing-bureau, two straw-bottomed chairs, and 
 her own trunk made up the furniture. The wash- 
 bowl and pitcher were of coarse crockery and the 
 lip of the pitcher was broken. A curtain of white 
 cotton cloth veiled the single window. 
 
 The unrepentant prodigal threw herself, face 
 downward, upon the feather-bed that billowed suf- 
 focatingly over her head, and tore at the patchwork 
 with her nails as a wildcat might claw the ground: 
 
 11 My God ! is there a lower deep than this?"
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 MADAM CARRINGTON'S aversion to neighborhood 
 gossip was so well known that not a whiff from the 
 tempting morsel of carrion purveyed by Mrs. Mat- 
 thew Harrison, albeit shared with a dozen other 
 cronies, reached the hostess. Beth Moore did not 
 enjoy the like blessed exemption. Without inviting 
 Mrs. Harrison's confidence, or encouraging the 
 repetition of a story pronounced by the purveyor 
 aforesaid to be "too shocking for belief, yet only 
 too true," she was the recipient of enough to fill 
 her soul with horror she durst not betray in language 
 or deportment, until the last carriage disappeared 
 in a whirl of dust down the avenue. Even then 
 Madam must be persuaded for the second time that 
 day to seek needed rest in the chamber, and the 
 servants who were restoring rooms, halls, and 
 porches to their ordinary aspect, must be cautioned 
 repeatedly to move quietly not to disturb their 
 mistress. 
 
 These duties done, Beth sought her prime coun- 
 sellor, whom she had banished from the bustling 
 scene of action to the rose-arbor an hour ago. 
 
 He had had an abstract of the startling news 
 when the whirlwind, typified by Helen, overwhelmed 
 them. 
 
 "Father! Oh, auntie! I have made Mr. Rice 
 so angry ! and I can't, for the life of me, tell why !"
 
 126 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 was the preamble to a jumbled report of the dialogue 
 in which but one fact was clear to the auditors. She 
 had blurted out to Mr. Rice that Mrs. Harrison 
 had talked of the return of the runaway Molly Wat- 
 kins, and that she was in that horrid, dirty poor- 
 house ! 
 
 "It wasn't a nice thing to talk about," confessed 
 the tearful penitent, "but he needn't have slammed 
 the door in my face !" 
 
 Beth's cool palm covered the quivering lips: 
 
 "There, dear! we will be more careful another 
 time ! Listen ! Helen ! 
 
 "The unfortunate woman was a favorite of Mr. 
 Rice's when she was young and innocent. He hoped 
 to receive her into the church. Her elopement was 
 a terrible shock to him as to us all. You could not 
 know that to hear her name so abruptly in con- 
 nection with the poorhouse was enough to take 
 his senses away for a minute. But you do know 
 what a tender heart he has, and we must spare him, 
 in this instance, as much as we can. Your father 
 does not wish that anything shall be said of this 
 story to your grandmother until he has had a chance 
 to talk it over with her. She has not been quite 
 well to-day. She ought to have a good night's rest. 
 And you will help us to give it to her. Now this 
 is our secret and we will keep it. No ! dear child ! " 
 as the culprit would have prolonged the confession 
 " you have done nothing wrong nothing but 
 what I have been doing for half-an-hour. For I 
 could not help hearing part of Mrs. Harrison's story,
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 127 
 
 and I thought your father ought to know what was 
 going on. Now, you and I will leave the ugly matter 
 in his hands. He is our confidential adviser." 
 
 The man who met and answered her smile, thought 
 it the loveliest that had ever lit up mortal face. Inly, 
 he compared it to the clear shining of a lamp through 
 an alabaster vase. 
 
 Beth went on: 
 
 "Now, you and I will go up-stairs and get ready 
 for supper. You are overexcited and out of breath. 
 And I should like to freshen myself a little after 
 the bustling day. I am glad we do not have mis- 
 sionary meetings every week. But this was very 
 interesting." 
 
 Platitudes borrowed charm from her rendition 
 of them. Nothing that had to do with the welfare 
 of others was trite to her. Setting aside the ugly 
 episode of the Molly Watkins scandal, she had found 
 in the gathering elements of pleasurable entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 Paul accompanied the two women up the main 
 alley of the garden, parting with them at the gate. 
 Then he went back to the arbor and smoked the 
 pipe of meditation until the sun went down and 
 the grass was heavy with dew. Instead of going 
 directly to the house as he bethought himself that 
 it was nearly supper-tune, he took the path lead- 
 ing to the office. The door was fast, and all was 
 still within. He listened for a minute and then 
 knocked. 
 
 "Who's there?" said a weak voice.
 
 128 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "It is I, my dear fellow. I want a word with 
 you," was the cheery response. 
 
 There was a perceptible pause in the muffled 
 movements in the room before a hand was laid upon 
 the lock; the key turned and the door opened. 
 
 "Feeling a little done up by the ride in the sun?" 
 said Paul, in affirmation rather than inquiry. "My 
 own head has not been quite steady since I got back. 
 We old fellows can't take the liberties with ourselves 
 that were safe twenty years ago. How close it is 
 in here ! It was all right to lie down, but you should 
 have left the door open. And, man alive! your 
 blinds are tight shut, too! No wonder you feel 
 'stewed'!" 
 
 He threw the shutters of both windows wide with 
 a bang, and held out a hand to the man who stood 
 stock-still and dumb near the door. 
 
 "Now, come into the blessed outer air!" 
 
 He half-led, half-supported his friend to the big 
 rocker beside the door-step and pushed him into 
 it. 
 
 "Now, Rice!" with an utter change of tone and 
 manner "we'll have this out like two men. We 
 are not gossiping old women. Helen has told me of 
 her talk with you this evening. We won't waste 
 words before taking up cleaner topics. I doubt if 
 there is one syllable of truth in the report made by 
 Mrs. Harrison of her call to the poorhouse. The 
 story doesn't hang together, to my way of thinking. 
 And Beth is of the same opinion. 
 
 "Naturally, the thought of the possibility of the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 129 
 
 occurrence knocked you over. And, true or false, 
 it has set you to thinking of things we agreed long 
 ago were best forgotten for all time. Don't borrow 
 trouble upon compound interest. It doesn't pay, 
 old man! Supper will be ready in ten minutes. 
 A cup of strong coffee will clear your brain. Go 
 back to your room and dip your head into cold 
 water at the same time plunge memory into Lethe, 
 and come out, made over!" 
 
 He knew by experience that heroic treatment 
 acted well with the battered wreck of manhood. 
 Knew, too, how gallantly the wreck sat the water 
 when once more afloat. 
 
 At the sound of the supper-bell, the two walked 
 leisurely toward the house. In rounding the corner 
 that would bring them in sight of the occupants of 
 the side-porch, Paul laid his hand upon the other's 
 shoulder: 
 
 "Remember! the mater knows nothing, and is 
 to know nothing until we have learned more." 
 
 The little minister did credit to his tutor and 
 to his own powers of self-control, bearing his part 
 in the table-talk and rallying so far from the effects 
 of the ride under a summer sun as to introduce a 
 novel and lively subject when the second cup of 
 Madam's inimitable coffee had done its work: 
 
 "I got a letter at the post-office to-day that may 
 interest some of you," he remarked, drawing it 
 from his pocket. "I am sure that Helen will like to 
 hear it" smiling affectionately at the girl whose 
 chastened liveliness reminded the two who compre-
 
 130 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 hended the cause, of the calm of a sunset succeeding 
 a thunder-shower. "Mr. Ruffin writes that the 
 readers of The Farmer's Register want to know more 
 of the Dorking breed of fowls. He says very pleasant 
 things of what I have written of them. He would 
 like to have another article, giving particulars of 
 their habits and the English ways of managing them. 
 And " the white face coloring faintly and his ac- 
 cent deprecating "he would be glad to get a pic- 
 ture of the hen-house I had built for them and 
 and a sketch of the rooster, the hen, and the brood 
 I wrote of." 
 
 The clapping of Helen's hands and her gleeful 
 cry drowned the chorus of approval led by Madam. 
 
 " Oh ! Oh! OH ! wouldn't that be splendid ! You 
 will do it won't you, Mr. Rice ? You draw so beau- 
 tifully that you can make just the loveliest picture 
 that has ever gone into the paper! I think I can 
 see it now and under it in big letters 'Original 
 design by Rev. Mahlon Rice, A.B. and A.M. and that 
 ought to be D.D: Won't aU of us High Hillers feel 
 distinguished ? " 
 
 "If we might have on the next page a sketch of 
 Mr. Dorking, Mrs. Dorking, and all the little Dork- 
 ings done by our promising young artist, Miss Helen 
 Carrington," responded Mr. Rice gayly. "Seri- 
 ously, my child, you could do it and well! No- 
 body who has seen your clever work in pencil and 
 crayon could doubt your ability. All your family 
 will back me up in what I say. Your grandmother 
 and father were saying only yesterday that your
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 131 
 
 talent for drawing should be further cultivated and 
 the instruction from which you profited so com- 
 mendably in Philadelphia must not be thrown away. 
 I recollected their talk when I read Mr. Ruffin's 
 letter." 
 
 Here was a diversion indeed! Before bedtime 
 the preliminaries of the joint undertaking were dis- 
 cussed and agreed upon. The work was to be begun 
 on the morrow, and the results were to be submitted 
 to a board of judges, composed of the three other 
 members of the domestic group. It was not a pre- 
 sumptuous venture. Mahlon Rice had worked in 
 an architect's office for two years after leaving col- 
 lege, with an eye to taking up architectural design- 
 ing as his profession. He had decided skill with 
 the pencil and delighted in exercising it. Helen's 
 talent for sketching was an inheritance from her 
 accomplished mother, and had been fostered by 
 tuition under a noted artist who had classes in her 
 Philadelphia seminary. 
 
 She confided to Beth after they had at last con- 
 sented to postpone further talk upon the all-ab- 
 sorbing theme until the morning, that she had "al- 
 ways cherished an ambition to be distinguished hi 
 some way." 
 
 "I dreamed once that I might become an author. 
 Or a musician. But at heart I longed to make visi- 
 ble creations with my fingers! I see pictures when 
 my eyes are shut, and I never look at a fine land- 
 scape without wishing I could reproduce it upon 
 paper. I love ! love ! love to draw ! And to have one
 
 132 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 of my pictures engraved ! I shall not sleep a wink 
 for thinking of it! That is something to get up for 
 in the morning! Half of the time I lie still upon 
 awaking and wonder if there is anything in the world 
 worth the trouble of getting out of bed and dressing. 
 Without some fixed purpose this old life of ours is 
 such a dreary, monotonous grind!" 
 
 "It is not kind to remind you of what you said 
 less than two months ago when you expressed just 
 the opposite feelings or opinions," smiled Beth. 
 "Or I might quote something very pretty and poet- 
 ical about the joy of being alive! But that was in 
 the morning when you and the world were young 
 and new. This is too late at night for sober people 
 like us to be awake and up, and you have had a 
 very trying day. Give life another chance. Put 
 off sentencing it until to-morrow." 
 
 In five minutes after her head touched the pillow 
 Helen was fast asleep. Beth lay awake, perfectly 
 still, without word or sigh, until midnight, awakening 
 again when the east window toward which she was 
 gazing showed a sky barred with pink. Every bird 
 in the grove was aroused and set to singing by the 
 whistle of the catbird that was raising a brood in 
 the acacias shading the office. Beth wondered if 
 the occupant were awake to hear it. Had he banished 
 memories long enough to snatch a few hours of rest- 
 ful oblivion ? Then, with the unaccountable procliv- 
 ity of the grotesque to force itself upon the saddest 
 and most sacred musings, there drifted to her an 
 incident in a story she had read last Sunday. One
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HELL 133 
 
 of the charming "Franconia Tales" that delighted 
 our foremothers and dropped into their children's 
 minds seeds that were to spring up unto everlasting 
 life told of a woman, widowed and poor, who 
 lived with her only son in a small farmhouse in the 
 shadow of "Old Hoaryhead," the mountain that 
 gave name to the book. They had had hopes they 
 believed were well grounded of removing to a bet- 
 ter home under changed circumstances and built 
 numerous plans for the life they should lead there. 
 Like the rush of an avalanche from the mountain- 
 side fell news that their dreams were only dreams, 
 and the crushing consciousness of the folly and hope- 
 lessness of it all. For two days gloom reigned un- 
 broken in the little home and the widow lost faith 
 in God as in man. On the third evening she aroused 
 suddenly to the perception of the wickedness of 
 unfaith and the wrong to her boy done by her de- 
 spondency. 
 
 "Can't we think of something that will take our 
 minds off our trouble and make us feel like work 
 again?" she said. 
 
 "Gilbert" was ready with an answer: "We might 
 make some maple-sugar candy!" 
 
 The result of the homely experiment proved the 
 boy's shrewd common sense. 
 
 Beth laughed low to herself in thinking of the 
 Dorking portraits: 
 
 "A revised version of the maple-sugar candy." 
 
 Amusement was banished by the next thought. 
 Perhaps, after all, the unlikely rumor circulated
 
 134 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 by Mrs. Harrison might be true. What would be 
 the effect of the revelation upon the man who once 
 loved the lost creature? Her name still had power 
 to move him out of his habitual calmness. Would 
 the spell of homely magic avail against the cruel 
 force of mean and sordid and debasing fact? Mary 
 Watkins ("Molly" to a host of friends) had been 
 the dashing belle of the region. Her fall was an 
 abiding horror and shame in the history of the last 
 twelve years. Tales of her pranks, her conquests, 
 her sayings were still retailed with mingled pride 
 and regret. Such an ignoble end of her career was 
 incredibly repulsive. The thought was not to be 
 harbored for an instant. 
 
 Putting misgivings and uncomfortable imagina- 
 tions aside with her wonted quiet determination, 
 she would not allow herself to dwell upon the pos- 
 sible result of Paul's morning ride. Madam Car- 
 rington and herself were in his confidence. Nobody 
 else suspected any mystery in the excursion. He 
 often spent half the day in the saddle, and business 
 errands were numerous. 
 
 Before he mounted, he, his mother, and Beth 
 went down to what Helen had dubbed "the Dorking 
 villa," to see the beginning of the "study" of build- 
 ing and inmates. It was a fine fresh morning and 
 the "villa" yard, enclosed by a neat picket fence 
 over which convolvulus and honeysuckle were riot- 
 ing, was merry with crow and cackle chirpings. 
 Each artist, drawing-board in hand, was intent 
 upon getting the right lights, and in Helen's case
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 135 
 
 the most effective poses of "subjects." She was 
 perched upon a high stool in the open gate, Mrs. 
 Dorking and her brood attracted into the centre 
 of the enclosure by an unusually lavish morning 
 meal were grouping themselves satisfactorily. 
 
 "As if they knew what I expect of them!" whis- 
 pered the enchanted limner, brandishing her crayon 
 warningly. "Don't disturb them ! When you come 
 back you shall see well, what you shall see!" 
 
 She was established at a table in the shadiest, 
 quietest end of the side-porch when her father 
 mounted the steps on his return. The table was 
 strewed with sketches by the help of which, as she 
 had informed her grandmother and Beth, who were 
 at work in their accustomed corner, she "hoped 
 to make a composition that would suit her and send 
 everybody else into raptures of admiration." 
 
 "Don't come a step nearer!" she cried, shaking 
 her crayon threateningly at her father. "Nobody 
 is to see it until it is finished ! It is to be my chef- 
 d'oeuvre and make my reputation!" 
 
 "All right!" assented Paul. "And not to inter- 
 fere with the concentration of all your faculties 
 upon the masterpiece, I shall take your grandmother 
 out of hearing for a little business talk. Will you 
 come, too, Beth? As soon as I saw the artist I no- 
 ticed the ' eyes in wild frenzy rolling.' We will leave 
 them to roll undisturbed." 
 
 Madam Carrington exclaimed at the serious face 
 turned to her as the trio entered the chamber: "It 
 was true then? Are you perfectly certain?"
 
 136 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 He held back nothing. The picture that had 
 obsessed his fancy all the way home, he unfolded 
 to them. Rashe had painted it forcefully and the 
 listener's imagination supplied all that was missing. 
 
 When Paul ceased speaking a stillness that might 
 be felt filled the great room for a long tense minute. 
 Beth sat with averted face, her hands locked in her 
 lap, painful crimson dyeing cheeks and forehead. 
 Paul had not sat down while he talked and now 
 stood by the window, staring into the distance. 
 
 At length Madam Carrington spoke, her voice 
 steady, her eyes stern: 
 
 "We have learned the truth, and nothing could 
 be worse. Investigation was a duty we owed to 
 our old friends, the father and mother of the wretched 
 woman. We can do nothing more. She would not 
 accept anything from us, if what the overseer re- 
 ports of her tone and conduct be true. She has 
 chosen her mode of life, and has no disposition to 
 change it. There let the very disagreeable matter 
 rest." 
 
 "You do not think then," Beth ventured, timidly, 
 "that it might be well for you to see her? She was 
 fond of you when she was a little girl. I recollect 
 how pretty and bright and engaging she was. I 
 was always delighted when she came to see us." 
 
 Madam Carrington's dressmaker was fond of 
 saying that that lady's "back was as flat as a girl's." 
 She sat two inches taller now and as straight as a 
 young pine. 
 
 "Go to see her, my child! A woman steeped to
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 137 
 
 the lips in iniquity, and glorying in her shame ! Who 
 deliberately selects as a home for her declining years 
 a foul den like the county poorhouse ! From what 
 I hear of the inmates and their manners and morals, 
 she seems to be in congenial society. It is a place 
 no decent woman can visit and retain her self- 
 respect. I am astonished that Maria Harrison 
 demeaned herself by calling there, even" sardon- 
 ically "for the gratification of worse- than-idle curi- 
 osity." 
 
 "But" in a desperate attempt to soften the harsh 
 decree "things being what they are, and with her 
 antecedents, where else could she go ? Don't be dis- 
 pleased with me, dear aunt! But what Paul has 
 told us makes my heart ache. I wish there were 
 some way of saving her!" 
 
 Rhadamantha was never harsh with her adopted 
 daughter. She was conscientiously firm now. 
 
 "Child! when you have seen as much of human 
 nature as I have, you will comprehend that the 
 most hopeless of sinners is a thoroughly depraved 
 woman. There is more hope of the drunkard and 
 murderer than of her. If the daughter of my old 
 friend (we were schoolmates) were ill or starving, 
 or in any other kind of physical suffering, I would 
 do all in my power to help her. As it is, the cause 
 of morality and religion requires that I should keep 
 away from her, and have it distinctly understood 
 why I will have nothing to do with her. Before 
 we quit the subject let me remind you both, that 
 Helen must hear none of the particulars her father
 
 138 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 has told us. They are not fit for a girl of her age 
 to think and talk of. It should be enough for her 
 to know that the woman in the poorhouse is Mary 
 Watkins; that she is content to remain there and 
 does not care to meet her former acquaintances. 
 Do not feed her overlively imagination with notions 
 of the repentant Magdalene and all that stuff. 
 
 "Now, children! a more important point is how 
 the revolting facts are to be told to Mr. Rice. Yet 
 one might suppose that the ugly truth would cure 
 any fondness he may have had for the abandoned 
 creature years ago!" 
 
 "Unless you object, I will take the painful task 
 upon myself." Paul spoke quietly but decidedly. 
 Beth knew that the question was settled. The per- 
 verse sense of humor which was at once her ally 
 and tormentor in crucial moments thrust upon 
 memory the speecjh of the rude-spoken planter re- 
 ported to her by a tactless gossip: 
 
 "There is no etcetera about him!" 
 
 It was not a surprise when Madam replied gravely: 
 
 "Manage it as you like, my son. We shall not 
 interfere and there will be no questions asked."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 ON the second Sunday in July Mr. Winston gave 
 out two special notices from the Mount Hor pulpit: 
 
 (1) "There will be plantation preaching at High 
 Hill at half past three o'clock to-day. A cordial 
 invitation is extended to all residents of the neigh- 
 borhood to attend." 
 
 (2) "A called meeting of the Ladies' Missionary 
 Society will be held at The Glebe on Wednesday 
 next at four o'clock, by order of the president." 
 
 "Plantation preaching" was a religious function 
 which could be counted upon for at least one Sun- 
 day in each summer month, sometimes for two. 
 
 For forty years Madam Carrington had filled a 
 standing order for two such meetings at her home, 
 during the season. If, from any untoward circum- 
 stance, the planter who had registered next in line 
 could not offer his premises, she held herself ready 
 to act as his substitute. She said, and truly, that 
 she esteemed it a privilege to do this. 
 
 The twentieth-century reader has no historical 
 data that will fit him to estimate correctly the sys- 
 tematic and conscientious care bestowed by the 
 Virginian slaveholder upon the religious education 
 of his servants. Churchgoing was not only en- 
 couraged, but insisted upon when opportunity of- 
 fered, and masters and mistresses submitted cheer- 
 
 139
 
 140 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 fully to personal inconveniences that employees of 
 both sexes might attend the nearest place of public 
 worship. 
 
 All this was secondary in importance to the relig- 
 ious instruction given to young and old upon plan- 
 tations presided over by Christian owners. Bible 
 classes were held, conducted usually by the mistress, 
 or one of the daughters of the house; a fair per- 
 centage of colored boys and girls were taught to 
 read and took their part in responsive readings at 
 these classes. The Scriptures were read by one of 
 the ladies of the family to the sick and aged on the 
 plantation, and instruction in the spiritual meaning 
 of chapter and verse imparted freely and gladly. 
 The cardinal truths of Christianity and the work- 
 ing rules of Christian faith and practice were as 
 familiarly known and spoken of by the colored pop- 
 ulation as by their instructors. Madam Carrington 
 freely confessed to her chaplain and friend, Mr. 
 Rice, that she had learned lessons of as rich religious 
 experience from her elderly servants (whom they 
 never spoke of as "slaves") as from licensed clergy- 
 men or from saintly associates of her own rank. 
 
 The High Hill plantation had a State-wide repu- 
 tation for excellent management, efficiency, and con- 
 sequent prosperity. Its praise was in all the churches 
 for the parental care exercised by the proprietors 
 over the moral, mental, and spiritual welfare of their 
 dependents. Under the sway of the present mistress, 
 it had gained, not lost, in all these respects. She 
 was strict, but never hard, much less unjust. The
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 141 
 
 dullest of her serfs comprehended that she held 
 herself responsible to a Master whom she served, 
 night and day, with all her heart and soul. The 
 pious souls to whom she ministered in her round 
 of duty felt that she recognized a bond of union 
 with them mightier than any earthly relation could 
 cement. 
 
 The Sunday that brought preacher and congrega- 
 tion to her home was a "high" and, in the true sense 
 of the word, a "holy day." 
 
 On this second Sunday in the month as "Ung* 
 Cyrus," the head man, said to his mistress in an- 
 nouncing that "all things were now ready for the 
 meetin'" "A'peared-like it had been made a-pur- 
 pose." 
 
 "I thanked the Lord with all my might las' night 
 when the thunder-storm wuk me up, for, sez I, dis 
 will suttuily lay de dus' an' freshin de a'r for to- 
 morrer." 
 
 Madam had come out upon the front porch at 
 his request and surveyed the scene with devout 
 complacency. 
 
 The tulip-poplars shading the spacious front 
 yard were perhaps a century old, and had been care- 
 fully tended from saplinghood. The brown boles 
 shot heavenward without a curve for thirty and 
 forty feet to support superb crowns of foliage. The 
 turf beneath was green velvet and brocaded with 
 gold thread where the sunbeams wove a pattern 
 upon it. Rows of benches were ranged in the "con- 
 tiguity of shade" cast from the house to the iron
 
 142 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 entrance-gate. One wing of this bore in a scroll 
 "P," the other a "C," as big and rusty. The first 
 American Paul Carrington had set up the gate. 
 
 The shrubbery was in freshest trim; yellow jas- 
 mine mingled spicy breaths with the milder fra- 
 grance of honeysuckle and day-lilies. The porches 
 in front and at the side were furnished with chairs 
 for pale-faced worshippers. 
 
 "We have indeed reason to be thankful, Cyrus!" 
 said the mistress. "The rain was needed, and the 
 weather could not be pleasanter. You have ar- 
 ranged everything out there beautifully. How 
 many have you provided seats for?" 
 
 "I 'lowed room for three hund'ed, my mistis. 
 Ef so be that mo' should come, we ken fotch mo' 
 benches." 
 
 She nodded approval. "Mr. Winston was kind 
 enough to tell me to-day what hymns he will give 
 out. Miss Helen handed the list to Myra." 
 
 "Yes, mistis. She have tole de choir what they 
 are to sing. 'Scuse me, ma'am, but do you s'pose 
 Mrs. Winston will 'company de reveren' gentleman 
 dis evenin' ? " 
 
 "She told me this morning that we might expect 
 her." 
 
 "Dey do say she is a mighty fine lady," pursued 
 the head man. "An' Sis' Mandy, she was a-tellin' 
 hi de kitchin las' night how she has done a heap 
 o' good to dem po' despised heathens 'cross de sea." 
 
 Madam smiled: "She is president of our Ladies' 
 Missionary Society and is doing much good in awak-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 143 
 
 ening our interest in the heathen to whom Chris- 
 tians in America ought to send the Gospel. There 
 is a carriage at the far gate. See that the men are 
 ready to look after the horses and that the carriages 
 are not left in the way of others that come later." 
 The congregation in the porches and out-of-doors 
 was as large as had been expected. Mr. Winston 
 stood at the top of the front steps, a small stand 
 beside him on which were Bible, hymn-book, and 
 a glass of water. Below, at his right, sat the "choir " 
 of ten women and as many men, each with book 
 in hand. They were trained in singing by Beth 
 and Helen, voices and talent having been intel- 
 ligently selected. It was the pastor's habit to com- 
 mit the musical service to the larger part of the 
 congregation collected upon the lawn, and to call 
 upon certain of the same to lead in two of the prayers. 
 He began the services with a brief invocation and 
 read the whole of the first hymn: 
 
 "'All hail the power of Jesus' name, 
 
 Let angels prostrate fall ! 
 Bring forth the royal diadem 
 And crown Him Lord of all ! ' " 
 
 Beth had met the singers by appointment in 
 "Mammy Tina's house" at two o'clock and given 
 a running commentary upon the text of each hymn. 
 
 "It is wrong to sing sacred words without know- 
 ing what they mean," was her preamble. "And we 
 enjoy hymns much more when we understand what 
 we are singing."
 
 144 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 They rendered the glorious old canticle with vigor 
 and feeling, and all joined in lustily. Through forest 
 and over hill and meadow for a full mile around 
 rolled the cataract of jubilant sound, and one might 
 have believed that the blue heavens bowed to listen. 
 
 "I could not sing for the tears that choked me," 
 Mrs. Matthew Harrison reported to a friend who 
 had not been present that afternoon. "It was like 
 heaven let down to earth!" 
 
 We may observe, in passing, that the incident 
 added a thrilling anecdote to her collection. 
 
 The thirty-fifth psalm and the last chapter of 
 Revelations were read and the preacher announced 
 his text: 
 
 " The Spirit and the bride say 'Come.' And let him 
 that heareth say 'Come!' And let him that is athirst 
 come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water 
 of life freely." 
 
 "Just the right subject for a July day!" whis- 
 pered Helen to Amy Carter, who sat next to her. 
 
 The theme was wisely chosen and the treatment 
 was tactfully adapted to the audience. The speaker 
 knew them too well to "talk down to them." He 
 was also clever enough to enforce great truths by 
 illustrations drawn from every-day life and the 
 natural world and occupations familiar to them. 
 Instead of stooping to the intelligence of men of 
 low estate, he uplifted them. The gift is rare in 
 the sacred desk, and few there be that have it. This 
 man gathered many colored members into the Pres- 
 byterian Church while he held the Mount Hor pas-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 145 
 
 torate. He would have it that the harvest began 
 with seed cast into soil made good by the faithful 
 teachings of the High Hill household of faith. He 
 may have been right. 
 
 "Ung' Cyrus" was called upon for the concluding 
 prayer. 
 
 "And supplied the inevitable touch of grotesque- 
 ness!" moaned Beth as the afternoon exercises were 
 talked over in the domestic junta on the porch that 
 evening. 
 
 And Madam Carrington: "I might have fore- 
 seen that he had something 'notable' in mind when 
 he asked me if Mrs. Winston were coming." 
 
 For the head man had prayed at length for "de 
 great and notable man of Gawd set over us in sper- 
 ritual things, from de rivers to de ends of de yearth. 
 May he go hi an' come out befo' us for many mo' 
 years to come an' find parstur from de rivers to de 
 ends of de yearth. 
 
 "An' specially bless her whom Thou has given 
 him to be a pardner, in dese low groun's of sin and 
 sorrow from de rivers to de end of de yearth. May 
 dey live togedder like two turtel-doves in one nes' 
 wid never a jar between, from de rivers to de end 
 of de yearth!" 
 
 "Mother!" pleaded Paul when he could articulate 
 for laughing at Helen's vivid repetition of the flight 
 of oratory. "Can't you speak plainly to Cyrus 
 and make him comprehend that this sort of thing 
 must not happen again? It ruined the whole 
 service!"
 
 146 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "For us, perhaps, my son. Not for those for 
 whom it was held. We cannot run them into our 
 mould without violence to nature. Cyrus's siege 
 of the throne of grace in behalf of the blessed woman 
 (who is sensible enough to take the will for the deed) 
 did not offend the taste of a single person of his 
 color. Indeed, they thought it fine. You heard 
 how fervently they responded 'Amen!' I would 
 not hurt Cyrus's feelings for the world. But I will 
 have a talk with his wife and give her to understand 
 that he must choose his words more carefully in 
 future." 
 
 Mr. Rice took up the tale: 
 
 "The incident reminded me of something of the 
 same sort that befell me years ago when I was young 
 in the ministry. It was my first experience in plan- 
 tation preaching, and the colored brother who closed 
 the meeting with prayer, besought the Lord that 
 I might soon cease from my labors and that my 
 works might follow me ! 
 
 "Fact ! my dear fellow ! Sometimes, in my morbid 
 hours, I have thought that he may not have asked 
 so far amiss as I imagined then. I have certainly 
 ceased from one field of labor and as for my 
 works " 
 
 "Hear him!" ejaculated Helen indignantly. "If 
 you are going to say something disrespectful of the 
 Dorkings and your works in their behalf, I won't 
 stay to listen! Good night, all!" 
 
 "The minx is wiser than her teachers," said 
 Madam, rising to follow her granddaughter's lead.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 147 
 
 "We will listen to no heresies after the peaceful 
 Sabbath we have enjoyed. May it be many a year 
 before your good works follow you to heaven, dear 
 Mr. Rice ! What would High Hill be without you, 
 'our guide, philosopher, and friend'? Good night 
 and pleasanter dreams than that last remark of 
 yours is likely to invoke!" 
 
 The two men, left together, looked lovingly after 
 the retreating forms: 
 
 " 'And they shall walk in white array!' " mur- 
 mured the Little Minister feelingly. "When we re- 
 flect upon what is left us, it is rank blasphemy 
 to complain. To-day has truly been a feast of wine 
 upon the lees of wine well refined! How aptly 
 the gracious words come in when our better selves 
 are allowed fair play!" 
 
 "I will walk over to the office with you, if you 
 don't mind ? " Paul spoke with seeming carelessness 
 in rising to his feet. 
 
 The moon was up when they got to the office- 
 door and Mr. Rice brought out another chair. 
 
 "You have something to say? Out with it!" 
 
 "Nothing worth worrying over. But it has pes- 
 tered me ever since the notion got into my head. 
 Like a strand of gossamer that catches on the eye- 
 lids when one is walking in the woods and can't 
 be got rid of for ever so long. Did you happen to 
 see a woman dressed in black with a blue veil over 
 her face, who came late into church and sat near 
 the door this morning?" 
 
 "I did not. What of her?"
 
 148 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "I was on the other side of the church, but sitting 
 against the wall, so that by turning my head slightly 
 I had a tolerably fair view of her. Something 
 vaguely and I may say, disagreeably familiar 
 about her impressed me. I caught myself glancing 
 over my shoulder toward her several times during 
 the service. When the last prayer was over, I looked 
 in that direction, but she was not there. She had 
 disappeared during the prayer. 
 
 "After we got home I questioned Aleck who, 
 sitting in the servants' seats far back in the church, 
 slips out the minute the benediction is pronounced 
 to get the horses ready. Yes! he had noticed the 
 lady and more particularly because she walked very 
 fast away from the church and down the road where 
 she jumped into a carryall that was waiting for her. 
 It was drawn by two mules and a man was driving 
 who and here is the odd part of it Aleck thinks 
 was the half-witted mulatto who lives with his 
 mother at the poorhouse." 
 
 The other put out a protesting hand as if to ward 
 off a blow: 
 
 "You don't imagine " 
 
 "If I do, dear boy, it is only imagination, and 
 as tenuous as vapor. I should probably never have 
 thought of it again but for Aleck's notion about 
 the driver. You and I know of that mulatto. He 
 is the illegitimate child of a poor white woman who 
 lived in the lower part of the county, and was taken 
 into the poorhouse just before her child was born. 
 He must be eighteen years old by now a strapping 
 fellow, more than able to earn his living and his
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 149 
 
 mother's, if he were not almost idiotic. No mother 
 would be willing to have him on the place, even 
 as a field-hand. He milks the cows and takes care 
 of the mules and does hauling of various kinds for 
 the poorhouse. But I have never seen him alone 
 on the road. His mother gathers berries in summer, 
 and chincapins and hickory-nuts in the fall, and 
 persimmons in winter, and sells them in the neigh- 
 borhood mostly to the negroes. When she has 
 more stuff than she can carry comfortably she takes 
 Bob along to help her. Blankenship ought to be 
 ashamed of himself to send any other woman out 
 with the fellow." 
 
 Mr. Rice interrupted him: 
 
 "You say there was something familiar in her 
 figure and motion! You did not see her face?" 
 
 "I could not have told whether she were white 
 or black. Her veil was thick, and, warm as the 
 weather is, she did not lift it while I was looking 
 at her. Aleck caught a glimpse of her as the veil 
 blew back. She was almost running and climbed 
 into the carryall as if afraid of being spoken to. 
 
 "That was another thing that made me suspect 
 There is no use beating about the bush, Rice! I 
 am afraid that woman was Molly Watkins. If so, 
 this sort of thing must be stopped! Common 
 decency requires it. I shall make it my business 
 to see Blankenship and speak my mind. If she 
 has no shame, we must respect the name that used 
 to be hers. 
 
 "I could not sleep until I told you all I know. 
 We are one in opinion and in feeling in this matter."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE plans for what the Blankenship's "boarder" 
 styled to her host and admirer "a pious spree" 
 were not carried out so easily as she had anticipated. 
 She had won sharp-eyed Betsey to an attitude of 
 indulgent tolerance of her caprices and manoeuvres. 
 Rashe was, for most of the time, her obedient vassal. 
 She entertained him immensely and her adroit flat- 
 teries were sweet to his coarse taste. Compliance 
 with her whim (she called it "longing") to go to 
 Mount Hor on this particular Sunday involved a 
 departure from established rules that was nearly 
 a breach of law and order as laid down by the over- 
 seer. 
 
 "Sunday," as he had expounded to the authori- 
 ties from whom he received this commission, and 
 to whom he rendered account of his stewardship 
 "warn't no time for the poppers to be traipsin' 
 and stravagin' 'roun' the country, lookin' for fun 
 and mischief. Excep' on the Sundays when thar 
 happens to be preachin' in the po'house, I mean 
 to see that mighty few visitors gets into the grounds, 
 and that every mother's daughter an' every man- 
 jack of the poppers stays at home. 'Tain't noways 
 agreeable for me, gentlemen, as I needn't tell you, 
 to stan' guard all day long when like any other live 
 man I'd like to have a little tech of holiday for my- 
 self. 
 
 150
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 151 
 
 "But duty is duty, and I try to do mine." 
 
 Nobody controverted the decree. If he had not 
 laid down the rule, it would have been made by 
 some member of the board of overseers of the poor. 
 "Thieving" and "pauperism" were too nearly syn- 
 onymous in the minds of respectable folk to be lightly 
 divorced. If the pauper population were free to 
 rove the countryside on the day of rest from toils 
 that kept them out of mischief for six days of the 
 week, pilfering and unlicensed visits to negro "quar- 
 ters" would become a public menace. Rashe com- 
 prehended the situation, and was prepared to meet 
 it. His wages or as he put it, his salary had 
 been raised twice within the last ten years. He 
 had many of the qualities of the born executive. 
 Under his sway the farm was worked to the utmost 
 acre, and the garden yielded all the vegetables re- 
 quired for the sustenance of the community of fifty 
 souls. The mules used for field-work and hauling 
 from without were in good condition; the hogs and 
 calves supplied meat for home-consumption, and 
 Mrs. Blankenship's prudent management of poultry- 
 yard and dairy was county talk. Altogether, those 
 best qualified by position and opportunity to judge 
 the case, decided the present overseer of the poor 
 to be the man for the place. 
 
 Rashe made no secret of his profound apprecia- 
 tion of the fact in the discussion following Molly 
 Watkins's petition. 
 
 "Don't you see, Miss Molly, that I have a char- 
 acter to keep up ? It's as well onderstood 'boutcher
 
 152 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 as any one of the Ten Comman'ments, that not a 
 livin' cretur goes outside them draw-bars on workin' 
 days without I giv' em leave. An' on a Sunday 
 none of 'em gits that! I'd like to obleege you, as 
 I needn't tell you, an' seem' as how you've set your 
 heart upon this 'ere 'pious spree,' 's you call it, I'd 
 be willin' to strain a p'int or two to please you." 
 
 She broke in coaxingly: 
 
 "But, my dear Mr. Blankenship, as I understand 
 the case, you made the rule and have a perfect right 
 to break it if you like. There's nobody superior 
 to you in office. And I won't ask you for this treat 
 again this summer. I'll keep my veil down all the 
 time, and not even my old beau, little Rice, will 
 recognize me. I'll bet my best pocket-handkerchief 
 the last one left with lace on against your dish- 
 cloth, Mrs. Blankenship" wheeling upon her 
 "that neither he nor Madam Carrington herself, 
 nor your 'meaching, mealy-mouthed' old maid who 
 means to marry Madam's son, will know me. And 
 think what a story I'll have to tell when I get 
 back! I tell you what will be a capital plan," 
 clapping her hands girlishly. "Your sister lives 
 just a mile this side of the church. I heard you say 
 the other day that you hadn't had a chance to see 
 her for ever so long. We'll leave you there and call 
 for you when the solemn services of the sanctuary" 
 mouthing it grandiloquently "are concluded." 
 
 It was a master-stroke. Within an hour the 
 carryall a vehicle that would be called a four- 
 wheeled cart, now was brought around to the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 153 
 
 door of the overseer's quarters with Bob Logan, 
 the three-quarter-witted mulatto, as charioteer. 
 
 Rashe had superintended the furnishment of the 
 interior with a thick layer of clean, sweet-smelling 
 straw and a couple of stout rush-bottomed chairs. 
 The driver's seat was an unpainted board laid across 
 the front of the carryall. His long legs hung over 
 it, and his feet rested upon the whiffle-tree. After 
 helping the fair passengers into the vehicle by lower- 
 ing the hinged dashboard at the back, and guiding 
 them to their respective seats, the gallant host put 
 the finishing-touch of elegance by opening a big 
 green-cotton umbrella and directing his Betsey to 
 "hold it straight an' steady, an' be keerful not to 
 jab Bob's eyes out. Ef you do, one of you ladies 
 will have to drive yourselves home." 
 
 The carryall had rumbled out of the draw-barred 
 outer entrance when Mrs. Blankenship was startled 
 by a shriek of hysterical laughter from the vetted 
 figure at her side. 
 
 "In the name o' common sense what's took you 
 now?" she demanded in her tartest every-day tone 
 and manner. "You pretty nigh skeered me to 
 death!" 
 
 The other continued to laugh, swaying from side 
 to side in a paroxysm of mirth. 
 
 "Excuse me, please!" she gasped out at last. 
 "But it is all too excruciatingly funny!" 
 
 The polysyllable stunned Betsey for an instant. 
 Then she rejoined witheringly: "I don't know what 
 to make of you sometimes. If you're goin' inter
 
 154 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 highstrikes, maybe we'd better turn 'roun' and go 
 home!" 
 
 "Dear Mrs. Blankenship! please forgive me! But 
 it is so nice to be off on this little frolic with 
 nobody but you, that I am making a fool of myself. 
 I'll behave better now I have had my laugh out." 
 
 She kept her word all the way to the house at 
 which her hostess alighted to stay with her sister 
 during Molly's absence in church. When the vehicle 
 returned, the sister, a slatternly older edition of 
 Betsey, came out to the carryall to stare at the person 
 of whom Betsey had gossiped incessantly all the 
 time spent with her relative. She was not content 
 with the partial scrutiny. 
 
 "Put up your veil can't you?" she said im- 
 pertinently. "Betsey's told me sech funny things 
 'bout you that I want to see you good." 
 
 The poorhouse show-piece obeyed, revealing a 
 sallow complexion, a delicate, sharply denned profile, 
 faded dark eyes that might once have been either 
 brown or black, and thin lips straightened into a 
 caricature of a civil smile: 
 
 "You are welcome to a look at what is left of 
 me," she said. "But if what the parson told us 
 this morning be true, you can never see me 'good.' 
 I am the chief of sinners." 
 
 The play upon the misused adjective was thrown 
 away upon the listeners, as might have been ex- 
 pected. Betsey made no allusion to it in the ac- 
 count rendered to her husband when she got home: 
 
 "I declar' she looked right down ugly! Nobody
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 155 
 
 would never have believed she was ever as pretty 
 you say she was when she was young. But she spoke 
 real pleasant to Susan Jane, an' said as how she 
 hoped she mought see her agin some time." 
 
 "Let her alone for doin' an' sayin' the ladylike 
 thing!" was the confident response. "She's layin' 
 down, restin' now, did you say? She looked pretty 
 nigh tuckered out when she got out of the carryall. 
 I reckon she ain't so strong as she tries to make out. 
 And five mile to church an' five mile back on a 
 July day ain't no joke. 
 
 "I'm on tenter-hooks to hear what she'll have 
 to say 'bout her church spree. She's more fun 'n' 
 a circus once she gits started!" 
 
 He hung upon the hooks until impatience de- 
 veloped into bad humor. The boarder declined 
 to come down to dinner, pleading a severe head- 
 ache. 
 
 Betsey, ascending to the upper chamber to satisfy 
 herself that the headache was a reality, was moved 
 to what stood with her for feminine pity by the 
 haggard face and heavy eyes. 
 
 "I'm afeard she's goin' to be sick," she admitted 
 to her husband. "I'll run up agin presen'ly with 
 a cup of real strong tea, and ef that don't bring her 
 'round it mought be as well to send Bob for the 
 doctor. 'Twon't never do fer her to die on our 
 han's." 
 
 Upon learning that the doctor would be the 
 penalty of refusing to be "brought 'round," the 
 patient swallowed the potion proffered by the nurse
 
 156 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 green tea, stewed to its utmost potency and war- 
 ranted to bear up an egg. Then she engaged faintly 
 to "try and sleep off the headache." 
 
 "I hope to be able to thank you, by and by, for 
 all your goodness," she added, twisting the pale 
 lips into the conventional smile. 
 
 What of Betsey's heart had withstood the fric- 
 tion of ten years' oversight of the poorhouse and 
 of the overseer himself answered to the sight of 
 actual suffering, and the recognition, through it 
 all, of her kindly offices. She pinned a blanket- 
 shawl over the window to exclude the sunlight, leav- 
 ing a space below by which a few breaths of air 
 might enter. 
 
 She volunteered to "do all I ken to keep them 
 nasty poppers quiet. 'Tain't sech a' easy job as you 
 mought think of a Sunday evenin'!" 
 
 While Rashe enjoyed his nap in the chamber 
 longer and more profound than on week-days by 
 reason of a lighter load of official care and a heavier 
 load of dinner his helpmeet made a tour of the 
 premises in fulfilment of her humane purpose. 
 
 A row of native oaks had been left to flourish 
 undisturbed by the woodman's axe at the rear of 
 the back yard. Behind these straggled groups of 
 log huts assigned to the colored paupers. One of 
 the overseer's court-rules was that none of these 
 should trespass upon the benches of hewn planks, 
 some of which were made fast to the trunks of the 
 trees, while most of them were portable. 
 
 "Ef they owned the place they couldn't ast
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 157 
 
 nothin' nicer nor what has been pervided for 'em 
 on a hot evenin', after the day's work is done," was 
 an oft-uttered boast of the overseer. "An' it's 
 pretty as a picter to see 'em takin' it easy on moon- 
 shiny nights. It allers remin's me of a picter I 
 seen at the theater in town oncet." 
 
 The turf had been worn from the ground years 
 ago by the tread of hobnailed shoes and bare feet, 
 but Rashe had the hard earth swept every day, 
 and was strict in demanding that his charges of both 
 sexes should "clear up their own litter." There 
 was in force also the unwritten law requiring the 
 inmates to don clean and comparatively whole clothes 
 Sunday. 
 
 The dinner was exceptionally good to-day, and 
 it was always the best served in the week. There 
 had been green corn on the cob; new potatoes boiled 
 in their jackets; cymblings and stewed tomatoes; 
 boiled ham and a mammoth chicken-pie. For des- 
 sert there was boiled blackberry pudding with hard 
 sauce. 
 
 The benches were all occupied as Mrs. Blanken- 
 ship strode along the line and inculcated the duty 
 of "talkin' low and raisin' no racket on account of 
 Miss Watkins's headache." She could not refrain 
 from subjoining "she went to church this mornin', 
 and 't seems like it didn't agree with her!" 
 
 A dutiful titter ran through the group. Nancy 
 Wilkinson, the oldest resident, had a response ready: 
 
 "Maybe 't agreed with her soul, ef 't didn't agree 
 with her body!"
 
 158 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 A wider grin upon toothless mouths and a louder 
 cackle of cracked voices proved the hit neat and 
 well-aimed. A low order of wit and the broadest 
 humor found currency in the circle of outcasts. 
 What else could be expected by the most obstinate 
 of optimists if he had taken account of the gang 
 flung together by the fortune which all there would 
 have cursed as "outrageous"? 
 
 The women outnumbered the men, as was in- 
 evitable in an agricultural community. There were 
 eight nominal widows. Rashe registered them men- 
 tally, and in jovial discourse with outsiders, as "five 
 grass and three turf." What was a poor white to 
 do, when her husband ran off to parts unknown after 
 drinking and gambling away every dollar that be- 
 longed to him or to her, but take refuge in the one 
 resort left open to her? If she had children too 
 young to be bound out as field-hands or mechanics, 
 they went with her and received the stamp of pau- 
 perism, which could never be effaced so long as they 
 remained residents of their native State. Of the 
 eight domesticated for life in the poorhouse, three 
 brought their helpless and hapless offspring with 
 them. Two babies had been born since they were 
 taken under the parental care of the county. The 
 "widows-indeed" from whom the mainstay of bread 
 and the mainstay of water were taken by relentless 
 death were among the most aged inmates of the 
 refuge. 
 
 A singular fact, that may or may not have had 
 significance, was that the women were not content
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 159 
 
 to remain idle, while, as Rashe lamented wonder- 
 ingly, the men had to be driven to their work "like 
 so many good-for-nothin' corn-fieP niggers." 
 
 "Ef I was a sure-'nough overseer, I would lay a 
 cowhide over their backs to the tune o' nine-and- 
 thirty, plaguey quick, I can tell you !" he said, again 
 and again, to the board that laughed in his angry 
 face and "reckoned he could get work out of them, 
 if anybody could." 
 
 He had ways of his own invention for doing this, 
 and the board asked no officious questions so long 
 as he abstained from "personal violence." "If a 
 man will not work, neither shall he eat," was a text 
 that had the devout approval of our disciplinarian. 
 And when to fasting was added confinement to 
 one's cabin, with the threat of cord and handcuffs 
 for the insubordinate, it may be readily imagined that 
 instances of continued recusancy were infrequent. 
 
 The women did all the work of the house, includ- 
 ing cooking and washing. Yet nearly every one 
 had some lighter art of her own choosing that em- 
 ployed fingers and thoughts in her spare time. 
 Nancy Wilkinson knit socks for babies and boys, 
 and managed to sell them to poor whites and such 
 plantation negroes as hankered after the gayly 
 colored foot-gear. By a system as cunningly de- 
 vised as that which gained in the Civil War of the 
 next generation the name of "the grape-vine tele- 
 graph," customers contrived to make known their 
 wants to the crone who had not budged a dozen 
 steps from the poorhouse in fifteen years.
 
 160 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Sukey Logan, a grass-widow, with two white 
 children and one mulatto, the latter having been 
 born since she was taken into the house, ranged the 
 "old fields " on summer afternoons and gathered 
 great store of partridge eggs. The contents of these 
 were "blown out" through a hole pierced in each 
 end of the eggs and the empty shells were strung 
 like so many monstrous pearls upon stout linen 
 thread. White children bought these barbaric neck- 
 laces eagerly. Their elder sisters sometimes painted 
 the shells in water-colors and utilized them as table 
 and parlor decorations. Sukey likewise strung the 
 hard ripe red berries of the "fever-bush," known 
 farther North as "bittersweet," into necklaces and 
 bracelets. The conical nuts of the chincapin were 
 in high request, eaten raw, boiled, or roasted, or 
 when under Sukey's nimble fingers they, too, were 
 strung in long chains or belts. Worn with white 
 frocks they imparted a touch to the attire of young 
 girls that suggested associations of Pocahontas and 
 her attendant forest-nymphs. 
 
 It must not be supposed for an instant that the 
 fair purchasers and wearers of these ornaments of 
 native growth and workmanship bought them di- 
 rectly from the maker. When not peddled by white 
 or mulatto children from the poorhouse, or obtained 
 through the "middlemen" of plantation servants, 
 they might be had, but rarely, from Mrs. Blanken- 
 ship's sister, who acted as agent for those "dreadful 
 old creatures she had to see when she visited Sister 
 Betsey."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 161 
 
 Chancy Jones was the daughter of one poor white 
 and the widow of another. They had lived in the 
 county but three years, having come "up the river" 
 from their old home when the husband accepted 
 the place of overseer at Beau Mont, the home of the 
 Wirt Cocke of whom we have heard as a problemat- 
 ical suitor of Beth Moore. The Joneses had two 
 children and the arrival of a third was imminent 
 when the father was drowned crossing the James 
 in a boat one stormy winter night. The Cockes 
 did all that humanity and Christian charity could 
 dictate. The costs of the funeral were defrayed 
 by the late employer, and the family was supported 
 at his expense until spring brought the necessity 
 of installing another overseer in the house occupied 
 by the widow and her three babies. Investigation 
 revealed that she was an orphan and that her hus- 
 band's family would not or could not contribute 
 a dollar toward her maintenance. It was a case 
 of sheer necessity as the neighborhood agreed, to 
 commit the helpless creatures to the keeping of 
 the county. The conviction was strengthened by 
 the discovery that the widow, who had been ill with 
 inflammatory rheumatism all winter after the birth 
 of her baby, would be lame for life. Her children 
 were bright and healthy, and as the two elder grew 
 in stature and intelligence, Mrs. Blankenship grad- 
 ually committed to them the whole charge of the 
 crippled mother. When not engaged in this duty 
 they ran wild over garden and fields and grew like 
 cabbages. The eldest was now twelve, the second
 
 162 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 ten. The baby, a boy, was seven. Not one of them 
 could read or write. 
 
 When the "boarder," who speedily made friends 
 with them, remarked airily upon this deficiency, the 
 mother answered: 
 
 "Po' folks has to do without a-many things they 
 would like to have. There ain't no A B C books 
 'boutcher, ef I had time to learn the chil'ren, and 
 that I ain't got! What with makin' an' mendin' 
 their clo'es an' all the sewin' Mrs. Blankenship puts 
 upon me hemmin' towels an' turnin' sheets an' 
 darnin' blankets an' bedquilts, and what not I 
 don't get a minnit to myself from mornin' 'tell 
 night." 
 
 Dickens had made the American reading world 
 acquainted with the terror the English poor felt 
 for the "workus." Virginians of the better class 
 and this was largely in excess of the illiterate kept 
 pace with current literature, and every homestead 
 boasted a library of standard classics that would 
 have done honor to a college. Dickens's inimitable 
 creations were read over and over until Richard 
 Swiveller, Little Nell, and Quilp were actual living 
 personalities to every member of the household. 
 That the model county charity, run ably and gain- 
 fully by Rashe and his "capable" spouse, had any 
 features in common with the foreign workhouse 
 never entered the handsomely furnished minds of 
 humane men and tender-hearted, open-handed 
 women. 
 
 The overseer's wife took on no airs of superior
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 163 
 
 station or breeding this afternoon, while chatting 
 in turn with paupers lounging in the shade of the 
 spreading oaks. She was a trusty link joining them 
 to the outer world and never averse to a luncheon 
 of racy gossip. 
 
 Sukey Logan, whose son had acted as charioteer 
 to the churchgoers, had a morsel ready when Betsey 
 stopped for a word with her. Bob's mother odd 
 as it may seem had not lost caste with her com- 
 peers by reason of the misfortune that had overtaken 
 her within a few months after she and her deserted 
 children were given shelter under the hospitable 
 roof-tree. 
 
 A French actress, famed and feted on both sides 
 of the Atlantic, had the playful habit of introducing 
 her son, born out of wedlock, as "Mon petit accident." 
 Sukey Logan knew no language except her own, 
 and very little of that. She was, nevertheless, in 
 full sympathy with the sentiment that inspired the 
 Parisian's bon mot. The virtuous matron of whom 
 Rashe spoke, when he recollected her at all, as "My 
 First," had read the sinner lectures, many and tart, 
 upon the iniquity of which she had been guilty. The 
 other four grass-widows set the example of over- 
 looking the indiscretion and receiving the trans- 
 gressor by merciful degrees back into full and regular 
 fellowship. She lay back in the rocking-chair Bob 
 had presented to her last Christmas, and twirled 
 a turkey-tail fan while discoursing to an audience 
 that closed in about her hungrily as the story gained 
 flavor.
 
 164 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "Bob, he say as how quite a lot o' gentlemen 
 watched Miss Molly when she come out o' church 
 to-day. An' while she was in church too, for that 
 matter. You see, Bob, he stole up to the winder 
 while the preachin' was a-goin' on, and he could 
 see the church folks as plain as if he was inside. 
 Mr. Wirt Cocke was a-settin' right cross the aisle 
 from his dear Beth like he does every Sunday 
 when he ken but he had a corner of his eye for 
 the strange lady a-settin' so 'umble-like by the do'. 
 An' Mr. Abe Saunders what's ole enough to know 
 how to behave in church he was a-twistin' 'roun' all 
 the time like he was settin' on a hot shovel to ketch 
 a look at her. Bob say the only men thar who looked 
 like they didn't notice her was Mr. Rice and Mr. 
 Carrington. That p'intedly did make me laugh! 
 Folks do say as how Mr. Rice was mighty far gone 
 in love with her befo' she run away. Sech a little 
 snip of a man, too! She could 'a' put him in her 
 pocket! For all that, I happen to know that he 
 was dead in love with her!" 
 
 Mrs. Blankenship spoke as one having authority 
 that it was tune to use. 
 
 "Yes! Dead in love with her! She mought 'a' 
 been the Rev. Mrs. Rice this blessed minnit ef she 
 had 'a' said 'Yes' instid of 'No'!" 
 
 An awed silence fell upon the group. The con- 
 trast indicated to the imagination of the dullest 
 there took away the power of ready comment upon 
 the amazing intelligence. When Nancy Wilkinson 
 found tongue, her voice quavered and broke:
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 165 
 
 "An' to think I ken recollec' him a-comin' here 
 to preach when he was young an' han'some, an' as 
 you mought say, the idle of the church an' of every- 
 body else!" 
 
 She lifted a corner of her checked apron to bleared 
 eyes that were wet. 
 
 The overseer's wife capped the object-lesson with 
 a practical homily: 
 
 "That makes me say what I do say! And that 
 is, that none of us ken tell what we may be comin' 
 to befo' we die. I mind I heerd a circuit-rider by 
 the name of Tompkins say oncet (and he suttinly was 
 a splendid preacher!) He said: 'We are up, my 
 friends, to-day with the hopper-grass, and down to- 
 morrow with the sparrow-grass!' I mind myself 
 of them solemn words whenever I see a hopper- 
 grass, or stick a knife into a stalk o' sparrer-grass. 
 It's up to-day an' down to-morrer with every single 
 one of us!" 
 
 The Widow Wilkinson had regained composure: 
 
 "Do you reckon he's ever heerd that she is 
 HERE?" The emphasis upon the last word can- 
 not be expressed by capitals. 
 
 "I don't see why not! Mr. Paul Carrington, he 
 come over here nigh upon a month ago, on a-pur- 
 pose to fin' out ef 'twas her that was said to be in 
 the county po 'house, an' he got the truth straight I 
 Mr. Rice, he lives at High Hill, right in the house 
 with the Carringtons. 'Tain't noways likely as 
 Paul kep' it to himself. No! they've shook her off 
 for good an' all, now that she's under foot. That's
 
 i66 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 been the way with rich and wealthy and religious 
 folks from the tune the world was made 'till now. 
 Thar's no rubbin' that out I" 
 
 The subject of gossip and homily did not appear 
 below-stairs until the sun was setting. The Blan- 
 kenships were sitting in the narrow porch fronting 
 the crimson-and-orange west when she glided out 
 of the door. 
 
 "Fine's a fiddle!" ejaculated Rashe, jumping up 
 with outstretched hand. "I'll bet on you every 
 time! Take this cheer!" indicating the roomy 
 rocker swinging noisily upon the uneven boards 
 from the suddenness of his abdication. 
 
 "Thank you! but not until I have paid my debt 
 of honor. I lost my bet to-day. Mahlon recognized 
 me although, like the little game rooster he is, he 
 did not show it." 
 
 She passed over to the delighted hostess a filmy 
 construction of cambric and lace edging, and sink- 
 ing into the rocker with languid grace that Rashe 
 said to himself was "for all the world like a queen!" 
 began the recital for which he had waited long: 
 
 "He saw me come in. I hoped to get there be- 
 fore him. I forgot that he is a High Hiller now, 
 and that Madam is always one of the very first on 
 guard upon the walls of Zion. He was sitting next 
 to the aisle about the fourth seat from the west 
 door, and looked at me, as I slipped into a seat op- 
 posite to the benches railed off for 'our colored 
 brethren.' 
 
 "I felt safer near them than in a higher place
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 167 
 
 in the synagogue. He turned first as red as a beet 
 and then as white as a silver-skin onion, then squared 
 himself about and did not turn his head again during 
 the service. You may be sure I watched him as a 
 cat watches a little white mouse that has got away 
 from her once. I had half a mind, several times, to 
 wait and face him veil up when he came out. 
 Then I thought it might make a disturbance and 
 I didn't want to do anything that might be an an- 
 noyance to this dear lady" nodding at Betsey, who 
 was examining her new handkerchief delightedly 
 "or to you, Mr. Blankenship. I am afraid I have 
 a weakness for ^cenes. I amused myself all sermon- 
 time with fancies of what would happen if, as soon 
 as the parson said 'Amen!' I were to climb upon 
 the bench and shout : ' Oh, yes ! Oh, yes ! all of you 
 look and listen! I am Molly Watkins, formerly 
 of Clover Crest, Opecancanough County, now the 
 honored guest of Mr. Horatio Gates Blankenship, 
 overseer of the poor. I was a stranger and he took 
 me in; hungry, and he fed me. Which is more than 
 any of you scribes, pharisees, and hypocrites would 
 have done!' What do you think would have hap- 
 pened if I had?" 
 
 Rashe was sitting upon the top step and now 
 lost his balance in the tempest of merriment that 
 attacked him. He fairly rolled on the floor, gurgling 
 and screaming, until his wife caught up a tumbler 
 of water and dashed it in his face. 
 
 "Now maybe you'll come to your senses!" she 
 snapped out. "Of all the fools I ever see, you're
 
 i68 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the wust when you let yourself go! Heish up! I 
 tell you ! or you'll have all the poppers on the place 
 here in another minnit. 
 
 "Not but what it was enough to make a dog laugh 
 the way you did it all!" she conceded when her 
 husband resumed the perpendicular, and only inter- 
 mittent gasps and snorts told of the recent con- 
 vulsion. "I could jes' think how they'd all 'a' looked 
 ef you had a-done it. Lordy!" stopping to chuckle. 
 "What would stuck-up ole Madam and her Beth 
 Moore 'a' said?" 
 
 "They were both there and his high-and-mighti- 
 ness, her son. But it was natural that I should 
 have been too much taken up with my dear little 
 grain of Rice to pay much attention to them. He 
 is whiter and sleeker than ever. Wouldn't I like 
 to attend that missionary meeting at The Glebe 
 next Wednesday? Yet" in well-affected pensive- 
 ness "I don't think I could bear to see another 
 woman in the place / might have had if I had known 
 what was best for me fifteen years ago !"
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE called meeting of the Ladies' Missionary So- 
 ciety at The Glebe at three o'clock on Wednesday 
 (by order of the president) provided ample proof 
 that the grape-vine telegraph, with the poorhouse 
 as "central," and Bob Logan as main operator, 
 had done lively work since Sunday. 
 
 The donation-party is of Yankee origin, and was 
 known to Southern Christians only through domestic 
 and religious talks that drifted across Mason and 
 Dixon's line. If the title (which to my ears always 
 has the eleemosynary twang) were foreign to the 
 Mount Hor parishioners, the genius and spirit of 
 it were interfused in church life as part and parcel 
 of its very existence. The pastor might not claim 
 and collect tithes of the worldly possessions of his 
 flock. A higher law of heart and conscience made 
 it a privilege to keep his table supplied with luxuries 
 he could not afford to purchase, and to see that 
 barns and stable and farmyard were stocked. The 
 habitual exchange of substantial foods and delicacies 
 between neighbors of abundant means which was one 
 of the most beautiful of old Virginia social observ- 
 ances made any theory of charity untenable. If a 
 lamb were slaughtered at Beau Mont, or High Hill, 
 a choice cut went to The Glebe, as naturally as a 
 
 169
 
 170 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 basket of plum-cake was sent with Miss Beth's love 
 to Montrose or Ingleside. All were love-offerings 
 none donations. No matter how lavish the tokens 
 might be, the pastor was a benefactor never a 
 pensioner. 
 
 Mrs. Winston had been expressly forbidden to 
 make other preparations for the "called meeting" 
 than to lend her house for the afternoon. The simple 
 collation prescribed by the By-laws was in hand 
 before noon. By the time breakfast was over, a 
 procession of messengers on horseback and on foot 
 delivered their burdens at the back door of The 
 Glebe with the "love" (not compliments) of the 
 respective mistresses, and bore back thanks as af- 
 fectionate. 
 
 The mistress of The Glebe was as notable in house- 
 wifery as in church-work, and had deft assistants in 
 Beth Moore, Helen Carrington, and Emily True- 
 heart from Briarfield. The trio of adjutants had 
 reported for service at eleven o'clock, and partaken 
 at twelve of the "snack" that superseded the family 
 dinner. 
 
 Madam Carrington proffered excuses and regrets 
 through Beth. An unexpected visit from her com- 
 mission merchant, who had run up from town that 
 morning to talk over important business, "detained 
 her from a meeting to which she had looked forward 
 with pleasure." 
 
 "Which, being interpreted, means that she will 
 talk for hours about tobacco and corn, when she 
 might be hearing the news from Timbuctoo and
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 171 
 
 Ceylon!" interpolated Helen, when Beth repeated 
 to Mr. Winston the message at the luncheon-table. 
 
 He beamed indulgently upon the rattlepate. 
 
 "Tobacco and corn have more to do with mis- 
 sions than you may believe. The spread of the 
 Gospel is largely dependent upon the growth of 
 crops. I think of that when I am asked to pray 
 for rain. But I am sorry the commission merchant 
 took this day for the business call." 
 
 As Helen had owned to Mr. Rice, she did not 
 stand in awe of the cloth, and she was entirely at 
 ease with this representative of the profession. 
 
 She helped herself to another beaten biscuit and 
 buttered it, preparatory to spreading each bit with 
 peach marmalade. 
 
 "Poor grandmother! I can fancy her misgivings 
 between accounts of sales and bargains, as she 
 wonders who will put on the brakes when the wheels 
 of gossip are fairly started. I have great confidence 
 in your executive ability, Mrs. Winston, but you 
 see, grandmother has had more experience with the 
 species of gossip indigenous to this region. I don't 
 know that it is really more hardy and pestiferous 
 than that grown in other latitudes. I may imagine 
 this because I know more about it." 
 
 "We will set an example in the work of crushing 
 it out by refusing to believe that our neighbors are 
 worse than others," suggested Mrs. Winston, pleas- 
 antly, and changed the subject. 
 
 The talk was to recur to her with disagreeable 
 force when one of the first arrivals, Mrs. Scott,
 
 172 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 whose estate of Crowndale was within a couple of 
 miles of the poorhouse farm, hardly laid aside her 
 bonnet before breaking forth with: 
 
 "Do you suppose it can be true that that horrid 
 woman at the poorhouse who declares she is Molly 
 Watkins actually had the assurance to go to church 
 last Sunday? I have heard it from the very best 
 authority. In fact, my informant told me that 
 when she heard the report on Sunday night she was 
 so wrought up that she drove over to the poorhouse 
 Monday morning, and insisted upon seeing the 
 wretch with her own eyes. And I am grieved to 
 the heart to be obliged to say that there is no doubt 
 as to her identity. My friend knew Molly Watkins 
 well, and this is the very same person! She flew 
 into a passion when Mrs. my informant told 
 her that she had altered so much it would be hard 
 to convince people that she was the same girl. 
 
 " 'Perhaps you would have been the worse for 
 wear, if you had been through purgatory ! ' she al- 
 most screamed. ' Maybe I can tell you a thing or 
 two that may change your mind ! ' And with that 
 she ran on with a string of stuff about my informant's 
 family and neighbors, and county-scandals that 
 were perfectly shocking but quite true in the main, 
 you know? My informant says that nobody who 
 heard Molly Watkins carry on in the old days could 
 disbelieve her. Ah ! " as a majestic figure appeared 
 in the doorway and paid her respects to the hostess, 
 "here is Mrs. Meade now! She may be able to 
 throw some light on the matter ! "
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 173 
 
 "If by the 'matter' you mean the disgraceful 
 story I was telling you yesterday," began the new- 
 comer with a magisterial wave of the hand. 
 
 "I have not mentioned your name," interposed 
 the other, deprecatingly. 
 
 Another gesture, larger and more comprehensive 
 than the former, closed her mouth. 
 
 "I affirm nothing unless I am positive it is true ! 
 If any one here needs confirmation of what I told 
 Mrs. Scott, I may mention that two other ladies 
 of unquestioned veracity, after hearing my story, 
 considered it a duty they owed to the community 
 to see for themselves whether I was right or in error. 
 So they went together to that horrible hole ! I can 
 think of nothing but 'a sink of iniquity' when I 
 recollect what I myself saw and heard! And the 
 abandoned creature put the finishing touch to her 
 identification by actually stripping off her dress 
 and showing them the initials 'M. W.' tattooed by 
 that dissipated sailor-brother of hers. Everybody 
 heard of the freak at the time. When the ladies 
 exclaimed in horror at seeing it, she laughed like 
 a fiend. ' Seeing is believing is it ? ' she said. And 
 she capped the insult by telling them what a fine 
 story they would have to tell at the 'called meeting' 
 to-day. 'I was in church Sunday and heard the 
 notice given. I had thought of going myself just 
 for the fun of it,' she said. 'It would have been a 
 jolly lark. But I am not personally acquainted 
 with the present parson's wife, and I didn't like 
 to intrude. When poor little Naomi Rice was alive,
 
 174 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 I used to have the run of The Glebe. She and I 
 were great chums.' ' 
 
 "They were!" assented Mrs. Matthew Harrison 
 who, with half-a-dozen others, had entered while 
 the excited harangue was in full flow, unobserved 
 by any one except the embarrassed hostess. "After 
 hearing all the revolting tales that have been flying 
 about the county since Sunday, I felt that my path 
 of duty was plain. I was the first to try to ascertain 
 the facts of the shocking scandal. And painful as 
 it was, I went to-day again to that POOL!" paus- 
 ing to take breath after the bold flight "and I saw 
 the Magdalen ! for myself ! She was in bed, having 
 had some sort of fit, spitting blood and all that, 
 after the visit of the ladies of whom Mrs. Meade 
 was speaking just now. Mrs. Blankenship had put 
 her to bed in her own chamber down-stairs, and I 
 found her there. The Blankenships tried to per- 
 suade me not to see her. Whereupon I took the 
 liberty of telling him that, in the opinion of highly 
 respectable people with whom I had talked, he had 
 taken a great deal upon himself in admitting the 
 creature without consulting the Board. He tried 
 to excuse himself by saying that she was not there 
 as a pauper or regular inmate, but as an old friend 
 of his and a visitor. 
 
 " * I ain't never entered her name in the poorhouse 
 books,' he said in his coarse way. 'An' as / look at 
 the case, it's no business of the county who stays 
 in my part of the house.' He was very insolent, 
 until I reminded him who I was, and that my sons 
 might have influence with the authorities.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 175 
 
 "All this was at the door of my carriage with 
 the servants within hearing. At that, he gave in, 
 and begged my pardon and said something about 
 the Watkinses having been kind to him when he 
 was a poor boy, and all that. 
 
 "I answered that the feeling was creditable to 
 him, and that I had no intention of trespassing upon 
 his premises, but I must have the evidence of my 
 own senses as to the truth or falsity of what was 
 going the rounds of the county, and so forth. Well ! 
 as I said, I got a look at the woman and am con- 
 vinced that she is no other than the Molly Watkins 
 who disgraced us all, and broke her father's and 
 mother's hearts by her conduct fifteen years ago. 
 She was lying in bed as I said, with a cap on. A 
 lock of hair had escaped from the cap and lay on 
 the pillow. 
 
 "I took hold of it and said: 'Your hair is darker 
 than I thought it was.' 
 
 "With that she laughed and it was Molly Wat- 
 kins's laugh, and no mistake. 'It used to be light- 
 brown. One of my beaux little Mahlon Rice it was 
 (I saw him in church Sunday) called it " golden 
 chestnut." I always said that dark hair ought to 
 go with black eyes. So I had my head shaved 
 three times. The hair grew in darker every time. 
 It is not as dark yet as I want it to be. And it doesn't 
 matter now that Mahlon admires golden chestnut ! ' ' 
 
 An audible shudder that was a moan ran around 
 the room. Helen was crying silently upon Beth's 
 shoulder.
 
 176 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Mrs. Winston brought her pencil-case down upon 
 the table with a sharp click: 
 
 "Attention, ladies ! if you please ! We have now 
 more than a quorum present. The meeting will 
 please come to order !" 
 
 She was obeyed so far as outward show of order 
 went. The meeting was "opened " by a short prayer, 
 and a brief psalm was read. It was patent that 
 nobody was in a mood for singing, and the presi- 
 dent proceeded at once to the business that had 
 called them together. There were grateful acknowl- 
 edgments from the auxiliary society in Richmond 
 and from the parent organization hi New York 
 of contributions in money and clothing and books, 
 and a personal letter to Mrs. Winston to which 
 she invited especial attention. Some societies the 
 writer, an American woman who had worked for 
 some years in Ceylon, stated had adopted orphaned 
 or deserted native children, and taken upon them- 
 selves the support and education of these forlorn 
 little ones. She named a sum that was an approx- 
 imate estimate of what each child would cost per 
 annum, until such time as she would be able to earn 
 her own living. Preparation for some specific line 
 of labor was included in the child's education. In 
 other foreign-mission stations this system of adop- 
 tion had been conducted with most gratifying re- 
 sults. 
 
 Mrs. Winston, after the secretary had read the 
 letter, pressed home the project warmly and in- 
 telligently. She had thought deeply over, and
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 177 
 
 prayerfully of it, since the receipt of the communica- 
 tion. She had gone so far as to have ready for their 
 consideration a plan she craved leave to submit. 
 They had but lately accepted reluctantly and sor- 
 rowfully the resignation of the president of this 
 society, one whose good deeds and virtues were 
 known through all the churches in the State. No- 
 where else were these held in such reverence and 
 esteem as in the church in which she and her ances- 
 tors had worshipped for many useful years. What 
 more graceful tribute could her coworkers, neighbors, 
 and friends pay to Madam Paulina Carrington than 
 to have a pagan child christened under her name and 
 reared into Christian womanhood by the church 
 of her love ? 
 
 This was the gist of a ten minutes' talk that 
 brought tears to the eyes of all present. The mo- 
 tion, embodying the plan thus outlined, was made 
 by Mrs. Meade, seconded by Mrs. Harrison, and 
 carried by acclamation. 
 
 The secretary was instructed to draft a letter 
 to be submitted to the author of the scheme, and 
 when approved, to be forwarded to the returned 
 missionary with the request that such a Ceylonese 
 child should be selected, and duly registered by the 
 Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society of Mount Hor 
 church in the Presbytery of East Hanover, Virginia. 
 
 Molly Watkins was not mentioned again until 
 refreshments were served. Then Mrs. Matthew 
 Harrison took up the broken thread of her narra- 
 tive:
 
 178 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "She coughed a good deal while talking, and her 
 breath came short. But she rallied as she saw that 
 I was interested. 
 
 " 'Do you know that I was as good as engaged 
 to the little minister at one time ? ' she said, by and 
 by. 'I couldn't help thinking as I looked at him 
 in church last Sunday, how differently things had 
 turned out from what he and Naomi planned. But 
 I wasn't born for that humdrum, goody-goody sort 
 of life. "A short life and a merry one!" was my 
 motto. Well ! ' and as she began to laugh she choked 
 and raised a mouthful of blood, 'well, Mrs. Har- 
 rison/ says she, 'I've had the merry life, and it's 
 likely to be a short one ! ' 
 
 "I saw she was getting exhausted and I came 
 away. But I told the Blankenships that I would 
 send around some wine and beef-tea to-morrow, 
 and advised them to have the doctor without de- 
 lay. You know Doctor Armistead attends the poor- 
 house patients." 
 
 "Isn't he getting pretty old for active practice?" 
 inquired Beth, gravely. 
 
 In saying it she squeezed Helen's arm warningly. 
 She felt her stir as if to speak. 
 
 "I dare say he is, but the county doesn't allow 
 enough to tempt a younger man. Those Blanken- 
 ships seem to be kind-hearted and they certainly 
 take much interest in her. It was nice, their bring- 
 ing her down into their chamber where she is as 
 comfortable as might be expected. He is a rough, 
 uncouth fellow, but it was rather touching, his re-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HELL 179 
 
 fusing to put her on the county because she used 
 to take notice of him when he was a barefoot boy. 
 He told me about it on the way out. Altogether, 
 it would make a romantic story, in the right hands." 
 
 Paul Carrington paid his second visit to the Blan- 
 kenship "wing" on Thursday forenoon. Recollect- 
 ing that the sick woman was now on the first floor, 
 he dismounted at some distance from the house, 
 tied his horse to the branch of a tree, and walked 
 cautiously on the turf until nearly opposite the 
 wing. There he paused on the spot where he and 
 Rashe had their colloquy, and looked about for 
 somebody who could take a message to the pro- 
 prietor. The window of the chamber was open, 
 and he presently descried Mrs. Blankenship's curl- 
 papers in the triangular space between the curtains. 
 She nodded vehemently, waved her hand, and 
 vanished. In three minutes the burly figure of 
 Rashe hastened around the corner of the house. 
 
 "Well! Well! Well!! I suttinly am glad 
 you ain't a woman!" he puffed when within hear- 
 ing. 
 
 His face was one broad smile and he had "washed- 
 up" so hurriedly that the pudgy fingers stuck to 
 Paul's ungloved hand. 
 
 "So am I !" he said, falling into the host's mood. 
 Gravity was out of the question. "But why are 
 you especially glad to-day, may I ask?" 
 
 "Set down! Set down ! and I'll tell you !" He 
 pulled a chair from behind the nearest tree and 
 gesticulated to a colored man, shambling across the
 
 i8o THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 yard, to fetch another from the porch. Subsiding 
 into this, he went on: 
 
 "'Cause why? I'm clean tired out talkin' to 
 the women what has been streakin' in and out of 
 the place ever sence I was fool enough to let them 
 two (I was about to say ' hussies' but I won't, this 
 time!) go to church Sunday. She" jerking an el- 
 bow in the direction of the house u was so almighty 
 sure nobody wouldn't never reconnize her with her 
 veil tight shet down over her chin, that I giv' in. 
 And blamed sorry I've been for it !" 
 
 "I was surprised when I heard of it," answered 
 Paul. "But I do not think any one suspected who 
 the person you mean was. Everybody knows Bob 
 Logan, and the gossips jumped to the conclusion 
 that his passenger was from the poorhouse. She 
 did not wait to speak to any one, I think." 
 
 "She will have it as how Mr. Rice knowed her 
 through the veil ! But as I said to her, 'tain't likely 
 he went 'round blabbin' about it ef he did mistrust 
 who she was." 
 
 "I can answer for it that he did not even notice 
 her in church, much less suspect that she was any 
 one he had ever seen before." 
 
 Paul said it decidedly and with dignity. "I came 
 to-day, Mr. Blankenship, as I came some weeks 
 ago, with a message from my mother. 
 
 "She has heard that the daughter of her old friend, 
 Mrs. Watkins, is ill and hi need of medical attend- 
 ance better than she is likely to get from the county 
 physician. She wishes to know just how she is to-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 181 
 
 day, and if my mother may send Doctor Graham 
 her family doctor to see what can be done for 
 her?" 
 
 Rashe shook his head violently, and pursed his 
 lips hard. 
 
 "I'm afeered Miss Molly wouldn't hear of it, 
 ef she thought she needed a doctor an' she says 
 she's ever so much better to-day. She had some 
 sleepin' medicine of her own that she took las' night, 
 an' it done her a heap o' good. She got up 'bout 
 an hour ago, and eat quite a fa'r breakfas' so my 
 wife tells me, and is dressin' now. She suttinly 
 has got grit an' spunk ! Ef you had a-heered her 
 carryin' on with that ole turkey-buzzard, Mrs. Matt 
 Harrison, you'd onderstand what I mean. My wife, 
 she says 'twas good as a play. She was listenin' in 
 the po'ch, and pretty nigh died a-laughin' when 
 she took it off to me. But as I was about to say, 
 the fac' is she has a notion that Madam Carrington 
 has somethin' aginst her ever sence she was a wild 
 case of a girl. To speak plain, suh, she sez to me, 
 one day, ' Mr. Blankenship ! ' sez she, a-laughin' 
 fit to kill herself, 'Madam Carrington hates me 
 like the devil hates holy water!' You know her 
 way of talkin' ? " 
 
 Paul Carrington got up: "On the contrary, my 
 mother was once very much attached to this un- 
 fortunate woman, and even now, she would do all 
 in her power to make her comfortable for the sake 
 of her friendship for the mother who died of a broken 
 heart hi consequence of her daughter's disgrace.
 
 182 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Moreover, as you know, my mother professes and 
 lives the religion that teaches her to do good to all 
 who need her services. It is not hi her nature to 
 'hate' anybody, and she has only pity for this poor 
 mistaken creature. She will be relieved to hear 
 that your visitor is better. My mother's will holds 
 good to render whatever aid she can to her, should 
 she grow worse. I know, too, that she would have 
 me thank you and Mrs. Blankenship for your great 
 kindness to the daughter of her old friends. Please 
 say as much to Mrs. Blankenship with my regards. 
 Good morning!" 
 
 After rendering a brusque report of the inter- 
 view to his "boarder," prudent Rashe took his wife 
 out to the cow-shed to make sure that they could 
 not be heard by the convalescent in the chamber. 
 
 "I jes' couldn't let on to her of them las' things 
 he said," he owned, when he had made a clean breast 
 of what had gone through the thick membrane guard- 
 ing his sensibilities. "He meant it all too much 
 for me to have fun poked at it. An' that she'd do, 
 sure's you're born. She ain't got no respec' for 
 no thin' upon earth nor in heaven !"
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A VAST canopy of sullen gray stretched from horizon 
 to horizon; unresting winds that sobbed above the 
 rain-drenched landscape moaned in the tree-tops 
 and tore screamingly past chimneys and gables; 
 this was what the High Hill family saw and heard 
 through the windows of the breakfast-room one 
 morning ten days after Paul's second visit to the 
 poorhouse. 
 
 "The August storm is sure to come," said Mad- 
 am Carrington, taking her seat behind the coffee- 
 urn. "This year it is early in the month. It will 
 hold on for twenty-four hours. The thermometer 
 has fallen ten degrees since bedtime last night. 
 We shall not have clear weather while the cold con- 
 tinues." 
 
 Madam was the acknowledged meteorologist of 
 the community. Her weather prophecies were ac- 
 cepted without demur by her household. A lively 
 fire of lightwood knots leaped up the chimney be- 
 hind her chair. One had been kindled in the chamber 
 at sunrise and swiftly tempered the damp chilliness 
 of the drawing-room in which Helen would prac- 
 tise all the forenoon upon a supply of new music 
 just received from town. 
 
 The leaden-gray curtain was without a rift, and 
 
 183
 
 184 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the rain drove steadily against the office-windows 
 when Paul Carrington and Mr. Rice settled them- 
 selves for a comforting after-dinner smoke. A bed 
 of scarlet coals told that a fire had burned all day 
 in the deep fireplace below a superstructure of 
 seasoned hickory logs. The room was spacious, and 
 the walls were lined from floor to ceiling with the 
 finest library in any private house for a hundred 
 miles around. A broad desk with a background of 
 pigeonholes was near the western window; the 
 centre-table with the reading-lamp and burden of 
 loose papers had been rolled to one side to make 
 room for two armchairs set directly in front of the 
 fire. 
 
 The master of the cosey retreat produced a couple 
 of dressing-gowns from a closet and handed one to 
 his guest: 
 
 "Might as well be comfortable indoors! This is 
 a day after my own heart. Cowper and I are at 
 one there! But in place of the 'cup that cheers 
 but not inebriates,' give me a homely Powhatan 
 pipe and Virginia-grown-and-cured tobacco." 
 
 He stood with one hand on the back of his chair, 
 surveying with undisguised approval the tall figure 
 at the other end of the rug, as Paul drew the crim- 
 son folds of the gown over his chest and tied the 
 cord about his waist. 
 
 "You are what Mammy Tina calls a 'sportly 
 figger of a man,' " broke from the host, impulsively. 
 "And never in better shape than now. Your mother 
 and I agreed upon that point in a talk I had with
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 185 
 
 her last night. You are emphatically her 'strong 
 staff and beautiful rod. ' ! 
 
 " God bless you for saying it ! I ought to be look- 
 ing my best ! Congratulate me, Rice ! There is 
 not a happier man upon the broad earth than I am 
 to-day!" 
 
 Had they been two women they would have fallen 
 upon each other's necks with kisses and tears to do 
 duty for words that would not come. As it was, 
 the older man swallowed hard before he could say: 
 
 "Congratulate you! With my whole heart and 
 soul ! I have hoped and prayed for this hour these 
 many, many years. I read the blessed truth in 
 your face and in hers the instant I saw you come 
 into the dining-room together. It was all I could 
 do to hold my tongue and say grace instead of re- 
 turning thanks. And it is all right, then at last ! 
 Sit down and let me take in the glad tidings like a 
 man ! I could cry like a baby out of sheer happi- 
 ness." 
 
 Paul wrung both of the speaker's hands, his own 
 lips trembling and his voice unsteady. 
 
 "I believe every word you say, and thank you 
 more than I can ever express. This is the closing 
 chapter of a long, dark story. Heaven grant that 
 the life now opening to us may bring forgetfulness 
 of that bitter, bitter past! Sit down, light your 
 pipe, and let me think for a little while." 
 
 Both pipes were filled and lighted, and the two 
 men sat for a long while staring into the fire. The 
 rain lashed the panes and the wind cried shrilly
 
 i86 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 in the throat of the chimney. The pair might have 
 been the only living creatures in their world of 
 thought and action. 
 
 Paul spoke at last. For a few minutes, his articu- 
 lation was deliberate, and the forced calmness of 
 manner and accent reminded the listener of a strong 
 rein drawn upon a restive horse. 
 
 "Yes! a bitter past that seemed, in the living of 
 it, an eternity ! I have never opened my lips to 
 you, Rice, with regard to what you have now a right 
 to know you, the truest friend that ever man had ! 
 It has trembled upon my lips a thousand times when 
 all the waves and billows of fate went over me." 
 
 He reached over the hearth for the poker and 
 dealt the uppermost log a blow that shook the pile 
 down to the scarlet base. Then he set the iron rod 
 back in its place. 
 
 "In order to make you comprehend the worst 
 of the tragedy, I must go back twenty years. I 
 will get over the most shameful parts of it as fast 
 as I can. But two other people alive know what 
 I am going to confide to you my mother and Beth. 
 God bless them both ! He never made other women 
 like them." 
 
 Mr. Rice nodded. "You are right! Take your 
 time, dear boy, and tell what you have to say in 
 your own way." 
 
 Paul leaned back with locked hands and set 
 features, still gazing into the fire. As he went on, 
 he spoke rapidly for a while, then seemed to get 
 himself in hand :
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 187 
 
 "I need not tell you that I was, in some sort, a 
 spoiled favorite of fortune from my youth up. You 
 know what I was when I set forth as I said, gayly 
 'to seek my fortune.' The estate owned land in 
 Baton Rouge and stocks in New Orleans. My 
 mother sent me South to look after them. The 
 Larues had a plantation in Baton Rouge, and spent 
 their winters in New Orleans. The head of the fam- 
 ily was a brother (married to his cousin) ; there were 
 two children, and his sister. I fell madly in love with 
 her. She was a revelation of womanhood to me. You 
 know what types I had seen all my life. Refined, 
 well-educated, and well-bred, 'gentlewomen' in the 
 best sense of the word. I had met, while in college 
 and university, a few of what were alluded to re- 
 gretfully by their elders as 'rather wild girls.' They 
 never attracted me, nor, for that matter, did the 
 decorous 'pattern' damsels who had the stamp of 
 'eligible' from social censors. I had never fancied 
 myself in love, even as a schoolboy. I had my dreams 
 and I meant to hold myself heart-whole until these 
 were realized. You know what marvellous powers 
 of fascination the woman possessed whom I brought 
 home as my wife after six weeks' acquaintanceship. 
 It is unnecessary, too, for me to remind you of her 
 career in this churchgoing, patrician neighborhood. 
 She swept across the county heavens like a comet." 
 
 The other raised a warning hand. 
 
 "Don't trouble yourself to dwell upon that, dear 
 fellow! /know!" 
 
 "Yes! and to your cost! She had a host of ad-
 
 i88 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 mirers and some imitators. Let that pass! My 
 mad dream was broken by the discovery forced 
 upon me before six months had passed, that she 
 had married me to secure permanently what she 
 held in her brother's house, by the grace of her sister- 
 in-law luxury, all the appurtenances of wealth 
 a life of pleasure and excitement all the money she 
 wanted, and social triumphs and conquests. Her 
 pursuits and aims I had been brought up to regard 
 as ignoble and debasing, and beneath the dignity 
 of the highest order of woman. My mother was 
 my standard. You know, too, that Cecile hated 
 her at sight, and that there was, so far as she could 
 wage it, war to the knife between the two. She 
 flaunted her ' devotion' to a church for which she 
 really cared less than nothing, because it irked my 
 mother. When I remonstrated with her on this 
 account and begged her to try to recognize the quali- 
 ties that made my mother beloved and revered by 
 all who knew her, she laughed hi my face. When 
 I persisted and besought her for the sake of her 
 love for me to overcome her dislike for the woman 
 who also loved me, she flew into a violent rage and 
 the truth rolled out like a torrent of lava. I learned 
 then why she had angled for me and how great was 
 her chagrin at finding that as she put it ' where- 
 as she had expected to be the lady of the manor in 
 an aristocratic Virginia neighborhood, she was the 
 wife of a petty squire, who was the slave of his 
 mother !' But there are things I cannot talk of 
 even yet, and to you !"
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 189 
 
 He got up and strode to the window. The wailing 
 wind and pelting floods of rain had it all to them- 
 selves again. 
 
 Mahlon Rice followed his friend, presently, and 
 laid an affectionate hand upon his arm: 
 
 "Paul! dear, dear friend! Let me take all the 
 rest for granted ! You must understand that I can 
 guess at what you cannot and ought not to force 
 yourself to say ! You are out of troubled waters 
 now! Think of that!" 
 
 The other turned sharply: "Do you think I could 
 be telling you all this or any part of it but for 
 that thought! But you are mistaken in fancying 
 that you know all, or even have a suspicion of the 
 worst of the horrible blunder I have made of my 
 life. Listen! No!" in answer to an energetic ges- 
 ture of dissent and entreaty. "You must hear me 
 through ! I will cut it as short as I can. Come 
 back to the fire ! I can talk more freely when you 
 do not look at me. Listen ! You recollect that I 
 was summoned to Louisiana by the news that my 
 wife was very ill. When I got to New Orleans her 
 brother met me with the intelligence that she had 
 died six days before at Baton Rouge. He had 
 brought the body down to the city in a sealed casket 
 to await my arrival, supposing that I would wish 
 to have it interred in the family burying-ground. 
 He was prepared to accompany me. He took charge 
 of everything including my dazed, miserable self. 
 His kindness to me throughout the awfully tedious 
 journey was beyond praise. But for this and the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 tactful vigilance that anticipated every possible 
 exigency, I think I should have gone entirely mad. 
 
 "You recollect that he stayed at High Hill for 
 two days after the funeral, and won universal re- 
 spect and liking by his evident devotion to me and 
 deep sympathy with me in our common loss? 
 
 "You may not recall that a week after he left us 
 there came a letter from him asking me to meet 
 him in Richmond where he 'had been detained by 
 unexpected business affairs.' I went at once." 
 
 He pushed his chair back and took a few hurried 
 turns from end to end of the room, head down and 
 hands clenched behind him. Coming behind his 
 friend, he pressed him back into his chair and held 
 him thus while he rushed on: 
 
 "Rice! his sister was not dead! She had eloped 
 with a fabulously rich West Indian planter and 
 sailed for his home in Havana. 'To save the honor 
 and good name of both families/ the brother had 
 gone through the hellish farce of the loaded coffin, 
 bribing his few confederates heavily to secure their 
 silence. He added particulars which I will spare 
 you. I was to join in the revolting plot or the 
 name of Carrington would be the laughing-stock 
 of county and State and country for all time. 
 
 "I sprang at his throat and would have killed 
 him on the spot if he had not been on his guard. 
 We wrestled for a mad minute. Then he threw me 
 down upon his bed and pinned me fast with his 
 powerful hands for he was bigger and stronger 
 than I and told me 'not to be a damned fool, but
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 191 
 
 to listen to reason. The honor of his family as well 
 as of mine was at stake.' 
 
 "He would not leave me all that night. I could 
 see that he feared I would take my life if I were 
 not watched. I spent the night in hell! I should 
 have gone utterly mad but for the thought of my 
 mother. I verily believed for some hours that I 
 was really in the fiery pit, and that all that kept 
 me from destruction was the sight of her dear face 
 looking down at me over the edge of the inferno. 
 
 "Well! next morning we concluded a compact, 
 sworn to by each of us. The grinning fiend brought 
 a Bible for me to take my oath upon, and took a 
 crucifix from his pocket for his own use. I was to 
 pay him a thousand dollars a year for five years, 
 and he, on his part, engaged that not an inkling 
 of the truth should ever get abroad. 
 
 "Then I came back to my mother!" 
 
 He was pacing the floor again, and talked fast. 
 
 "To the noble woman whom I was to deceive 
 every hour of the rest of a life that was to be one 
 long living lie ! 
 
 "Kneeling by her, my head in her arms, as she 
 had comforted me when a naughty or grieving child, 
 I swore a silent solemn oath to devote every energy 
 of mind and body henceforward to her service. I 
 would be her slave, her vassal whatever she might 
 will to my last breath so help me, God ! 
 
 "Mahlon!" stopping abruptly, he dropped into 
 his chair and leaned forward for a closer look into 
 the blanched face and misted eyes. "Can you con-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 ceive what these last years of purgatorial discipline 
 have been to a man with red blood in his veins, and 
 a heart that craves a pure love the more hungrily 
 because of the unutterable torments of wrecked 
 hopes and betrayed affection? And when he had 
 continually before his eyes the embodiment of all 
 that he has dreamed of and pined for in womanly 
 virtues and graces? While he dare not indulge 
 for one second the thought of winning her for his 
 own? God is my witness that never, in my least 
 guarded moments of passionate regret, did I allow 
 a hint of what I endured to escape me in glance or 
 word. She was as truly out of my reach as if she 
 were in heaven and I upon earth. My mother's 
 fondest dream ever since my college days was that 
 the two beings dearest to her should be united. She 
 never intimated this to me, but I felt it instinctively, 
 and suffered the more keenly for the consciousness. 
 Then" clapping Mahlon's knee emphatically 
 "are you listening, old fellow ? Here is the most mar- 
 vellous part of what is assuredly a more improbable 
 tale than any begotten in the brain of a romance 
 writer. Do you recollect the day, two months ago, 
 when Helen begged me for the outside of a foreign 
 letter, and I refused it ? One day when Mr. Winston 
 dined with us ? 
 
 "I carried the foreign letter to my room and, after 
 rereading it, fell upon my knees in such ecstasy 
 of thanksgiving as Christian may have felt when 
 the burden rolled from his shoulders to the foot of 
 the cross.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 193 
 
 "For the letter was from the American Consul at 
 Genoa, whom I had known in the university twenty- 
 odd years back. It informed me that Mrs. Jules 
 Dupont, an American lady who had wintered in 
 Italy, had died and been buried in the section of a 
 cemetery set apart for tourists from foreign coun- 
 tries. Another American woman, with whom the 
 deceased had lived, had sent for him and asked him 
 to write to me of her friend's death. She stated 
 that 'there was some connection by marriage be- 
 tween the deceased and my family, and that she 
 had reason to believe I would be interested in hear- 
 ing the particulars of the sad event.' 
 
 "An Italian physician's certificate of the death 
 was enclosed a certified copy forwarded, said the 
 consul, that there might be no uncertainty respect- 
 ing place, dates, etc. In spite of the official tone 
 and wording, the letter was kind and a postscript 
 mentioned the consul's 'pleasant recollection of his 
 former classmate/ 
 
 "There was not a shade of doubt as to the au- 
 thenticity of the document. 'Mrs. Jules Dupont' 
 was the name under which Ce"cile had lived and 
 travelled since her elopement with the rich West 
 Indian. 
 
 "After all this long-drawn-out agony of death-in- 
 life, I was once more fully alive and a free man! 
 Do you wonder that I have walked upon air for 
 the last two months ? 
 
 "Mahlon! dear friend! what is it?" 
 
 The little minister was crouched together in his
 
 194 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 chair, his face buried in his hands, his whole frame 
 heaving with emotion. An effort to speak was a 
 mere babble of delight, a conflict of laughter and 
 joyful tears that would have been absurd if it had 
 not been exquisitely pathetic to the beholder. Look- 
 ing down at the quivering form, Paul made as 
 though he would gather him in his arms, then 
 brushed away drops from his own eyelids and spoke 
 cheerily : 
 
 "Thank you for caring so much, dear old boy! 
 We've lived and suffered together for a long time. 
 Please God, the dawn of the new day is here. 
 
 "I could not have said all this to another creature 
 certainly not to any other man. I told my mother 
 the facts contained in the consul's letter. Until 
 then I had never let her into the shameful secret 
 of the mock death and burial. You comprehend, 
 now, why there was never a tombstone put up until 
 lately. My mother urged the propriety of erecting 
 one, again and again. There were other things 
 that puzzled her. Chance twice brought to her 
 knowledge of checks I was transmitting to Lame. 
 She never interferes in my private affairs, but she 
 could not have given stronger evidence of her trust 
 in me than when she refrained from asking a solu- 
 tion of these puzzles. You may imagine what a 
 heavenly relief it was to make a clean breast of every- 
 thing relating to the foul mystery that, if made 
 public, would have besmirched an honorable name 
 for all time. It is the dirtiest page in our family 
 history."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 195 
 
 "Tear it out of your memory !" advised Mr. Rice 
 crisply. "And get out a new edition of your biog- 
 raphy. You couldn't have a better collaborator. 
 I take it you have kept nothing from her?" 
 
 "What do you take me for? I was far more 
 frank with her than with my mother. I could not 
 meet her pure eyes and keep anything back. Nor 
 could I set out on my journey to-morrow without 
 telling her of my feelings and hopes. Patient wait- 
 ing has its limits. I shall tell the news to Helen 
 to-morrow morning. I would tell her to-night, but 
 she would not sleep a wink, dear child, for happiness ! 
 She will never know how certain tricks of speech 
 and manner and temper stab me to the heart. Beth 
 has more influence over her than anybody else, and, 
 we may be sure, it will be exerted in the wisest way." 
 
 The talk had subsided healthfully into normal 
 channels. The early dusk pressed against the stream- 
 ing window-panes, but the hickory was all aglow 
 and the ruddy flames drove the shadows out of the 
 farthest corners of the room. Both men puffed 
 away at refilled pipes and hearkened silently to the 
 vain buffeting of the August storm against stout 
 walls and rattling sashes. Hour and environment 
 were peculiarly favorable for the exchange of con- 
 fidences neither of them would have given freely 
 at another time. In a quarter-century of congenial 
 companionship, they had never drawn so close to- 
 gether before. And, as must be when friendship 
 is without the alloy of selfish reserves and prudential 
 second thought, the silence that ensued upon the
 
 196 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 extraordinary narration was as eloquent as the most 
 impassioned utterance could have been to either of 
 the two. 
 
 When at last Paul spoke, it was slowly and mus- 
 ingly, as if in seK-communion : 
 
 " Only the God she has served all her life long with 
 singleness of devotion no saint ever surpassed knows 
 what my mother is what she has done and borne 
 and forgiven! Her marriage to my father was a 
 love-match on both sides. He was sweet-natured, 
 courteous, and studious. He had succeeded to a 
 large estate which he was utterly incapable of 
 managing. My mother is systematic, energetic, 
 industrious in short, just the one to step into the 
 place he could not fill. Ask any business man in 
 the county, or in Richmond, what he thinks of her, 
 as planter and financier, and you will get the same 
 story from all. Oh ! I have heard the impertinent 
 talk about ' etcetera ' ! Who has not ? My father 
 would have had spirit enough to knock the man 
 down who dared repeat it to him. He loved and 
 honored the wife who saved the patrimonial estate 
 from ruin and himself from bankruptcy. Before 
 I entered college he opened his heart to me upon 
 this subject. He knew his weaknesses and her 
 abounding strength. She never showed herself 
 more worthy of his adoration than by her love for 
 him. When she could ignore his shortcomings, she 
 did it tactfully and cleverly. When she had to throw 
 herself into the breach made by his lack of adminis- 
 trative and executive ability, it was done promptly
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 197 
 
 and effectively. He told me how gratefully he ap- 
 preciated it all, and how deep was his reverence 
 for her. In reminding me what heavy responsibili- 
 ties would devolve upon me, her only son he com- 
 mended her, first of all, to me as a sacred trust. If 
 I had not been trained from babyhood to regard 
 my father as the very best of men, he would have 
 taken the highest place in my esteem from the hour 
 of that confidential talk. It was in this very room, 
 by the way, and on a rainy day " the son broke 
 off to say, with a half-laugh. "Nor was that the 
 only conference we held together here. I was never 
 afraid to bring to him my boyish troubles and 
 scrapes. His counsel was sound, his sympathy un- 
 failing. He never punished me ! I do not forget 
 that. The duty may not have been more tolerable 
 to my mother than to him. She was made of firmer 
 fibre. That was all ! I ought to have been a better 
 man with such examples before me. And, like the 
 weak passionate fool I was, I made shipwreck of 
 my happiness, and would have blasted hers had 
 she been like any other woman ever created. She 
 stood by me through it all. 
 
 "There were terrible scenes sometimes!" shud- 
 deringly. " She kept her temper under the fire that 
 must have burned to her heart's core. She never 
 talked to me of these scenes afterward. In all the 
 period I write down in memory as the dark age 
 of my life, she did not once speak harshly of the 
 one who had brought discord and turmoil into our 
 peaceful, prosperous life. When I laid before her
 
 198 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the amazing revelation of the sequel contained "in 
 the consul's letter, her first words were : * The Father 
 of us all is very merciful. We will hope that His 
 love found her out at the last.' 
 
 "You don't need to be told that my mother is 
 absolutely truthful. When she said this she meant 
 every word of it. Cant and sanctimoniousness are 
 words not to be found in her dictionary." 
 
 "Don't waste time and breath upon useless in- 
 formation!" interposed Mr. Rice dryly. "Helen 
 calls this room 'the confessional,' and you say it 
 earned the title long before she was born. How 
 short the days are growing ! And the August storm 
 abridges this one by an hour." 
 
 He stirred the fire to a livelier blaze, and put on 
 two more logs. " If the weather is as bad to-morrow, 
 must you go all the same?" 
 
 "I ought not to delay the trip a day longer. The 
 roads will be heavy for perhaps a week to come. 
 But the stage will run regularly. If I do not take 
 it to-morrow, that will mean a postponement of 
 two days. I have business in New York that must 
 be looked into. Then, there is this offer for those 
 lots in Cincinnati. Beth's guardian invested some 
 of her money in Ohio lands, which the city has over- 
 taken at last. The prospects are fair that she may 
 get back the sums disbursed in all these years for 
 taxes, and pocket a tidy sum besides. I have at- 
 tended to these matters for her since the death of 
 her guardian. There is the more reason, now, for 
 me to see that she is not cheated."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 199 
 
 He said it with a happy little laugh, and held 
 his watch down to the fire-glare: 
 
 " We must be going in soon. Supper will be ready 
 in half an hour. Let me try again to thank you 
 for the patient attention you have lent to my long 
 and painful story. These two hours in the confes- 
 sional have been good for my heart, and I hope 
 for my soul. From this moment I obey your ad- 
 vice and begin a new edition of my biography. I 
 would throw away the old but for the priceless 
 memories of mother-love and such loyal friendship 
 as is granted few men. I shall carry them to the 
 grave and beyond."
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 * There's nae luck aboot th' house, 
 
 There's nae luck at a', 
 There's nae luck aboot the house 
 
 Now the gude mon's awa' ! ' " 
 
 crooned Helen Carrington, two days after her 
 father's departure, mounting the porch-steps to 
 the corner where her grandmother and Beth were 
 seated. 
 
 Her face was as dolorous as her chant, and she 
 carried in her hand a ball of yellow fluff. It lay 
 prone and stiff upon her palm as she exhibited it. 
 
 "Died of the pip!" she went on, dramatically. 
 "No! auntie! it is not a Dorking. But now the 
 plague has crept into the poultry-yard, there is no 
 telling how soon every darling Dorkingite may be 
 down with it. Grandmother's August storm has 
 broken five buds on my Oriental pearl rose-bush 
 and drowned, or pelted to death, one of the second 
 brood of baby-ducks. That seems funny enough ! 
 But it was a Muscovy, and Mammy Tina is tearing 
 her turban over 'What good eatin' them mouse- 
 covies suttinly does make, come winter!' One of 
 the piano-keys is dumb and we'll have to send to 
 town for a man to set it going again. 
 
 "I know just how the man felt who 
 
 "'Stood beneath a hollow tree, 
 
 The blast it hollow blew, 
 And thought of all the hollow world 
 And all its hollow crew.'
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 201 
 
 "Don't try to reason with me that the chapter 
 of accidents has nothing to do with father's going 
 away. I know better ! " 
 
 "We might make maple-sugar candy!" quoted 
 Beth demurely. 
 
 "And we might have a military funeral for the 
 defunct chicken!" with a disdainful grimace. "In- 
 stead of either, I am going to ride to the court-house 
 with our grave and reverend and always delightful 
 chaplain. He invited me just now in the Dorking 
 salle a manger. I have just time to get into my rid- 
 ing toggery. Au revoir!" 
 
 She ran off, singing, and the clear carolling con- 
 tinued to float down the stairs and through the 
 windows. Now, it was the rollicking air that went 
 so naturally with her swift movements that she 
 fell into it involuntarily when making ready for 
 what she named aptly "a jolly lark": 
 
 "'Fly to the desert, fly with me!'" 
 
 The last verse was warbled as she presented her- 
 self again below-stairs: 
 
 " 'But if for me thou dost forsake 
 Some other maid, and rudely break 
 Her worshipped image from its base 
 To give to me the ruined place 
 Then fare thee well ! I'd rather make 
 My bower upon some icy lake, 
 When thawing suns begin to shine, 
 Than trust to love so false as thine!' "
 
 202 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "Did it ever occur to you," Madam Carrington 
 lifted a face as bright as the day as she spoke, " that 
 the Arabian lovers had never seen, or so much as 
 heard of, ' an icy lake ' ? There are no ice-ponds in 
 the desert." 
 
 "Poetical license!" commented Mr. Rice, who 
 stood, awaiting his fair companion, whip and hat 
 in hand. "The wind and sun of yesterday have 
 made the roads quite tolerable, so Joe tells me. It 
 would be a shame to get the new ' toggery' muddy ! " 
 
 The dark-green cloth habit and cap to match 
 became the wearer well. Her cheeks were flushed 
 like damask roses; her eyes shone like stars. The 
 two women who loved her exchanged glances that 
 said this and more. 
 
 "We will go around to the front porch and see 
 you off!" proposed the grandmother, laying aside 
 her knitting. 
 
 Two stable-boys held the horses at the foot of 
 the steps. Helen kissed her grandmother, then 
 wrapped Beth in a tight embrace. 
 
 "Good-by, darling little mother! Yes! I mean 
 to say it when there are only ourselves by ! Mr. 
 Rice is one of us !" 
 
 She was in the saddle and cantering down the 
 avenue before Beth found voice and composure. 
 Madam put her arm about the slender form. 
 
 "That is as it should be ! And very soon, please 
 God, she may take the name into constant use!" 
 
 They stood, watching the riders until they gained 
 the outer gate. It was a quarter-mile away, but
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 203 
 
 i 
 
 the air was crystalline clear after the storm, and 
 they saw distinctly the farewell wave of Helen's 
 whip, brandished high above her head. 
 
 "She is very happy!" Madam said, as they 
 returned to the vine-curtained nook. "I knew how 
 it would be. We are all unspeakably grateful to 
 you, dear child !" 
 
 "To me? For what?" The ejaculation escaped 
 Beth's lips before she had time to take in the full 
 meaning of the words. Then, her blush was as 
 vivid as Helen's might have been, and she was 
 dumb. 
 
 Madam drew her closer to her. 
 
 "We hope to show you why in the days to come. 
 What a perfect day ! And what a beautiful world ! 
 Mother Nature is making up to us for the August 
 storm. Every flower that could open is blooming, 
 and every bird that has any pretension to a voice 
 is singing." 
 
 They sat, without speaking or moving for a while, 
 their senses drinking hi the influences of scene and 
 atmosphere. 
 
 Mr. Rice had once said that the High Hill home- 
 stead always reminded him of a queen sitting upon 
 her throne like a "lady among kingdoms." It over- 
 looked the countryside for miles in every direction, 
 and there was not a blot in the picture this morning. 
 The mistress of the goodly domain spoke again in 
 the pure contralto age and sorrow had not thinned 
 or sharpened : 
 
 "Old Simeon's 'Nunc Dimittis' is continually
 
 204 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 in my heart, and trembling upon my tongue. I never 
 imagined that I could be so entirely contented on 
 this side of eternity. If I were asked this hour what 
 other blessing I could desire, I could not name one. 
 The waiting-time was long. I used to cry out in 
 the night-tune: 'Oh, Lord, how long? How long?' 
 He has rendered to me double for all the pain, the 
 losses, the shame, and the horror." 
 
 Beth's soft hand stole into hers. 
 
 "Dear mother! we will try to help you forget 
 it all. Our faces are set toward the future. Did 
 you notice that Helen looked like her father as 
 she kissed us 'good-by' just now? I have seen 
 the resemblance often lately. I think it will grow 
 upon her with time. With all her girlish rattle she 
 has her father's sound sense and incorruptible prin- 
 ciples. The foundation of her character is all right. 
 And she is the life of the old house." 
 
 "That foundation has been the mainstay of my 
 hopes for her when she has reminded me horribly 
 of her mother. I mean all that the word implies. 
 Daughter! in all my long and eventful life I have 
 never been so unhappy as to be brought into intimate 
 association with another being who might be de- 
 scribed truthfully as a 'thoroughpaced adventuress.' 
 It is a hard saying, I know!" for Beth had ex- 
 claimed in deprecation or entreaty "a hard saying, 
 but true, through and through. It is but natural 
 that I should have fearful misgivings when I see 
 anything of the mother repeated in the child. I am 
 thankful that with all my belief in blood and ances-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 205 
 
 tral influences, my faith in the redeeming powers 
 of breeding and early education is stronger. The 
 dear Lord, in wisdom and mercy, ordained that 
 you should be given the chance to counteract the 
 workings of the evil inheritance. You have been 
 really the child's mother all her life. I thank God 
 that you are to be her mother in name as well. I 
 say again, and reverently that the world does not 
 hold to-day a woman who has more cause for de- 
 vout thankfulness than myself." 
 
 Beth's head sank upon the hand closed within 
 hers on the arm of Madam's chair. 
 
 "I can say the same for myself and from my 
 very soul!" she murmured. "Surely goodness and 
 mercy shall follow me all the days of my life! And 
 this latest gift is the crown of it all !" 
 
 The echo of the thanksgiving was still in the air 
 when Tom loomed into view at the bottom of the 
 steps: 
 
 "Ef you please, mistis, Doctor Graham is comin' 
 down de road. Shall I bring him outcher?" 
 
 Madam rolled up her knitting and put it into the 
 basket on the stand beside her. 
 
 "Certainly, Tom. Bring him here at once." 
 
 Brisk footfalls rang upon the porch-floor and 
 the ladies stepped forward to greet a man of forty- 
 five, alert and fresh-colored, with lively eyes and a 
 shrewd, kindly expression. He was clean-shaven 
 except for a pair of neatly trimmed mutton-chop 
 whiskers, and in apparel was just what the popular 
 country doctor of the day should be. Black frock-
 
 206 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 coat, white pantaloons, waistcoat, and cravat, were 
 impeccable in quality, cut, and cleanliness. 
 
 " 'Looks as if he had stepped out of a bandbox,' 
 did you say?" Helen had retorted upon a girl 
 friend at the Carters' party. "You mean a tailor's 
 show-case. He would have been creased somewhere 
 in packing him into the bandbox. I could show you 
 his double in a window in Chestnut Street, Phila- 
 delphia." 
 
 Madam Carrington had silenced a man who 
 spoke of her physician as "dandified," by observing 
 quietly that he was "as neat inside as out, and 
 that a doctor could not be too careful as to per- 
 sonal cleanliness. She had known of some who 
 conveyed contagious diseases in their clothing and 
 hair." 
 
 Scientific journals were just beginning to hint 
 at the "germ theory," and Madam had never heard 
 of it. Common sense and womanly instinct made 
 her wiser than her age. 
 
 "I have come straight from the poorhouse," the 
 physician stated when the preliminary courtesies 
 were over. "In compliance with your wishes I 
 have informed the overseer that the physician em- 
 ployed by the county to visit the paupers has no 
 jurisdiction over a patient in a private family such 
 as his own. I found him entirely amenable to reason. 
 Indeed, he was glad of an opportunity to express 
 his uneasiness at the patient's condition and his 
 dissatisfaction at her progress, or rather, want of 
 progress, under the care of the only doctor who had
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 207 
 
 seen her. To be brief I found matters far more 
 serious than I had expected. The person who calls 
 herself 'Mary Watkins' (and I believe truthfully) 
 is critically, if not hopelessly, ill. I doubt if she can 
 live a week under existing conditions. The Blan- 
 kenships are kind in their way, although, to speak 
 openly, I can see that the wife is very 'tired of the 
 whole business.' That was the way she put it to 
 me. The patient is more troublesome as she loses 
 strength, and irritable at times. When her mind 
 wanders, as it does with the rise of fever that never 
 quite leaves her, she is unreasonable and exacting. 
 Now that she is confined to her bed and such a 
 bed! a mountain of musty feathers and coarse 
 cotton sheets ! she requires more care than Mrs. 
 Blankenship can spare time to give her, and she 
 objects violently to having the pauper women wait 
 upon her. She told me that 'they poison the air, 
 and their hands are filthy.' Moreover and this 
 is the worst feature of the case ! she has been for 
 years addicted to the use of opium. She brought 
 a quantity of the drug with her. The overseer says 
 she can't sleep without what he calls her 'sleeping 
 medicine.' The truth is, that she is continually 
 under the influence of the opiate, more or less. For 
 twelve hours past she has lain for most of the time 
 in what we know as a 'comLtose state,' induced 
 partly, no doubt, by the drug, but it also indicates 
 a gradual failing of bodily and mental forces. She 
 can never get well. That is beyond dispute. She 
 has led a hard life" glancing furtively at Beth, and
 
 208 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 picking his phraseology gingerly "and is paying 
 the penalty. Without going into particulars, my 
 dear Madam, you may take my word for that. Her 
 vitality, which was extraordinary originally, is ut- 
 terly exhausted. If she had no disease, she could 
 not rally. There is nothing left to build convales- 
 cence upon. You asked me to make a thorough 
 examination of the case, and to render a candid 
 report to you. I have done it. You may, of course, 
 call in a consulting physician. His verdict could 
 not differ from mine. The case is beyond the reach 
 of human skill." 
 
 Madam Carrington seemed to turn to stone as 
 she listened. Her face was bloodless; her voice, 
 when she had cleared her throat to make way for 
 it, was strained and hollow. 
 
 "Doctor Graham! this is the most awful thing 
 I ever heard! It cannot go on, if I have to go to 
 that place and nurse her myself ! My son brought 
 no such report. Why, doctor, her mother was my 
 schoolmate and lifelong neighbor, and this girl used 
 to play with my children and attended our church ! 
 Would it be possible to move her? Could you ar- 
 range to have her brought to my house? Would 
 it hasten the end? What have we been thinking 
 of all this time? I never dreamed that she was 
 dangerously ill ! What can we do for her at once ? 
 We must not lose a minute ! " 
 
 "Compose yourself, my dear Madam, I entreat 
 you! Let me think! The idea of removal never 
 occurred to me."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 209 
 
 He stroked his whiskers meditatively and peered 
 into the depths of the matted vines. Madam sat 
 perfectly still, her gaze riveted upon his face, her 
 knuckles whitening under the clutch of the fingers. 
 The clear pallor of Beth's complexion and the mute 
 horror of her eyes betokened complete sympathy 
 with her friend's anguish. 
 
 "Do I understand then," began the doctor slowly, 
 as if dubious of his ground, "that you really wish 
 to bring the patient to High Hill? To be cared 
 for until the end comes? It cannot be far off, you 
 know. It would be possible to construct a sort of 
 stretcher and fit it diagonally into a large car- 
 riage." 
 
 Madam caught him up: "Mine? Yes, I can see 
 how that may be. I brought Mr. Rice from The 
 Glebe in that way. Go on, please ! Can it be done 
 in the present case? There are boards in the car- 
 penter's shop and he can put them together in any 
 shape you wish. I will send pillows and comfort- 
 ables everything necessary, if you will give the 
 orders. I will put a boy on horseback and let him 
 take a letter from you to Blankenship, with direc- 
 tions for getting the poor girl ready. It is now ten 
 o'clock. You will stay here to dinner, doctor, and 
 we can set out by two." 
 
 She was on her feet and rang the stable-bell at- 
 tached to the far end of the porch and connected 
 by a long wire with the wall behind her chair. 
 
 The clang awoke the doctor from partial stupe- 
 faction. He had heard much of Madam's ready
 
 2io THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 expedients and strenuous measures, but this threw 
 his wits off their balance. 
 
 "Stay, my dear lady!" he managed to articulate 
 when she had bidden the groom who came running 
 to obey the imperative summons "Send John 
 Marsh here, directly! Let him drop everything 
 and come ! " 
 
 John Marsh was the head carpenter of the plan- 
 tation, as the doctor knew. 
 
 "My dear lady" was not to be stayed by him or 
 any other man, unless it were her son, and he was 
 far away. Not once did she lose her head in the 
 interim that elapsed before the doctor recovered his. 
 By the time he had accompanied the carpenter to the 
 shop, selected boards and issued explicit orders as 
 to fashioning them into a sort of litter, his brain 
 had steadied sufficiently to justify a second remon- 
 strance. Madam Carrington might send for the 
 patient. He would escort the carriage to the poor- 
 house, superintend the removal of the comatose 
 woman to her new quarters, and install her there- 
 in. It was worse than needless for the hostess to 
 subject herself to the fatigue and responsibility of 
 the five-mile drive to the almshouse and then back. 
 It would be far more prudent to send a trusty maid. 
 He poured all this into the ears of Beth, who met 
 him in the porch, grave and self-possessed. She 
 heard him silently to the end of his protest. Then 
 she said quietly: 
 
 "You are altogether right, doctor. I am going 
 in her place. My own maid, who is young and strong
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 211 
 
 and a good nurse, goes with me. She will be useful 
 in many ways. Mr. Rice has come home. He will 
 ride with you." 
 
 "I had not thought it was in her," the doctor 
 observed to his companion pedestrian, en route. 
 "No bluster or excitement, but she had every detail 
 arranged. I confess to some curiosity to know how 
 she prevailed upon Madam Carrington to change 
 her mind." 
 
 "Elizabeth Moore has much quiet force of char- 
 acter," was the response, "and influence with 
 her aunt. She gently reminded her that one of them 
 must superintend arrangements to be made at home 
 for the comfort of the invalid, and that the mistress 
 of the house is the only person who can do this. 
 She succumbed, as was sensible and right." 
 
 The disposition of the improvised stretcher in 
 the carriage, roomy as the conveyance was, left 
 but one corner vacant in which an attendant could 
 sit. The stretcher was padded with pillows and 
 comfortables, and more pillows and coverings were 
 heaped about it. Mirny, Beth's maid, very solemn 
 in the appreciation of the dignity thrust upon her, 
 sat upon the box with the driver. Helen had made 
 an opportunity to volunteer a pledge to Beth to 
 be at her grandmother's beck and call, every minute 
 of the afternoon. She went about the simple duties 
 that fell to her with chastened soberness, infinitely 
 sweet and becoming. The announcement of the 
 expedition and its object had astounded her and 
 amazed Mr. Rice.
 
 212 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 It was significant of the thorough understanding 
 on the part of mother and son that, after the first 
 shock of the tidings of Molly Watkins's arrival at 
 the poorhouse had passed, there was no avoidance 
 of her name in their confidential talks, or in the 
 family. It was yet more significant that Beth al- 
 lowed the doctor to invite the minister to join him 
 and thanked them both for the arrangement. 
 
 "An early dream and dead!" Mahlon had said 
 to Paul. "What I loved was a figment of fancy. 
 I mourn the delusion not the object of it. An 
 old, old story! Who said: 'It is not so much a 
 broken heart you have to grieve over as a broken 
 dream'?" 
 
 Beth recalled the saying as the carriage rolled 
 out of the gate on its mournful mission. He was 
 cured, and so completely that he accepted the office 
 assigned to him as he might have answered the call 
 to visit a sick parishioner. She watched him for a 
 little while, the benign face lighted by a smile, now 
 and then, as his companion led the talk into more 
 cheerful topics than that which had engaged their 
 thoughts for the last hour or two. She was at ease 
 with regard to him as she leaned back in her corner 
 and indulged hi meditations more to her liking.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 AN ex-President of the United States a Virginian 
 by birth and residence failed to please his neigh- 
 bors and constituents in certain acts of his adminis- 
 tration. Upon his return home the malcontents 
 hit upon what they fancied would be a token of 
 disfavor, yet be so cleverly disguised under the mask 
 of an honorable appointment that he could not 
 resent it. 
 
 He was, therefore, made "road-master" of the 
 county, an office which authorized the holder to 
 call out gangs of colored laborers from the adjacent 
 plantations, at his discretion, to mend and make 
 highways. He accepted the office graciously, thank- 
 ing his fellow citizens for the fresh evidence of 
 their esteem, and forthwith proceeded to provide 
 the county with the best roads in the common- 
 wealth. To accomplish this end he levied upon 
 plantation field-hands at whatever tune and season 
 he chose to make the demand, without regard to 
 planting, weeding, or harvesting. "His business 
 was to make good roads," he represented to the 
 indignant planters. "When the highways required 
 repairs, the public weal took precedence of personal 
 convenience." 
 
 Under dissimilar conditions, Paul Carrington, the 
 most popular magistrate in his district, was ten- 
 
 313
 
 214 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 dered and had accepted the office of road-master 
 a dozen years ago, and performed the duties con- 
 nected therewith so creditably that smooth, well- 
 graded highways were the rule throughout the terri- 
 tory over which he had jurisdiction. 
 
 Doctor Graham had this in mind in sanctioning 
 the transfer of his patient to new quarters. 
 
 "A careful driver needn't hit a stone in the five 
 miles," he asserted complacently, "nor run into 
 a mud-hole. The road is as smooth as a floor. We 
 know whom we have to thank for that!" 
 
 Beth recalled the tribute with a glow of pleasure 
 in settling down luxuriously among her ample 
 cushions. She reminded herself too that this was 
 the first absolutely quiet hour she could call her 
 very own for five days past. Preparations for Paul's 
 journey and the bustle of the leave-taking had kept 
 the household in a ferment of unrest. As for her- 
 self she reflected now she had not had time to 
 take her new wonderful happiness to her heart and 
 "cuddle" it. That was the way she phrased it. 
 To care for others weaker than she, to comfort the 
 sorrowing, nurse the sick in body and in mind in 
 a word, to put the welfare and woes of those about 
 her before her own affairs was the second nature 
 born of habit that generally outgrows the first. 
 
 "At thirty-six, one is no longer romantic," she 
 had said once playfully to Helen, commenting upon 
 a love-story they had read together. She laughed 
 at the recollection, now. 
 
 When, just ten days ago, Paul Carrington had
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 215 
 
 pleaded, "And now, that you know it all my mad 
 follies and my struggles to live down shameful memo- 
 ries, and to make myself over into the man who has 
 some show of right to ask you to be his wife can 
 you learn to love me, Beth?" she had looked, un- 
 abashed, into his eyes and said: 
 
 "I ought to be perfect in the lesson. I have 
 studied it for fifteen years and more." 
 
 She closed her eyes in repeating it to herself now, 
 and dreamed blissfully as she had never dared 
 dream before in all her life. She could not tell just 
 when she awoke to the consciousness that the man 
 who, she thought, was like a brother to her, was 
 dearer than any brother could ever have been, and 
 outranked all other earthly loves combined. Since 
 then she had made no secret to her candid soul of 
 the truth. The passion of pity she had felt for the 
 stricken victim of a wily, heartless adventuress, the 
 reverence strengthened daily by the sight of his 
 steadfast devotion to his mother and the work he 
 shared with her; his invariable kindness to high 
 and low; the perfection of breeding that never let 
 him overlook the observance of the "small, sweet 
 courtesies" that make the poetry of domestic life; 
 his patience under wrongs done to himself, and his 
 generous indignation at wrongs done to the inno- 
 cent and helpless all this and innumerable other 
 concurrent circumstances had wrought upon her 
 heart, soul, and mind to bring to pass the miracle 
 of happiness that possessed her in the knowledge 
 that her demigod had become her lover.
 
 2i6 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 What romance, ever conceived and written, 
 equalled the glorious reality? She stanched happy 
 tears hastily as Mr. Rice rode up to the carriage- 
 door. 
 
 He looked down instantly, and feigned to be in- 
 tent upon guarding his horse's legs against impact 
 with the wheel. 
 
 "We have only half a mile farther to go," he 
 said, easily. "We have travelled well. I wanted 
 to say to you, before we get to the house, that you 
 must not hesitate to call upon me for anything that 
 I can do to make all this easier for you." 
 
 He leaned over the wheel to put his hand on the 
 door, after the fashion of the mounted escort of 
 the region, and lowered his voice: 
 
 "7 should have a share in the business, you know. 
 We are told that those who sow the wind shall reap 
 the whirlwind. I am mercifully let off with what is 
 a mere zephyr by comparison with the tornado a 
 far better man has had to buffet for years. Set your 
 mind at rest with regard to me. I hope the trip 
 will not be too much for you?" 
 
 "It has been restful thank you! And all the 
 more because you are with us." 
 
 He lifted his hat and fell back to the doctor's 
 side. 
 
 Quaint, plucky, dear little man ! Yet what was 
 the mourning over his "broken dream" when one 
 thought of the fight he had likened to a tornado 
 that had swept over his comrade? 
 
 She thanked God again with heart and voice for
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 217 
 
 the blessed calm that must chase away the memory 
 of the tempest. 
 
 Both the Blankenships were on the lookout for 
 them, and hurried together to the side of the car- 
 riage as it stopped at the gate. 
 
 The wife was foremost in explanation of condi- 
 tions that awaited the visitors: 
 
 "She's been that dreadful ever sence she heard 
 that she was to be took away, that I was afeared 
 we couldn't git her ready, nohow we could fix it. 
 Fust place, she declared she wouldn't budge a step ! 
 That was when I had jest shook her awake, and 
 she was out of her head for a while. Then when 
 she heered whar she was to be took, she laughed 
 and cried for nigh upon five minnits and we jest 
 was obleeged to give her a good stiff drink of brandy 
 to git her quiet. Yes, doctor! I knowed you 
 wouldn't like it! But what was we to do? She 
 mus' be heished up in some way. 'Light! won't 
 you, Miss 'Lizabeth ! " removing her bulk from the 
 open door that Beth might get out. "An' come 
 right in ! She's quiet now." 
 
 "Dead drunk, you mean!" said her husband, 
 crossly. "I told her how 'twould be, doctor, when 
 she would pour out the liquor for her, instid of lettin' 
 me do it. Not but what it will be easier to tote her 
 to the carriage, an' out of it if the drunk hoi's on 
 that long. She mought 'a' raised a rumpus ef she 
 had any notion of what we was doin' with her." 
 
 Doctor Graham walked on with him in close con- 
 fabulation as they skirted the main building to gain
 
 218 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the wing. Mrs. Blankenship kept her post at Beth's 
 ear and talked her fastest: 
 
 "She ain't a-goin' to live long nowhere, and I'm 
 mighty glad to git shet of her, for my part. She's 
 been the biggest keer I've ever had an' you may 
 know keepin' a po'house ain't no fun at any time. 
 'Slong as she knowed what she was about, I could 
 manage her a little. But for the las' week well, 
 thar! Thar ain't no use tryin' to tell you 'bout it. 
 Me an' Sukey Logan, we done packed up all her 
 clo'es in her trunk, an' put clean clo'es on her. She 
 was like somebody dead while we was doin' of it. 
 Rashe, he scolded me for the big dose o' liquor. 
 / say 'twould 'a' served him right not to have give 
 it to her at all, an' let him git her ready an' off!" 
 She glanced up at Mr. Rice in saying it, and cackled 
 aloud. 
 
 He turned on his heel, walked away a dozen steps 
 or so, and stood there, staring stonily over the fields. 
 Beth forgot her own horror and dreads in sympathy 
 with the frightful reaction that must supersede his 
 quiet self-possession. This drunken castaway was 
 the woman he had once loved. Why had she why 
 had Madam Carrington let him come? 
 
 The low-browed room reeked with brandy fumes 
 and foetid odors. The doctor rushed to both win- 
 dows and pulled aside the curtains to let in all the 
 air they would admit. The bedstead had been 
 dragged into the middle of the floor and stripped 
 of all covering, revealing the soiled ticking of the 
 feather-bed, swelling above the form sunk hi the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 219 
 
 middle. It might have been a corpse but for the 
 irregular, stertorous respiration. Mr. Rice startled 
 them all by speaking from the door: 
 
 "Doctor Graham! shall I have the stretcher 
 brought in here?" 
 
 "At once please! the sooner we are off, the 
 better!" 
 
 Even the Blankenships were mute until the bearers 
 of the litter Aleck, the High Hill carriage-driver, 
 and a colored pauper appeared upon the porch. 
 Then Rashe bustled out to lend a hand. Mr. Rice 
 followed him into the room and pushed aside the 
 negro who would have raised the recumbent figure. 
 He said not a word, but Beth never forgot the face 
 turned away with averted eyes from the "thing" 
 he helped Doctor Graham shift from the bed to 
 the litter. She followed them closely. One horri- 
 fied glance at the face wasted almost out of sem- 
 blance to a human visage, darkly flushed by brandy, 
 eyes closed, and mouth open turned her sick to 
 faintness. She hardly knew who or where she was 
 as she walked in the wake of the short procession 
 to the waiting carriage. Mirny brought her back 
 to herself and the present. 
 
 "Miss 'Lizabeth! you ain't never goin' to ride 
 inside the carriage with that! 'Tain't fitten, no way 
 you can fix it! Mr. Rice! please, suh!" as he let 
 himself down from the carriage-steps after the litter 
 with its burden had been set in place, "won't you 
 persuade Miss 'Lizabeth not to get in there? Let 
 me do it, and she won't min' for onct, a-settin' out-
 
 220 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 side with Aleck! I don't know what mistis will 
 say ef so be we 'low a white lady to ride 'longside 
 of that!" 
 
 A gesture of intense loathing finished the protest. 
 
 Before Mr. Rice could speak, Beth moved forward 
 and put her foot upon the step: 
 
 "It is my place! Nobody else shall have it! 
 Should she need attention I will call you, Mirny 
 or Doctor Graham. Good-by, Mrs. Blankenship ! " 
 She put her hand into that extended by Betsey, 
 who, for once in her life, was awed into silence. "I 
 thank you for all you have done for us in taking 
 care of her ! Good-by, Mr. Blankenship ! No ! 
 Mr. Rice ! there is not room for more than one per- 
 son in here thank you, all the same !" 
 
 "Game to the back-bone!" ejaculated Rashe, as 
 he returned to his waiting spouse after seeing the 
 cortege through the draw-bars. "I never would 'a' 
 thought 'twas in her ! Reckon she caught her sperrit 
 from the old Madam. I wisht I could 'a' gone along 
 and seed 'em git her out o' the car'iage at High 
 Hill. I dar' swar that no sech trash ever crossed 
 that door-sill befo' sence the house was built!" 
 
 "They']], git the credit of it, you may be sure!" 
 retorted Betsey, tartly. "Let these 'ristocrats alone 
 for takin' all the comfortin' Scripters to theirselves ! 
 'bout feedin' the poor and rescuin' the perishin', 
 an' all that ! The ole Madam will be talked about 
 an* preached about after she's dead an' gone, for 
 openin' her doors to the chile of her ole frien'. We've 
 been a-nussin' her, an' puttin' up with her high-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 221 
 
 'n'-mighty ways for nigh 'pon two mont's, without 
 gittin' a penny for it. An' that meachin' little thing 
 that would git into the car'iage with her for to show 
 off befo' the doctor and the preacher will be called 
 a saint 'long's she lives. Ef them ain't Pharisees 
 an' highpercreets, I don' know the breed when I 
 see it!" 
 
 Rashe held his peace even from the good that 
 might have resulted from the exhibition of a bank- 
 bill passed over to him by Mr. Rice, with Madam 
 Carrington's thanks for the care he had bestowed 
 upon the daughter of her old friends. He was en- 
 joined to secrecy at the same time. 
 
 "You may know that she lives up to the rule 
 'Let not your right hand know what your left hand 
 doeth,'" the minister had added in the same con- 
 fidential tone. "She had no idea that the patient 
 was really dangerously ill until the doctor called 
 this morning. When Mr. Carrington was here last, 
 you spoke hopefully of her." 
 
 "That's a fac' ! So I did !" replied the overseer. 
 "She was that gayly and peart when she warn't 
 downright sick, that we'd no notion things was so 
 bad. The doctor gives her up, he tells me. Her 
 goin' away saves the county a bill for the fun'ral. 
 'Tain't noways likely as Madam would have her 
 buried from High Hill at the public expense!" 
 
 The minister turned away without another word. 
 Was the suggestion, conjoined with the "broken 
 dream," harrowing even to a "cured" lover? 
 
 Doctor Graham was inclined to be loquacious for
 
 222 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the first mile or two of the homeward journey. The 
 experience he was now going through was novel, 
 and he rather enjoyed it, never having known the 
 principal actress in the drama in her bellehood. At 
 that time, he was a medical student at the univer- 
 sity, and never at home except in vacation. If he 
 had ever seen Molly Watkins it was in his callow 
 boyhood, when pretty girls were less interesting 
 than baseball and fishing. Nor had he ever heard 
 so much as a whisper connecting her name with 
 that of the retired minister who now officiated as 
 the High Hill chaplain and family friend. 
 
 Mirny and Aleck carried on an animated dialogue 
 in whispers upon the driver's box, and each primed 
 the other with gossip anent the "po 'house" and 
 the horde of residents they had espied peeping from 
 divers hiding-places at the sensational spectacle 
 enacted in the front yard. 
 
 Within the vehicle reigned silence that might be 
 felt. Beth had thrown herself valiantly into the 
 forefront of the contest relative to the change in 
 the programme decided upon by Madam Carring- 
 ton and herself, and had won her point. At heart, 
 she abhorred the task she had undertaken as Mad- 
 am's representative. After ensconcing herself in 
 the corner left for her, she gave one look at her mo- 
 tionless companion to make sure that she seemed 
 as comfortable as was possible in the extraordinary 
 circumstances; then she leaned back and shut her 
 eyes. She had heard that the sick woman was an 
 opium-eater. That she should also be a common
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 223 
 
 drunkard was inexpressibly revolting. She did not 
 wish that the hospitality of High Hill had been 
 denied to the prodigal. She was in full accord with 
 Madam's impulsive benevolence, and ready to bear 
 her share of the cross. She did shrink from actual 
 contact with the sinner when she was vulgarly and 
 indubitably drunk! Chide the feeling as she might 
 and did, every virtuous and womanly instinct arose 
 in arms against the necessity of sitting so close to 
 the woman that the skirt of her white dress mingled 
 with the folds of the shawl thrown over the patient's 
 lower limbs. 
 
 The face was turned quite away toward the other 
 side of the coach. Beth was thankful for that. A 
 single look at it, as she entered that mean room, 
 had been too much for her. One hand lay limp and 
 motionless upon the cover. Beth would have said 
 that her eye fell upon it, by and by, by the merest 
 accident. It was emaciated until the bones showed 
 white and stark through the skin strained over them. 
 One, on the outer side of the wrist, stood out in un- 
 natural prominence. Just below this, a white line 
 a cicatrice paler than the sallow cuticle surrounding 
 it perhaps the eighth of an inch wide ran clear 
 across the back of the wrist, terminating abruptly 
 and squarely there. After staring at it for a mo- 
 ment as a fascinated bird gazes into the snake's 
 eyes, Beth leaned forward and took the wasted 
 wrist into her hand, shuddering as she touched it. 
 It was hot and dry and a mere bundle of sinew and 
 bone. It was delicately shaped; the fingers were
 
 224 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 long and tapering. The vague sense of familiarity 
 with it, that laid hold upon her at sight of the scar, 
 deepened and took form. Of one thing she felt sure. 
 This was not Mary Watkins's hand ! It was smaller, 
 more refined hi contour and in the texture of the 
 skin, and there was no such mark upon poor Molly's 
 wrist. True, it might be the trace of a wound made 
 since her elopement. Doctor Graham had alluded 
 to her hard life. The thought that had stabbed 
 Beth at first sight of it was too preposterous to be 
 remembered for an instant. She was angry with 
 herself for having allowed it to shoot across her 
 mind. With an ejaculation of self-disgust, she pulled 
 the shawl over the moveless hand, and withdrew 
 as far as space would allow from her obnoxious fel- 
 low-tenant of the coach. 
 
 The journey was, of necessity, more tedious than 
 the brisk run in the earlier part of the day. Aleck 
 had had his orders to avoid jar and jolt, and obeyed 
 to the letter. 
 
 "We might be a funeral procession!" said Beth, 
 more impatiently than she was wont to speak, as 
 Doctor Graham peered into the window for the 
 fifth time, to see for himself that the patient was 
 quiet. "Is it absolutely necessary that we should 
 drive all the way at this rate? I don't believe she 
 knows whether we go fast or slowly." 
 
 "She will probably remain in her present con- 
 dition for hours to come," was the rejoinder, "if 
 indeed she ever rallies from it. That fool of a woman 
 overdosed her with a vengeance! If she were not
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 225 
 
 used to it, the 'dram' would be fatal in her present 
 state." 
 
 He made no pretense of guarding tone or language. 
 That he had judged correctly of the condition of 
 the subject of the observation was proved by the 
 lax stillness of the prostrate figure. 
 
 A wave of remorseful pity rushed over Beth's 
 heart. 
 
 "Oh, I am sorry I complained!" she said, peni- 
 tently. "Don't hurry, please! I am quite com- 
 fortable. Don't run any risk of making her worse ! " 
 
 The doctor shrugged his shoulders with a wry 
 smile, in falling to the rear. Beth settled back in 
 her corner, wrapped in gloomy meditations that 
 were now mixed with self-reproach. She, who only 
 that morning had declared herself to be the hap- 
 piest of women, could be as fretful as a spoiled child 
 set to perform a disagreeable task, when opportunity 
 was offered her to minister to another woman, help- 
 less, poor, and sick unto death. Sitting in the very 
 shadow of that death, she had thought, not of 
 prayer or compassion, but of her own selfish ease ! 
 
 "God forgive me, and let me help her in some 
 way before she goes !" she whispered, and bent over 
 the litter to adjust the pillow that had slipped from 
 under the woman's cheek. 
 
 As she stooped she felt the hot breath, foul with 
 liquor, upon her face, and, in the horror of the mo- 
 ment, her hand dropped nerveless to her side, drag- 
 ging the pillow with it. The head, jarred by the 
 motion, rolled partly over, and the bleared eyes
 
 226 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 opened. In an agony of haste and alarm, Beth 
 slipped her arm under the heavy head and replaced 
 the pillow. In doing it, she spoke reassuringly in 
 her gentlest tone: 
 
 "There! Is that all right again? Is it quite 
 easy?" 
 
 Dull-red fire burned back of the eyes; the dried 
 lips tried to frame articulate words. 
 
 "Don't try to speak !" pursued Beth, smiling into 
 the working face. "Just lie still and try to sleep 
 a little longer. We have not far to go now." 
 
 The eyes were wide open and the evil gleam in 
 their depths was a glare. A hiss escaped from the 
 writhing lips. Beth laid her ear low to catch it. 
 
 "Beth Moore!" she caught, and waited breath- 
 lessly for what came next one word at a time, each 
 gasped, as with a parting breath: 
 
 "You shan't marry Paul Carrington!" 
 
 With the supreme effort that brought out the 
 final syllable, the head fell to one side, the eyes 
 rolled back in the sockets. 
 
 Beth never knew whence she drew the strength 
 that enabled her to call Doctor Graham. Stunned 
 into unnatural composure, she watched him try to 
 pour restoratives down the woman's throat, and, 
 at his behest, herself bathed her face with water 
 and fanned her until a flutter of the pulse and a 
 struggle for breath told that the swoon was passing. 
 
 "A damnable business!" Beth heard the doctor 
 mutter, savagely. "She isn't worth it!" 
 
 Then, with the peremptoriness that sank the
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 227 
 
 gentleman in the physician, he bade Mirny mount 
 his horse, installed Beth in the seat vacated by the 
 maid, and took her place inside of the carriage. 
 
 With it all, he made time for an aside to Mr. 
 Rice: 
 
 "Let Aleck take your horse, and do you drive 
 the rest of the way ! And keep an eye upon that 
 poor child. The shock has been too much for her. 
 The fresh air may save her from faulting. But 
 watch her, as for your life !"
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 MADAM CARRINGTON was upon the front porch 
 with a band of sable attendants, when four stalwart 
 field-hands bore their burden up the steps and were 
 directed by the mistress to carry it into the 
 Chamber. 
 
 In one instant Beth's quick wits comprehended 
 why Madam had acquiesced so readily in the al- 
 tered plan submitted by her chief helpers. Neither 
 Beth nor Mr. Rice would have consented, without 
 vigorous demur, to turning the most important room 
 in the house into a hospital ward, and, by the desecra- 
 tion, depriving the head of the family of her own 
 quarters. The bearers had received their orders 
 beforehand, for they marched with military pre- 
 cision into the hall and faced about at the threshold 
 of the open door. The curtains had been taken 
 down from the bed and the snow-white covers were 
 turned down ready for immediate use. 
 
 Not one of the amazed trio of spectators had tune 
 to speak before the insensible woman was laid upon 
 the bed and Madam was adjusting the pillows. 
 
 " Mother!" The cry was Beth's as she grasped 
 the lady's arm. "This ought not to be ! I thought, 
 of course, she would be taken up-stairs. We cannot 
 let you give up your room ! " 
 
 "It is my wish and my pleasure to do it. A sick- 
 
 228
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 229 
 
 room should always be on the lower floor when it 
 is practicable to do this. Be quiet, my child ! Every- 
 thing is arranged as it should be. I have meant 
 this all along. Now, doctor !" A wave of the hand 
 dispersed the group of servants and brought him 
 to her side. "Can she be undressed and put to 
 bed? Or must we wait until she is stronger?" 
 
 "She rallied for a few minutes on the road and 
 tried to talk, but instantly relapsed into the coma," 
 said the physician. "Her pulse is too weak for us 
 to attempt to do more at present than try to stim- 
 ulate the heart-action. She may respond to the 
 treatment. She may not. May I ask you, Madam, 
 to assist me ? Mirny ! we may want you here. Miss 
 Elizabeth ! you will please me by going to your own 
 room and resting for a couple of hours. Mr. Rice ! 
 should we need you, we will let you know." 
 
 Helen was at Beth's side and wound her arm 
 about her as they began the ascent of the stair- 
 case. 
 
 "I am not wanted there! I'm glad I'm not! I 
 wouldn't stay for all the doctors in Christendom, 
 when you, darling, look so sick and faint. Lean 
 hard on me, sweet mother! I could carry you up 
 in my arms if you would let me try !" 
 
 The coaxing accents and tender caressing were 
 better for the tired listener than any restorative 
 in the doctor's portly saddle-bags. A gush of natural 
 tears loosened the intolerable tension of the heart- 
 strings and softened the hard lump in her throat. 
 She could not speak, but when Helen led her to
 
 230 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the bed and with loving violence half-lifted her 
 upon it, she caught the girl to her breast and wept 
 aloud. 
 
 Helen shut the door and brought a bottle of 
 cologne to the bed, drenching her handkerchief 
 with the fragrant fluid, and bathing Beth's face 
 before uttering a syllable. Intuitively she appre- 
 ciated that there was something here beyond the 
 reach of anything she could think of saying. She 
 must keep before the weeper's mind the one truth 
 of her love and passionate longing to be of help to 
 her in some way, then trust to time and her own 
 perceptions to indicate that way. 
 
 Her heart leaped with joyful relief when Beth 
 dried her eyes and put up her lips for a kiss. It 
 was given with unction. 
 
 "She is tired to death so she is!" Helen cooed 
 anew, mopping the tremulous hands with the cologne 
 and blowing lightly upon them to make them cooler 
 by hastening evaporation. She had learned the 
 trick from Beth, as the latter recollected with af- 
 fectionate amusement. It was very sweet and, 
 just now, singularly consoling to be petted and 
 tended by Paul's child. 
 
 She opened her eyes gratefully upon the solicitous 
 face so near hers: 
 
 "Thank you for looking so much like your father 
 to-day ! It has been a great help to me. But, dar- 
 ling, I have not asked you all this time where your 
 grandmother is to sleep. It is dreadful that she 
 should be turned out of her room ! "
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 231 
 
 Helen nodded backward toward the hall. 
 
 "In the spare-room over there! You may know 
 that I had a battle-royal with her before I gave 
 in to the ridiculous notion. She was obstinate to 
 the end. Gibraltar is a quicksand by comparison ! 
 She cannot forgive the doctor and father and, least 
 of all, herself for not knowing how ill the Watkins 
 woman is. She says she should have been decently 
 lodged and nursed ever since she showed up at the 
 poorhouse. But you'll hear the latest edition with 
 copious notes as soon as she has time to talk it out. 
 What a crow-bait of an object the returned prodigal 
 is, to be sure ! One glimpse was enough for me." 
 
 Beth closed her eyes and moaned: 
 
 "Don't, precious child ! I can't bear to talk of it 
 yet. It was all too horrible! I must lie still and 
 try to forget it until my head gets clear and steady." 
 
 "Which it won't do while I am chattering like 
 a poll-parrot ! You poor persecuted angel of pa- 
 tience!" punctuating the sentence with soft kisses 
 upon all of Beth's face she could get at, above and 
 below the shielding hands. 
 
 "It is high time somebody took this matter in 
 hand ! If father had been here, none of this abom- 
 inable farce would have been played. As next of 
 kin, I take the helm ! One fact remains ! You are 
 to be my especial charge from this time hencefor- 
 ward until other people, who shall be nameless, 
 come to their senses. I am going to administer a 
 dose of valerian, then darken the room, and com- 
 mand you to sleep for the next hour. And" dog-
 
 232 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 gedly "if, during that time, man, woman, or child 
 invades these sacred precincts, he, she, or it enters 
 over my dead body !" 
 
 The loving nonsense did more to quiet the racked 
 nerves than reason could have effected. Beth's 
 smile and voice were natural as she thanked her 
 nurse and promised to be obedient. 
 
 "I must have time to think it all over, or I shall 
 go mad!" she whispered to herself when the door 
 closed noiselessly behind the retreating form. 
 
 Below-stairs, the commander of the active forces 
 had restored a show of law and order. A swift 
 courier had ridden post-haste over to Doctor Gra- 
 ham's house to report that he would spend the night 
 at High Hill unless summoned thence by another 
 " extreme case." The patient was in bed, and, al- 
 though the coma still held her, breathed more easily; 
 the heart had responded partially to the stimulant, 
 and there were no tokens of suffering. Becca, the 
 best nurse on the plantation a "likely" mulatto, 
 trained from girlhood by her mistress for this par- 
 ticular line of work was installed as custodian 
 in the silent chamber, and strict orders were sent 
 throughout the grounds surrounding the house and 
 kitchen that the like quiet should prevail there. 
 
 An hour brought supper-time, and the family 
 assembled about the table, if not merrily, with cheer- 
 ful mien, and on the part of Doctor Graham and 
 Helen, with good appetites. 
 
 "Still quiet, and with no indication of any imme- 
 diate change," were the returns from the temporary
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 233 
 
 hospital ward, as the physician joined the little com- 
 pany collected after supper in the side-porch. 
 
 "Our talking will not disturb her?" queried Mad- 
 am, solicitously. 
 
 "It would not, if your voices could be heard in 
 the room, which they cannot be. Becca will call 
 me should the patient be restless." 
 
 Helen stood no more in awe of doctors than of 
 ministers, and she had her word ready: 
 
 "Funny isn't it? how none of us give her her 
 name ? The doctor, of course, uses what naturalists 
 would term 'the generic title.' The Queen of Eng- 
 land or, we will say, Mrs. Rashe Blankenship 
 would be to him just 'a patient,' a subject to be 
 cured, or killed, or dissected ! " 
 
 "Helen !" interjected her grandmother in reproof, 
 neutralized by the doctor's jolly laugh. 
 
 "Convenient in the present instance, Miss Sauce- 
 box ! I doubt if any one of us is altogether certain 
 in his or her own mind what name to apply to the 
 Molly Watkins-that-was. The generic term comes 
 in handy here." 
 
 In the moonlight he could see Beth start, and 
 her voice was oddly muffled as she asked: "What 
 makes you say that? Have you any reason for 
 disbelieving what she tells of herself?" 
 
 He laughed again and more heartily: 
 
 "She has told so much that one may be excused 
 for not troubling oneself to credit or to recollect. 
 If you mean do I believe that the wreck of what 
 was once a woman that lies in that room" jerking
 
 234 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 his thumb In the direction of the Chamber, "was, 
 fifteen or sixteen years back, Mary often called 
 'Molly' Watkins, born and bred in this county, 
 who ran away I am sorry to say not to be married 
 after having her fling as a dashing belle I have 
 not the slightest doubt as to her identity. Besides 
 the tattooed initials on her shoulder, which, by the 
 way, I have seen we have sufficient evidence of 
 the truth of her story to convince all the juries in 
 America. Why" still laughing "she can give 
 you the pedigree of every family hi the county, with 
 scandals about most of them that would make their 
 honored ancestors turn in their graves. She knows 
 the Watkins clan from Adam down to her own father 
 who, now I come to think of it, was also named 
 'Adam.' She was a joy to paupers and overseer 
 when she was tolerably well and sober ! I told 
 you she has been an opium-fiend for nobody knows 
 how long. Not even herself, I suspect. The habit 
 got hold of her, maybe five, maybe ten, years ago. 
 She claims to have travelled pretty nearly all over 
 the world, and mingled in very fine society. She has 
 got to the end of her tether now poor sinner!" 
 
 He knocked the ashes out of his pipe and refilled 
 it. 
 
 "Don't, doctor please I" It was Madam Car- 
 rington who spoke. "Every word goes to my soul ! 
 I have done some mighty hard thinking to-day and 
 none of it was harder than the blame I heap upon 
 myself and other professing Christians in our county, 
 and especially in our church, for the part we have
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 235 
 
 played in this shameful affair. I can think of nothing 
 but the ninety-and-nine who stayed safe and com- 
 fortable in the green pastures beside the still waters, 
 while the Shepherd went to seek the wandering 
 sheep. From what you tell us of the poorhouse and 
 the doings there, there are more than fifty straying 
 sheep whom we have left to their own devices and 
 to their own fate. To their own deserts, you may 
 say! That was not the Master's way of dealing 
 with sinners. Like yourself, I have no doubt as 
 to the identity of this poor creature. For a while 
 I refused to admit the possibility that her frightful 
 story might be true. The evidence is overwhelming. 
 And we, the well-fed, self-satisfied ninety-and-nine, 
 priding ourselves upon our 'missionary spirit,' have 
 never lifted a finger to save her soul or the souls 
 of the rest of the wanderers within hearing of psalms 
 and hymns and spiritual songs. Oh, the shame of 
 it ! the shame of it ! " 
 
 Had a thunderbolt fallen through the roof at 
 their feet, the listeners to the impassioned outburst 
 could not have been more confounded. The doc- 
 tor's hand was arrested half-way to his pipe; Beth 
 sat back in the shade with drooping head, and Mr. 
 Rice leaned against the railing, his face half-hidden 
 by his hand. Undaunted Helen found expression 
 first: 
 
 "But, grandmother! you forget that Mr. Rice 
 did preach at the poorhouse often when he could 
 preach! You can't blame him for not going there 
 now, And when he did go, nobody seemed to want
 
 236 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 him, or care to listen to what he had to say. The 
 overseer had to drive them into the room to hear 
 the sermon, and the mothers wouldn't keep the 
 babies quiet and it was all mighty discouraging. 
 You must admit that!" 
 
 "I am blaming myself most of all, my child! 
 There are not ten people in our church the 
 strongest in the county ! who have been members 
 of it longer than I. I am old enough to be Mr. Rice's 
 mother. Did I ever go to the poorhouse with him ? 
 I knew there were ignorant and sinful women there. 
 Did I ever seek out the lost? Don't try to excuse 
 me! These thoughts have been brewing in my 
 mind for months. I put them aside when they were 
 very obtrusive by saying that my duty was in my 
 own home, upon my own plantation, and in my 
 own church, first of all. And that when all this 
 should be done, there would be time enough to ex- 
 tend my 'sphere of usefulness.' That was what I 
 called it in the stupidity of my self-righteousness. 
 Mr. Rice did not need to be encouraged to preach 
 once a month at the poorhouse. He was young 
 and had pastured all his life with the ninety-and- 
 nine. Woman's work and woman's wit and woman's 
 love were what were needed there, more than one 
 sermon a month. God forgive me! I can never 
 forgive myself!" 
 
 Another pause that grew awesome as time went on. 
 Helen, alive to all about her, told Beth afterward 
 that it terrified her when she could hear the ticking 
 of the watch in the doctor's fob as he sat by her.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 237 
 
 Beth's hand stole over to that which lay in Mad- 
 am's lap and the two were interlocked tightly. 
 
 At last, Doctor Graham spoke. He would have 
 described himself as a man of practical, hard, every- 
 day sense, without an atom of sentimentality hi his 
 make-up. His comment was characteristic: 
 
 "It is exactly as you have said, my dear Madam. 
 But what are you going to do about it? I can't 
 agree with you that it is women's work. And you 
 have no idea what kind of soil your missionaries 
 would have to cultivate. It's all briers and thorns, 
 so to speak. And even if there were hope of making 
 it arable, would it pay? There is enough work laid 
 ready to the hand of each of us, as you have truly 
 remarked, to fill every minute of time and employ 
 all our energies. Doesn't it seem pardon me! 
 but the thought strikes me always, when I listen 
 to the orations of so-called reformers doesn't it 
 seem a little Quixotic to expend strength in work- 
 ing barren ground when better soil is demanding 
 cultivation?" 
 
 Rejoinder came from an unexpected quarter. 
 
 The little minister stood up in the moonlight 
 at his full height and spoke hi a voice of surprising 
 volume and clearness: 
 
 "If 'Don Quixote' had been written, say, in the 
 year 10 B.C., that is what the scribes and Pharisees 
 who, I take it, were the ninety-and-nine of that 
 date would have said of the Master's work. Much 
 that has been said to-night has been sticking like 
 a thorn in my conscience for many a day. What
 
 238 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 are we to do, you ask, doctor? I am not prepared 
 to say, only that something ought to be done in 
 the name and in the strength of Him whose errand 
 to earth was to seek and save those who were classed 
 with the lost by men who filled high places in the 
 synagogues. Miss Elizabeth ! " bowing toward her 
 with old-world courtesy, "you are very tired and 
 the doctor will agree with me in deciding that you 
 should not sit up longer."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HELEN CARRINGTON, who had her Shakespeare 
 upon the tip of her tireless tongue, insisted that 
 Mr. Rice did not wait until 
 
 "the early village cock 
 Hath thrice done salutation to the morn" 
 
 before he arose to the duties of the day. 
 
 "It is my belief that he gives the signal for salu- 
 tation No. i . The boldest chanticleer on the place 
 dare not utter a 'peep' until the shutters of the 
 office- windows are opened." 
 
 They were wide open on the morning succeeding 
 the arrival of Doctor Graham's "patient" at High 
 Hill. The little minister stood in the doorway, fac- 
 ing the newly-risen sun, and taking in deep drafts 
 of the scented air, when he espied the flutter of a 
 white gown between clumps of shrubbery, and ad- 
 vanced to meet Beth Moore hurrying across the 
 lawn toward him. 
 
 "You will get your feet wet!" he called, when 
 she was within speaking distance. Changing the 
 warning note in stooping to lay his hand upon the 
 turf "No danger! There is not a drop of dew! 
 And by the same token, we may expect rain within 
 twenty-four hours." 
 
 The last sentence granted her time to get her 
 
 239
 
 240 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 breath, as he meant it should. Whatever she had 
 to say should await her convenience. His tact in 
 minor points of breeding was unfailing. 
 
 "I know that the grass is dry." Beth's com- 
 plexion was drained to-day of all suspicion of color; 
 her eyes were large and dark. "I ran out the back 
 way, not to disturb anybody indoors. Can you 
 spare me ten minutes? I must talk to you before 
 they are all astir." 
 
 He had offered his arm mutely, as was the grace- 
 ful fashion of the time, and they had turned, by 
 tacit agreement, into the walk leading to the garden- 
 gate. 
 
 "I stole down-stairs very softly to look into the 
 Chamber. The door was open all night, of course, 
 that Doctor Graham, who slept on a parlor sofa, 
 might hear every sound. He was snoring comfort- 
 ably when I came out. Becca tiptoed into the hall 
 and whispered that 'she' had laid like a log, and 
 not given a bit of trouble ! " 
 
 "Graham predicted last night that there would 
 be no change for hours," replied Mr. Rice, indif- 
 ferently. "Shall we go into the rose-arbor? No 
 one can see us there from the house. There is no 
 haste ! Take your time. I am afraid you have had 
 a restless night. I wish I could persuade you to 
 take more thought for yourself, and to be less dis- 
 tressed over other people's troubles." 
 
 They were in the arbor, and he brushed a garden- 
 chair with his handkerchief before seating her in it. 
 
 She forced a grateful smile.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 241 
 
 "You must not be too kind to me, or I shall not 
 be able to talk sensibly and collectedly. There is 
 nobody else to consult now that Paul is away. And 
 it so happens that I could not tell him some things! 
 the things that worry me most of all. I can be 
 perfectly frank with you, Mr. Rice!" facing him 
 abruptly "who is this woman who calls herself 
 'Molly Watkins'?" 
 
 The vehemence with which she flung out the 
 words was so foreign to her usual manner that a 
 more nervous man would have been at a loss for 
 a direct answer. He raised his eyebrows slightly 
 in meeting her imploring look. There was no sign 
 of surprise in tone and demeanor: 
 
 "You heard me say last night what I think 
 what no one who has investigated the case can doubt. 
 I believe that the battered wreck of what was once 
 a handsome woman is what she declares herself 
 to be. Doctor Graham is as confident as myself, 
 and so is Blankenship, who has had the best possi- 
 ble opportunities of knowing the truth. Have you 
 any especial reason for asking the question?" 
 
 "You may think that my imagination has run 
 away with my judgment." Beth made a heroic 
 effort to seem at her ease. "I will tell you what 
 first aroused I cannot say 'suspicions,' for they 
 are hardly that ! But I have had misgivings. Let 
 me try to make you understand ! " 
 
 Still putting force upon her nervous unrest, she 
 told him of the discovery of the scar upon the 
 woman's wrist.
 
 242 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "Of course you will say, as I reminded myself, 
 that a scar does not tell its age after a year or so, 
 and this may be the mark of a hurt received after she 
 ran away. But" leaning toward him and speak- 
 ing impressively "although Mary Watkins had 
 no such scar on her wrist Cecile Carrington had ! 
 She told me that her brother slashed her wrist with 
 a razor in a fit of rage when they were children. 
 Although it was not very distinct when she was 
 plump and her skin white, she was sensitive about 
 it, and always wore either a bracelet or a band of 
 black velvet over it. Now that this person is 
 thin and sallow, it is a livid line across the back 
 of the wrist." 
 
 A gesture broke the sentence: "Pardon me, dear 
 friend ! but you are taking too much for granted. 
 Against the evidence of a scar that may not be a 
 year old, I set the numerous proofs I have cited of 
 the extreme improbability that this is the woman 
 of whose death we have a legal certificate under 
 the hand and seal of the American Legation in the 
 city in which she died and was buried." 
 
 "We had a similar story once before!" inter- 
 rupted Beth, bitterly. 
 
 " Granted ! but that was the work of a wily, un- 
 principled conspirator, contrived to gain his own 
 selfish purposes. The character of the official who 
 forwarded the proofs of the decease of 'Mrs. Jules 
 Dupont' abroad puts him above suspicion." 
 
 "Don't you suppose that I have been all over 
 that again and again, until I am half-mad ! I did
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 243 
 
 not sleep an hour all night. For there was some- 
 thing else ! She recognized me and spoke twice 
 while we were together in the carriage. And the 
 intonations reminded me of the other woman ! 
 She was faint, and brought out every word with 
 difficulty. And the voice might have been Mary 
 Watkins's or that of anybody else it was a hoarse 
 whisper yet there was something that froze my 
 heart's blood! She told me, calling me by name, 
 that I 'could not marry Paul Carrington'l" 
 
 She gasped it brokenly in an ecstasy of shame 
 and grief, and buried her face in her handkerchief. 
 
 Mahlon Rice's tone was as gentle and tender as 
 his sister's could have been. 
 
 "Dear, dear friend!" he reiterated. "Naomi's 
 friend and mine for all these years ! Could I argue 
 this matter calmly if there were the shadow of a 
 possibility that you have any ground for your mis- 
 givings? Paul is more to me than a brother could 
 be. There is no living creature whom I love more 
 devotedly. Could I entertain for one minute a 
 theory that would shatter his happiness for all time ? 
 I would stake my soul upon the firm conviction 
 that your excited imagination wrought, as you 
 say, almost to madness has built up a tragedy 
 that is simply incredible because are you listen- 
 ing? because it is beyond the bounds of reason 
 and possibility. You are terribly shaken by what 
 you have seen and endured during the last twenty- 
 four hours, and utterly incapable of thinking like 
 the cool-headed, rational woman you will be to-
 
 244 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 morrow. Impossibilities do not happen ! And 
 this wild fancy can never crystallize into a reality. 
 It was a mistake to bring that creature here. It 
 was a more grievous blunder to let you be mixed 
 up in the dirty affair!" 
 
 He forgot to pick his words in the honest indig- 
 nation that filled his soul. The unlikeness to his 
 usual gentle dignity of bearing and speech struck 
 Beth, in spite of the disorder of her faculties, with a 
 sense of incongruousness that was positively amus- 
 ing. He was so positive as to the stability of his 
 argument, so free from apprehension of impending 
 peril, that the horror of great darkness rolled from 
 her mind as fogs before a cleansing breeze. 
 
 She wiped her eyes and showed him a brighter 
 face than he had seen since the doctor's visit yes- 
 terday had tossed a bomb into their peaceful home. 
 
 "I will make myself believe you," she said, grate- 
 fully. "You are the wisest 'confessor' and truest 
 friend that ever blessed the lives of those who con- 
 fide in you. A magician, too, for I am not the poor 
 crazed creature who came to the confessional a little 
 while ago." 
 
 "Now" straightening up, as one who had quaffed 
 the elixir of new energy and purpose "supposing 
 I would say, 'knowing' that the doctor's patient 
 is what she claims to be or, at any rate, not what 
 my insane theory suggested that she might be 
 we can do nothing more just now than take care 
 of her according to the doctor's orders until the 
 change comes?"
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 245 
 
 He patted the back of her hand approvingly. 
 "Right, as usual! And, above all, keep our own 
 counsel with regard to groundless suspicions as to 
 mistaken identity and so forth. Madam Carring- 
 ton would scout them as we do, but I would not lay 
 a straw in the path of her beautiful work of charity 
 toward the erring and unrepentant. What she said 
 last night held mine eyes waking for hours. God 
 helping me, I am going to think out a plan for reach- 
 ing some of the outcasts we have passed by as hope- 
 lessly depraved. We have a doctrine in our church 
 that one may commit the unpardonable sin. 
 Theologians are not quite agreed as to what it is. 
 The general belief, based upon the context, is that 
 it is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. This is per- 
 haps the right view to take of what is made a mys- 
 tery of, to the hurt of some timid souls. I have won- 
 dered sometimes if refusing to seek and help save 
 that which we Pharisees reckon as beyond the reach 
 of God's mercy, may not belong to the same class of 
 sins. 'If a man love not his brother whom he hath 
 seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen ? ' 
 We prate of the brotherhood of man, and then ar- 
 rogate to ourselves the right to select from the great 
 fraternity those who we think are worthy to be 
 ministered to by our smug and saintly selves. We 
 are not told what was the attitude of mind of the 
 ninety-and-nine while the Shepherd was absent 
 upon his errand of salvation. One who keeps an 
 eye upon the secure fold of our age may figure to 
 himself how they behaved, and what reception
 
 246 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the ' stray' had from his nearest of kin and former 
 companions. God be merciful to us, sinners!" 
 
 He bared his head devoutly and sat looking at 
 the ground under his feet until Beth made a move- 
 ment to rise. 
 
 "I cannot thank you as I would for lifting the 
 horrible burden from my heart!" she said, warmly. 
 "You help me to comprehend why pious Catholics 
 find comfort and strength in confession. You have 
 been our spiritual director so long that I am afraid 
 we impose upon you sometimes in the impulse to 
 bring our worries and conflicts to the office, or" 
 smiling and looking at the leafy walls dotted with 
 blooms "here! You will let me say, too, and be- 
 lieve that I mean every word of it that the sight 
 of your resignation under misfortune, and of your 
 constant ministrations to all who appeal to you for 
 bodily or spiritual comfort and direction, do more 
 to commend your religion to us than your charitable 
 deeds and teachings." 
 
 He bowed silently without putting on his hat, 
 and offered his arm for the walk back to the 
 house. 
 
 "It doesn't look like the same world," remarked 
 Beth when they paused at the gate to look over 
 the wilderness of flower-edged alleys and weedless 
 squares of vegetables, sloping gradually down to 
 the fields of lush corn and billowing wheat. "I 
 saw it under a black pall when I came out." 
 
 "The pall is generally of our own weaving. God's 
 world is always beautiful. He 'giveth us all things
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 247 
 
 richly to enjoy.' If sorrow be added to it, it is, in 
 a vast majority of instances, our own fault." 
 
 "There is Doctor Graham beckoning to us!" 
 Beth quickened her steps in saying it, and her heart 
 sank with a sickening roll. "I do hope " 
 
 The doctor was upon them before she could finish. 
 He was hatless and without cravat or collar. 
 
 "Becca called me a while ago to say that the 
 patient was 'behavin' funny.' Which meant that 
 she was tossing about and preparing to go off into 
 one of her hysterical fits. I gave her something to 
 quiet her for the time, but I am afraid to dose her 
 enough to put her to sleep again. And to make 
 matters worse here comes a call that must take 
 me away in an hour or so." 
 
 "Not without your breakfast!" announced Mad- 
 am, from the end of the porch nearest them. "While 
 you are eating you can issue orders for the day. Lest 
 you may have private preferences, I wish it to be 
 distinctly understood that I appoint myself head 
 nurse. Now, come into the dining-room. Break- 
 fast is waiting ! " 
 
 Two of the party obeyed. The doctor joined 
 them incredibly soon when one surveyed the per- 
 fect propriety of a toilet so lately dishevelled. His 
 coffee was poured out as soon as his step rang upon 
 the polished floor of the hall, and by the time he 
 was in his chair his plate was furnished with fried 
 chicken and hot muffins. 
 
 He fell to work with a will, and nobody plied him 
 with questions while his hunger was at flood-tide.
 
 248 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 He had quaffed a second cup of coffee and disposed 
 zestfully of a third waffle before remarking that 
 he "never mixed drugs with food" he asked per- 
 mission to leave the bounteous board and begged 
 for a consultation with the head nurse. 
 
 They withdrew to a distant window, and Madam 
 presently summoned Beth. 
 
 "She is my alternate," she explained. "Who is 
 as competent to serve in the ward as myself. You 
 think, then, doctor, that Mary may be able to take 
 a little nourishment to-day? In anticipation of 
 this, I had beef-tea, chicken jelly, and arrowroot 
 blanc-mange made last night." 
 
 The doctor nodded hearty approval. 
 
 "Nothing could be better. We know that you 
 are a genius in invalid cookery. I was saying to 
 her, Miss Elizabeth, that for some hours we must 
 go on with what topers call the 'cooling-off process.' 
 We dare not stop it at once. I shall leave small 
 doses of brandy and of an opiate to be administered 
 at regular intervals all day, diminishing the quan- 
 tity and lengthening the intervals gradually. She 
 has marvellous vitality. She can never get well. 
 That is a fixed fact. We may keep her alive for 
 several days. She may go off without a moment's 
 notice. The heart and for that matter, every 
 other organ is hopelessly diseased. Keep her as 
 quiet as you can. Should she be inclined to talk, 
 discourage her. She wants to live. She told me 
 last week that she had come to the county with 
 an object, and that she would not die until it was
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 249 
 
 accomplished. "And if I didn't mean to live for 
 any other reason, I won't die just to spite you!" 
 Then she wandered off into another strain. All 
 she says now is the wildest delirious fancy. Pay 
 no attention to it. The Blankenship woman excited 
 her by asking questions. It was a most Christianly 
 act to bring her here. I can see that the change of 
 air and the superior comfort of her surroundings 
 are telling upon her already." He lowered his voice: 
 "May I take the liberty of suggesting to you, Madam, 
 that it would be better to send Miss Helen away 
 for a few days? She is excitable and high-strung, 
 and the environment is not healthy ! at present. 
 She has so many friends that you may be at a loss 
 to make choice of one who will be overjoyed to have 
 a visit from her. Mrs. Graham for instance 
 would be charmed, and so would be my daughters. 
 Unless you think that she ought not to be kept in 
 touch with this harrowing case through me? I 
 can see that her interest in it is intense already. 
 Constant association with those who have the 
 wretched object in charge may be injurious. Par- 
 don my freedom of speech ! But I greatly admire 
 your lovely granddaughter and I understand how 
 dear she is to you both." 
 
 "Do not apologize, please! We appreciate the 
 wisdom of your advice, and thank you for your in- 
 terest in our girl. It occurred to me yesterday when 
 I saw the feverish excitement with which she in- 
 sisted upon taking part in the arrangements for 
 the patient's arrival, that this must not go on.
 
 250 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 Judith Carter has been begging for a visit from 
 Helen for a long time. She was here last Monday, 
 to invite her to spend a week with her to meet her 
 cousins from Baltimore who are to come to-day." 
 "Good! better! best! I call this a providential 
 interposition. If you will allow me, I will stop at 
 Mr. Carter's on my way to Mr. Meade's this morn- 
 ing. I told you his head-man is ill, didn't I ? May 
 I raise Miss Judith to the seventh heaven of de- 
 light by saying that she may expect Miss Helen 
 this evening? The sooner she is out of this atmos- 
 phere the better."
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THUS it came about that with the descent of a wet 
 twilight upon the venerable homestead, the family 
 party seated about the supper-table was reduced 
 to three. Helen had gone off in exuberant spirits 
 before the first droppings of the ram prognosticated 
 by the dewless dawn. 
 
 "Nothing could be more opportune !" she exulted. 
 "If I could be of any use here it would be my duty 
 and my pleasure to stay. As it is " An expressive 
 grimace said the rest. 
 
 "The house is like Tom Moore's 'banquet-hall 
 deserted' without the winsome witch," Madam 
 Carrington summed up the sentiments of her com- 
 panions by saying over the teacups. "She tries 
 my patience sometimes and" lowering her voice 
 as the footman busied himself at a remote side- 
 table " I confess that a resemblance we all recognize 
 in manner and talk makes me uneasy when she 
 lets her spirits run away with her tongue. But she 
 is the apple of my eye, all the same. Doctor Gra- 
 ham's advice was very judicious. Whatever may 
 be the developments of the next few days, no good 
 could come to her from seeing and hearing it all." 
 
 Beth shuddered audibly: "Did you hear her 
 tell me after dinner that she had peeped into the 
 1 hospital ward' (she will call it nothing else) and 
 caught a glimpse of the patient? This was her 
 
 251
 
 252 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 story: 'Becca was lifting her head that she might 
 drink something out of a glass, and she saw me ! 
 and gave a little screech. " You little imp of Satan ! " 
 she said. "Where did you come from?" As you 
 may suppose, I didn't wait to hear any more, but 
 ran for my life. And such a voice as she had ! It 
 was "Hark, from the tombs a doleful sound!" and 
 grandmother scolded me for exciting her ! What 
 a death's-head she is, to be sure ! ' ' 
 
 "I did tell her that she ought not to let the poor 
 creature see her," replied Madam. "Becca said it 
 was a long time before she quieted down. She would 
 know who it was who had peeped at her, and in- 
 sisted that it was a ghost, if it were not a devil. I 
 found her quite exhausted when I went in. The 
 child is right in describing her as a 'death's-head.' 
 I doubt if her own mother would know her if she 
 were alive to see the poor ruin. I am thankful she 
 is not." 
 
 Madam Carrington and Beth were to divide the 
 watch that night, Mirny sleeping upon a pallet in 
 the hall, in case she should be needed. Becca was 
 to have a long rest after the vigil of the preceding 
 night and the cares of the day. Beth was dismissed 
 to her room to get a few hours' sleep. At midnight 
 she would relieve the elder custodian. The trained 
 nurse had not yet blessed the earth, and the cares 
 she was to assume in the next century devolved 
 upon the family, friends, and neighbors of the stricken 
 one. Madam had decreed wisely that the pitiable 
 wreck stranded in the safe harbor of her home should
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 253 
 
 not be exhibited to the curious and indifferent who 
 would be sure to tender services when the news got 
 abroad of the removal of Rashe's lodger to more 
 luxurious quarters. When, at half past eleven 
 o'clock, Mr. Rice, who had been sitting alone upon 
 the porch, entered the Chamber with soundless tread, 
 Madam sat with her book in a distant corner, a tall 
 folding-screen shutting the light of her lamp from 
 the rest of the room. 
 
 Still noiselessly, the Little Minister approached 
 the bed and stood beside it until he could discern 
 through the gloom the figure of her who lay there. 
 The room was lofty and spacious, and every window 
 was open. But the labored respiration brought to 
 his senses a faint but unmistakable odor of brandy 
 and opium. The "cooling off" was still in operation. 
 The lock of hair that had escaped from her cap 
 trailed down the pillow. 
 
 In the gloom it looked almost black. He recol- 
 lected, against his will, that he had told her, time 
 and time again, that her hair was the true golden 
 chestnut the "cMtaigne doree" of French peasants, 
 and how she liked to hear him say it. He had known 
 no more bitter humiliation in his life than the mental 
 nausea that overtook him at that instant. This 
 pitiful wreck had been the one love of his manhood. 
 Paul Carrington was a mere boy, new to the world 
 that opened so many avenues of dizzying delight 
 to the scion of an aristocratic and wealthy family, 
 when he met the siren who had blasted his best 
 years.
 
 254 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 He Mahlon Rice walked deliberately into the 
 snares laid for him by a girl in his own set, and 
 straightway endowed her with all the graces of a 
 goddess. Oh, it was a contemptible, squalid pre- 
 tense of a romance ! but he had had no other. 
 
 He might have fancied that the intensity of self- 
 disgust that obsessed him had some occult influence 
 upon the sick woman, for she threw up her arms 
 with a hoarse shriek, and made as though she would 
 rise from the bed. As he instinctively laid hold of 
 the struggling hands, Madam Carrington spoke at 
 his elbow as calmly as if his presence there and 
 then were altogether natural and proper. 
 
 "Take this for me, please!" she said, handing 
 him a lighted taper, "and hold it so the light will 
 not shine in her eyes." 
 
 Then she captured both the fluttering hands in 
 one of hers and bent to the patient's ear: 
 
 "You are dreaming, my dear! There is nothing 
 to be afraid of here. You are hot and thirsty. We 
 must make you more comfortable." 
 
 Had the pauper been Beth, or Helen, her voice 
 would not have been gentler, the intonation more 
 persuasive. A basin of water stood upon a table 
 by the bed. Madam dipped a cloth into it and 
 bathed the hollow cheeks and the furrowed fore- 
 head, talking softly as she slipped her hand under 
 the head to raise it to an easier position. 
 
 "There! that is better! Lie still for a minute!" 
 She took the taper from Mr. Rice's hand and gave 
 him a large light fan, motioning to him to use it.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 255 
 
 Hardly more than a minute had elapsed when she 
 was beside him again. The sick woman lay quiet 
 with closed eyes under the soothing sweep of the 
 fan. The man found himself obeying mechanically 
 every gesture of his chief in office, and with no un- 
 easy perception of the novelty of the situation thrust 
 upon him. But one coherent phrase recurred to 
 his misty fancy : Paul had spoken to him more than 
 once or twice of his mother as "one born to com- 
 mand." Even the pitiable caricature of humanity 
 to whom they ministered now, had some recognition 
 of the magnetic force that swayed her rebellious 
 mood. 
 
 Rebellion there was in the hollow eyes opened 
 upon the lady's face, as she again raised the heavy 
 head upon her firm palm and held a glass of iced 
 milk to the dried mouth. 
 
 "Drink it!" she said, in the same caressing ac- 
 cents that had calmed the restless awakening. "It 
 is cool and sweet ! And you will sleep better after 
 taking it. It is a long time since you have had any- 
 thing to eat." 
 
 The black eyes did not leave the face so near hers 
 while she swallowed the milk. But she obeyed un- 
 resistingly, and as Madam passed the emptied glass 
 to her silent assistant, sighed deeply and satisfiedly. 
 
 "Good!" she ejaculated, her voice growing 
 stronger with each syllable. "I like it!" Then, 
 fingering the sheet under her hand, she added, with- 
 out removing her strained gaze from her attendant's 
 face: "This is a linen sheet!"
 
 256 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "It is, my dear! This is summer, you know." 
 
 The toneless voice caught her up, "And this is 
 my bed! Mine!'' 
 
 Madam smiled naturally: 
 
 "Of course it is ! I hope you are going to have 
 another comfortable night's rest in it. We will take 
 away the light and keep everything quiet." 
 
 The wasted hands clutched her arm as she would 
 have moved the fixed stare of the great eyes grew 
 fierce: 
 
 "Do you know" in a hissing whisper that cut 
 the air like a whip "how I hate you!" 
 
 "Yes?" As one might humor a fractious child. 
 Gently disengaging one hand, she dipped the other 
 in the bowl of fragrant water, and laid it on the 
 forehead corrugated with impotent fury. "We will 
 talk of that in the morning. We can't let you lie 
 awake any longer. Go to sleep now!" 
 
 The subtle magnetism to which the disordered 
 intellect had yielded before, prevailed over the un- 
 ruly temper. With another long struggling sigh 
 the crazed creature turned her face to the pillow 
 and lay still. 
 
 "Thank you for coming in," Madam Carrington 
 said to her friend in motioning him toward the door. 
 "You were a timely help to me. I think she will 
 be quiet now. She is easily exhausted." 
 
 He stopped at the outer door. 
 
 "Let me stay all night?" he pleaded. "Is it 
 quite safe for you and Miss Beth to be without a 
 man within hearing? She might become violent."
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 257 
 
 A half-smile flitted over the lady's face. 
 
 "She is too weak to be dangerous. No, dear 
 friend ! I thank you again for coming. But we 
 shall do well now. Goodnight!" 
 
 He could not disobey openly. He walked down 
 the steps and disappeared in the darkness. She 
 had gone back to her post when he stealthily mounted 
 the steps and resumed his seat within hearing of 
 the sick chamber. The rain dripped from the wet 
 vines softly, and for a long time he heard nothing 
 else. At last he got up and trod noiselessly to the 
 nearest unshuttered window. Except for the feeble 
 yellow glow of the shaded lamp behind the screen, 
 the great room was in deepest shadow. Presently, 
 eyes used to the black outer night, made out the 
 outline of a motionless figure kneeling by the big 
 bed, her face buried in her hands. Madam Car- 
 rington was praying in an agony of desire for the 
 castaway. 
 
 He went back to his chair and did not leave it 
 until the east showed a wan glow. 
 
 Throughout the lonely vigil certain words from 
 an immortal parable sounded in his ears and heart, 
 and were accentuated by the memory of that soli- 
 tary kneeling figure: 
 
 "And when he hath found it he layeth it on his shoulder." 
 
 The lost one was not driven back to the fold, 
 nor even led. The Shepherd laid him across his 
 shoulder as one who had found a prize. The wan- 
 derer became as "one whom his mother comforteth."
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 DOCTOR GRAHAM did not conceal his dissatisfaction 
 with existing conditions in the hospital-ward re- 
 vealed by his morning visit. 
 
 The patient's vital forces were waning. That 
 was to be expected. He was graver over the ad- 
 mission that slipped through Beth's brief report 
 of her night-watch, that she had not gone on duty 
 until two o'clock A. M. Madam Carrington had not 
 awakened her at midnight as had been arranged. 
 
 "She let me sleep because she said she was so 
 wakeful!" explained Beth, simply. "It was very 
 kind in her, but I hope you will ask her not to let 
 it happen again. I am strong and much younger 
 than she, and I have the happy faculty of being 
 able to catch a refreshing nap hi the daytime, which 
 sets me up all right. She cannot sleep except at 
 night." 
 
 The doctor fulfilled his promise to remonstrate 
 with the elder woman, after the daily examination 
 of the patient was concluded. He withdrew with 
 his hostess to a window so remote from the bed that 
 their skilfully modulated tones would not have 
 been audible to the occupant had she been sane 
 and wakeful. 
 
 "My dear Madam, you should consider how 
 valuable at this juncture are your own health and 
 
 258
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 259 
 
 strength," was the text of a brief lecture to which 
 the lady listened with imperturbable composure. 
 
 "At my age, one requires less sleep than at yours 
 or Beth's," she replied as he paused. "A more im- 
 portant matter is the state of that poor child over 
 there," nodding toward the far corner. "Tell me 
 frankly, doctor, is there a possibility that she may 
 recover her reason and be able to think and talk 
 coherently before the end comes?" 
 
 He pursed his lips obstinately. 
 
 "Not one chance in a thousand! If you mean 
 to ask me if she will ever regain consciousness in so 
 far as the ability to recall clearly her past, and com- 
 prehend where she is and what she has become I 
 should say decidedly 'No!' and add 'Heaven for- 
 bid ! ' It would mean misery to her hopeless 
 misery and distress to lookers-on. There is a say- 
 ing about burning a candle at both ends and run- 
 ning a redhot poker through the middle. That is 
 what she has done. She has nothing but the 'snuff 7 
 to throw into the face of her Maker." 
 
 Madam raised her hands imploringly. 
 
 "Don't say that! The Father's mercy has no 
 bounds. If she could be brought back to life and 
 reason long enough to utter one prayer for forgive- 
 ness I believe it would be heard." 
 
 The doctor had another quotation ready: 
 
 "I, too, believe that 
 
 "'Twixt the saddle and the ground, 
 If mercy's asked, then mercy's found.'
 
 26o THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 " 'His compassions fail not.' And this was a child 
 of the covenant. From all I have heard, I suppose 
 she had religious training from godly parents " 
 
 He was not allowed to proceed with the pious 
 prosing. Madam's gesture was imperious. 
 
 "Do you mean to say that you know of nothing 
 in medical science that may coax back the wan- 
 dering wits for one minute? Must she die as she 
 is, now? I have heard of drugs that stimulate the 
 heart-action and clear the brain for a little while. 
 You must know of such?" 
 
 The appeal was so agonized that he could not 
 trifle with it. 
 
 "All the drugs and doctors in the land could not 
 restore what we call ' tissues.' Hers are utterly 
 destroyed. The almost certainty is that she is sink- 
 ing steadily and surely into the stupor from which 
 she will never rally. She has not twenty-four hours 
 of life left to her. Let us be thankful that she is 
 not likely to suffer pain. The candle will flicker 
 out quietly." 
 
 As she did not speak he asked gently: "You say 
 she aroused sufficiently at midnight to take her 
 milk. Did she speak intelligently?" 
 
 "She did! That is, she evidently knew where 
 she was and recognized me. She spoke a few words 
 distinctly." 
 
 In saying it, she arose with the unmistakable 
 purpose of ending the dialogue. 
 
 "Becca will take your orders, doctor. I have a 
 busy morning before me. And Beth must have
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 261 
 
 some hours of sleep. I shall be within call should 
 Becca need me." 
 
 Doctor Graham bowed in acquiescence. 
 
 "There will probably be little to do, for some 
 hours. Becca is quite competent to manage all 
 until I come again. I shall try to call about four 
 o'clock this evening." 
 
 He made his way to the stable where his horse 
 had been left, taking a circuitous route that led 
 him to the "hennery." He was pretty sure to find 
 Mr. Rice there at this time of day. The two held 
 close converse for a quarter of an hour under the 
 giant walnut-tree shading the poultry-yard. Thus 
 it was that the physician heard what were the few 
 coherent words uttered by the sick woman at mid- 
 night. 
 
 "And Madam Carrington never repeated them 
 to me!" he ejaculated when his prolonged whistle 
 of amazement had expended itself in air. "I tell 
 you, sir, that is Christian charity of the first water ! 
 She not only takes in the abandoned wretch who 
 hasn't a friend alive picks her up out of the filthy 
 mud in which she has been wallowing for years, 
 and lodges her in her own luxurious house in her 
 very own bed, sir! and nurses her as she might her 
 own child, but she lets her abuse her like a dog 
 and swear that she hates her, without answering 
 her back as she deserves ! There has been nothing 
 finer since the story of the Prodigal Son." 
 
 "It is the Master's way of dealing with sinners 
 with whom their former companions will have
 
 262 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 nothing to do," observed the Little Minister. "I 
 could not sleep last night for thinking how the 
 shepherd brought the runaway home on his shoulder 
 as the eastern mother carries her baby when the 
 journey is long and hard. The sight of that noble 
 woman kneeling by that bed while the hiss 'How 
 I hate you ! ' must have been yet ringing in her ears 
 meant more to my soul than any sermon of man's 
 preaching could." 
 
 The doctor mused silently, deeper seriousness 
 gathering in his eyes: 
 
 "She entreated me, as for her life, to try to call 
 back consciousness long enough to enable the lost 
 sinner to utter one prayer for pardon. It wrung 
 my heart to tell her that no mortal skill could do 
 that. If the creature outlives the night I shall be 
 surprised. But that fine woman must not sit up 
 with her again to-night. I tell you what I will do ! " 
 struck by a sudden idea. "I'll ride over about three 
 o'clock (that's said to be the ebb-tide of human 
 life, you know) and look after matters with my 
 own eyes. I have charged Madam Carrington to 
 go to bed like a decent Christian and Miss Eliza- 
 beth to do the same. Becca and Mirny are capital 
 nurses, and they can call Madam if there is any 
 change." 
 
 Mr. Rice kept his own counsel, setting the ex- 
 ample of obedience to the dictator's orders by be- 
 taking himself to the office early in the evening, 
 almost confident that Madam and her coadjutor 
 would be as reasonable.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 263 
 
 The house was still and dark by ten o'clock. 
 Madam had contrived, half an hour earlier, to arouse 
 the patient from the stupor that crept with more 
 and more deadly effect over her senses as the dark 
 hours dragged by. There was no light in the filming 
 eyes and she did not try to speak. But the mystic 
 force of Madam's presence and speech lingered still. 
 When the rich contralto, mellow with tender en- 
 treaty, bade her take the draft held to her lips, she 
 obeyed, although with visible difficulty. 
 
 "I know it is not easy to drink it, dear," said 
 the persuasive accents in the dulling ear. "But 
 you will try ! It will do you good ! And please 
 us all ! Well done ! Now you shall rest for a long 
 tune before you are disturbed again ! " 
 
 At one o'clock Beth was summoned by the terri- 
 fied pair of nursing maids. The character and 
 rhythm of the sick woman's respiration had changed. 
 Every breath was drawn with an effort, and the in- 
 tervals were irregular. This was the purport of the 
 alarm brought to the upper story. 
 
 "She don't breathe no ways natural, and you 
 can hear her all over the room!" 
 
 Restoratives were unavailing. All the windows 
 were opened wide and an attendant stood beside 
 the sufferer with a great fan that brought a con- 
 tinual play of the cool night air to the laboring 
 lungs. 
 
 Had the untamable spirit already taken its flight ? 
 mused the two watchers whose eyes met meaningly 
 across the face darkening with the nameless, mys-
 
 264 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 terious shadow of dissolution. Was it but animal 
 life that fought with the last great enemy? There 
 was no sign of consciousness of the presence of her 
 attendants. When, Madam, fancying that she de- 
 tected tokens of intelligence, besought her to take 
 a spoonful of brandy held to the blackened lips, 
 the muscles of the throat did not contract, and the 
 liquid trickled from the corners of the mouth. 
 
 "It is useless!" pronounced Madam, sorrowfully, 
 and the silence, which is like no other hush that 
 falls upon mortal ears, descended upon and filled 
 the great room. 
 
 A few more long shuddering breaths, separated 
 by intervals of varying length, and Madam's hand 
 pressed down the lids over the glazed eyes. By 
 a common impulse the four women sank to their 
 knees and Madam Carrington's voice thrilled the 
 night air. 
 
 "Our Father in heaven ! Thou art more merciful 
 than we can ever believe or comprehend. Into Thy 
 loving hands we commit her spirit. Have pity upon 
 her for Christ's sake. Amen!" 
 
 A deeper- toned "Amen!" sounded at the door 
 in which stood Mahlon Rice and Doctor Graham.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE returned prodigal whom her old neighbors 
 persisted in calling "Molly Watkins," although she 
 claimed to have been married at least once in her 
 checkered, lurid career, breathed her last in the 
 early hours of Thursday morning. 
 
 The burial would be at nine o'clock the following 
 day. 
 
 "And sure's you're born, she'll lay right along 
 side de fam'ly, close to Mars' Paul's wife !" deplored 
 Becca, in the kitchen cabinet. "I heerd mistis giv' 
 dat very order to de men what's got to dig de grave ! 
 I was that took aback I jes' had to stuff my apron 
 in my mouf and run out o' de room. Course, I 
 darsen't say a word aginst it, but I did make so 
 bold as to ask Miss 'Lizabeth if thar moughtn't 
 be some mistake. An' says she, quiet and solemn- 
 like, 'If your mistress gave the order, it is all right.' 
 She can be dignerfied too, when she chooses, an' 
 I ain't said another word. But I can' help won- 
 derin' what marster would 'a said ef he had 'a knowed 
 dat po' white-trash an' po'house scum at dat ! would 
 be buried in de same row wid him an' his kin ! Times 
 ain't what they useter was, chillen. An' Mars Paul, 
 too! Ef he had 'a been at home would he 'a lis- 
 tened to de idee of diggin' dat grave right plum up 
 aginst dat what he put up a han'some tombstone 
 over not six weeks ago !" 
 
 265
 
 266 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 In the absence of both the lords of the manor, 
 the decree of the mistress of High Hill was carried 
 out to the letter. The funeral services would be 
 of the simplest sort consistent with Christian burial. 
 Early in the day, she wrote to Mr. Carter, her near 
 neighbor, who was also one of the overseers of the 
 poor. It was but right that he should be notified 
 of the decease of the late tenant of the almshouse. 
 In the absence of her son, she would esteem it a 
 kindness if he would be present at the interment 
 on the morrow. And since his daughter had asked 
 that Helen's stay with her might be prolonged, it 
 might be well that her granddaughter should drive 
 over with him to get the additional dresses she would 
 need. Should Mrs. Carter feel inclined to be present 
 at the funeral, she would be most welcome. Mr. 
 Winston had been apprised of the decease and en- 
 gaged to conduct the services. The only other per- 
 sons to whom a formal invitation was sent and 
 this excited the ire of the aforesaid "cabinet" almost 
 to mutinous height were Mr. and Mrs. Horatio 
 Gates Blankenship. Mr. Rice had ridden over early 
 in the forenoon to say that the High Hill carriage 
 would be sent on Friday morning to bring the pair 
 in season for the ceremony. Furthermore but 
 this was not known to the indignant cabal until 
 next day the couple were to dine with Madam 
 and her family before returning home. Mr. Rice 
 offered no explanation of the invitation. Nor, it 
 may be said here, was there need of one. The blue- 
 blooded Virginia gentleman of the old school was
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 267 
 
 too secure of his gentlehood to think that hospitality 
 to a white man of any rank could lower him in his 
 own eyes, or in the estimation of others who knew 
 his social status. The color-line had much to do 
 with the general comprehension of what seems 
 strange to the modern reader. The most aristo- 
 cratic planter of that generation if a white cabinet- 
 maker, builder, or wheelwright, employed to do 
 repairs about the place were upon the premises at 
 meal-time invited him as a matter of course, to 
 sit down at the table, and partake of the food pre- 
 pared for the household. It was an Occidental 
 variation of the Oriental bread-and-salt obligation. 
 None of the white family rebelled at the presence 
 of mechanic or trader. Well-trained servants might 
 gird secretly at what they rated as undue conde- 
 scension on the part of their masters. They recog- 
 nized the authority of rooted customs too well to 
 offer a protest. 
 
 Friday morning dawned, clear and cool for the 
 late summer. A funeral meant a half-holiday, and 
 long before the appointed hour, men, women, and 
 children in their Sunday clothes grouped about 
 the grounds and the cluster of buildings flanking at 
 a respectful distance, the spacious red brick man- 
 sion mantled from foundation to eaves with ivy 
 and Virginia creepers. A solemn silence brooded 
 over all. Not one of the waiting crowd had cared 
 for the forlorn "stray" whom the eccentric benev- 
 olence of their mistress had brought from the poor- 
 house to die in her own chamber. Yet some of the
 
 268 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 younger women mourned as for their first-born; 
 all who could contrive to sport a scrap of black rib- 
 bon wore it conspicuously and the elder women were 
 clad hi mourning. She was poor, indeed, and 
 despised of her sisters who did not own one black 
 gown for "fun'ral 'casion." None neglected to 
 visit the coffin covered with black cloth and 
 studded with silver nails. "For all the world like 
 she had been a lady" Becca whispered to a crony 
 in pausing beside it to finger the quality of the cloth. 
 With true racial fondness for "pomp and circum- 
 stance," the servants formed into a long procession 
 and filed through the great hall in which the coffin 
 lay upon trestles. This duty done, they massed in 
 and about the back porch, awaiting the signal to 
 take up the march to the grave. The main alley of 
 the garden had been scraped free of grass and rolled 
 smooth; the graveyard was mowed and the walks be- 
 tween the mounds were cleaned. Madam's orders 
 had been strict and were implicitly obeyed. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Carter were the first arrivals and 
 they brought both girls. Helen flew into her grand- 
 mother's arms with a choking sob which could not 
 find utterance until she was safe in Beth's reassur- 
 ing embrace: 
 
 "Mother! It is all so dreadful! I didn't care 
 for her, of course, but somehow I am as sorry as if 
 I had ! I wish she hadn't called me that horrid 
 name the only tune she ever spoke to me ! I wish 
 I had made a chance to say something kind to her ! 
 She had nobody to care for her at the last ! Think
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 269 
 
 of dying with not one friend to shed a tear for 
 you!" 
 
 "Hush, my darling! we will talk of that some 
 other tune. Now we have had a great many flowers 
 gathered, and put into baskets to be laid upon the 
 grave. Grandmother would like to have you and 
 Judith do this when the time comes. You can do 
 this little service for the poor woman." 
 
 Helen caught eagerly at the proposal and flew 
 off to prepare Judith for her share in the task. Beth 
 looked after her with a sigh. She was thankful 
 the light-hearted child had been spared the ghastly 
 scenes of those last days and hours. Meeting the 
 grandmother's eye at that moment, she read fullest 
 sympathy in the glance that followed the girl. They 
 two understood her mercurial temperament and in- 
 tense moods as nobody else did not even the loving 
 father. Beth had not believed that she could ever 
 have missed any human being, not even Paul, as 
 she had missed and longed for his society and coun- 
 sel during the past week. His absence lent depth 
 to the gloom that wrapped the homestead like a 
 pall. The thought of the baleful presence that had 
 possession of the state-chamber, and held the chief 
 place in the talk and minds of the household was 
 an obsession with the newly-betrothed whose medi- 
 tations should have been happily engaged with 
 other and far dissimilar topics. To add to her mal- 
 ease, Paul's mother did not seem to regard his ab- 
 sence as unfortunate, or even as a drawback to her 
 comfort. She moved and spoke like one absorbed
 
 270 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 in a single interest to which every energy of mind 
 and body must be devoted. Once, and once only, 
 Beth had touched upon what was never absent from 
 her mind: 
 
 "If Paul were at home, he would relieve you of 
 some of the cares that I fear will wear you out," 
 she observed, two days before the death of the 
 pauper patient. "Nobody can take his place.'* 
 
 "I return thanks continually that he is hundreds 
 of miles away," was the calm reply. "He is doing 
 his duty where he is. Mine is here !" 
 
 Her marvellous physical and moral forces did 
 not flag for an instant. The offers of help on the 
 part of neighbors were declined courteously and 
 with the composure that never forsook her in the 
 sight of others. The least important detail of the 
 day's duties was ordered by her, and carried out 
 under her supervision. It was, therefore, not an 
 afterthought, or by chance, that the short procession 
 which left the house on the stroke of nine, and wound 
 through the gate down the broad central walk of 
 the garden, fell at once into order. The coffin was 
 borne by six stalwart field-hands. 
 
 "You couldn't have picked out a more likely 
 set of fellows in the county," Doctor Graham told 
 his wife that evening. 
 
 Next to the coffin walked Helen and Judith, carry- 
 ing their baskets of lilies and roses. Madam fol- 
 lowed, attended by Doctor Graham; next came 
 Beth and Mr. Rice, then the Carters, the Blanken- 
 ships bringing up the rear. Mr. Winston, Bible
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 271 
 
 in hand, led the way to the open grave where waited 
 the diggers, spades in hand. Under the trees out- 
 lining the area filled by the mortal remains of eight 
 generations of Carringtons, was a throng of negroes, 
 silent and respectful, also arranged in obedience to 
 the mistress's directions. A band of singers was 
 nearest the grave, and behind these were seats for 
 the aged and infirm, some of whom had been carried 
 in chairs from the quarters they had not left before 
 since the last plantation funeral. A motley crowd 
 filled the background. The box enclosing the inner 
 casket was gently lowered into its resting-place, 
 and Mr. Winston read in sonorous tones that were 
 audible to the outermost ring of the assembly: 
 
 "Lord! make me to know mine end, and the 
 measure of my days what it is, that I may know 
 how frail I am," with the verses following, ending 
 with the passionate outbreak, "Oh, spare me that 
 I may recover strength before I go hence and be 
 no more!" 
 
 He closed the book and bent his head. For a 
 full minute stillness reigned over the crowd, stirred 
 only by the whispering of the summer wind in the 
 trees. Then the ringing tones vibrated through 
 the sunb right air: 
 
 "Our patient, all-merciful Father in Heaven! 
 We commit the body of our sister to the earth and 
 leave her soul with Thee. Thy compassions fail 
 not. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Spirit, we lay her down for her long sleep. 
 Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to earth.'"
 
 272 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 The rattle of three handfuls of earth falling upon 
 the coffin punctuated the last sentence. With the 
 first heavy thud of the clods shovelled into the grave, 
 a mighty volume of song swelled up to the blue 
 heavens: 
 
 "'My po' body lies moulderin' in de groun'. 
 
 A-waitin' dar for de trumpet's soun' 
 Dat's sho' to be heerd de worl' aroun', 
 
 My soul is marchin' on. 
 Glory! glory v ! hallelujah! My soul goes rnarchin' on! 
 
 My body's bound for de mortar an* de clay, 
 
 A-waitin' dar for de Jedgment Day 
 My sperrit's boun' for another way, 
 
 My soul goes marchin' on. 
 Glory ! glory ! hallelujah ! My soul goes marchin' on. 
 
 Oh, brothers ! don't you mou'n for me, 
 
 For Death's done sot my sperrit free. 
 An' I will oh ! so happy, happy be ! 
 
 My sperrit's marchin' on. 
 Glory ! glory ! hallelujah ! My soul goes marchin' on. 
 
 You may bury me in de east, you may bury me in de west, 
 De Marster, He know what place is best, 
 
 For dis po' body to lie an' rest; 
 
 My soul goes marchin' on. 
 Glory ! glory ! hallelujah ! My soul goes marchin' on.' " 
 
 I have written the pious doggerel in the negro 
 dialect, because, so far as I know, it was never sung 
 in any other. 
 
 More than a quarter of a century later, Virginia 
 soil trembled and shook beneath the tramp of armies 
 marching to the ring and beat of the tune brought
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 273 
 
 from darkest Africa by the enslaved descendants 
 of dusky kings and warriors. Married to the im- 
 mortal "Battle Hymn of the Republic," it will in 
 time claim a place among classic "compositions." 
 It had its birth in tropical forests, perhaps a thou- 
 sand years agone. 
 
 As the grave-diggers did their work, the spades 
 kept time to the music, and while they beat smooth 
 the turf upon the mound, the final chorus was still 
 echoing from hills beyond the river. 
 
 When the workers fell back at the word from 
 their mistress, she lifted her hand to enjoin silence, 
 and no one moved as the two young girls, white- 
 robed and bare-headed, knelt to cover the mounded 
 turf with their flowers. Thus far all had been done 
 in exact obedience to Madam Carrington's instruc- 
 tions. She had not anticipated, nor had the child 
 herself premeditated Helen's action as the two girls 
 arose from the ground. 
 
 The supply of lilies was so bountiful that the 
 baskets were not nearly empty when the mound 
 was covered. With characteristic impetuosity, 
 Helen spoke a word to her companion and turned 
 to the mound close by the new-made grave. Then, 
 with the rest of the lilies she formed swiftly a cross 
 upon the grave, at the head of which stood the white 
 stone bearing the sharply lettered inscription: 
 
 CECILS 
 
 WIFE OF PAUL CARRINGTON 
 REQUIESCAT IN PACE
 
 274 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "What more natural?" commented Mrs. Carter, 
 to her husband on the way to the house. "She was 
 the child's own mother! It is lovely to see that 
 she is remembered." 
 
 The grandmother kissed Helen, without speaking, 
 when the girl stole to her side with a pleading: "You 
 didn't mind did you? It just came to me all at 
 once, and I couldn't help it!" 
 
 Madam held the child's hand all the way back, 
 and sent her off with another kiss, to her room "to 
 see about putting up her clean clothes." 
 
 The Carters could not stay to dinner. Doctor 
 Graham and Mr. Winston had engagements that 
 called them in other directions. Each made oc- 
 casion to say a kind word to Rashe, and to pay his 
 respects to Mrs. Blankenship. They were fellow- 
 guests with themselves in the house. They must 
 be recognized and treated as equals. Such were 
 some of the minor shades of courtesy that made 
 up "perfect breeding" in their social code. 
 
 Before separating, the little party lingered in 
 the cool shade of the vine-curtained porch to talk 
 over the little drama that had had its last act in 
 the burial scene. "Molly Watkins" had been a 
 notable figure in county society, and her career was 
 recalled now in detail. 
 
 "The saddest story that has ever come into my 
 life as a pastor," said Mr. Winston. "It is a mys- 
 tery and a tragedy throughout. Who could have 
 forecast such a fate for her?" 
 
 While he spoke there was borne to them the bil-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 275 
 
 lowy melody of the barbaric folk-song from the dis- 
 tant "quarters." The negroes had filed across the 
 foot of the garden after the benediction, keeping 
 time to the measures still sounding in their ears. 
 It was evident now that a prayer-meeting on their 
 own account was in progress. The company on 
 the porch stopped talking until the last strains pulsed 
 into stillness. 
 
 "Like the grounds well of the tide!" said Mr. 
 Rice, softly. And, Mr. Winston: "They would 
 be horrified if they were compared to the Roman 
 Catholics, but is not the service they are carrying 
 on now very like a Mass for the departed soul?" 
 
 A rejoinder was projected into the conversation 
 by Mrs. Blankenship: "Oh, Mr. Winston! I know 
 they are full of superstitions, but they ain't quite 
 heathens!" 
 
 "You are right, my dear Madam, yet I confess 
 I have sometimes been tempted to wish that our 
 prayers could follow sinning souls into the next 
 world. It is fearful to think that any soul God has 
 made is ever beyond the reach of our love and prayer. 
 But I have no time to discuss doctrine and possible 
 heresies." He rose with a genial smile. "Madam 
 Carrington ! I trust the excitement and fatigue of 
 the past few days have not been too much for you. 
 Doctor ! you must prescribe a tonic and rest." 
 
 He shook hands all around, and the Carters fol- 
 lowed him. 
 
 "They underestimate my strength," remarked 
 Madam, settling herself in her rocking-chair, and
 
 276 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 reaching, as from the force of habit, for the knitting- 
 bag hung upon the back. " Mr. Blankenship ! I 
 am going to pass you over presently into Mr. Rice's 
 hands while Mrs. Blankenship and I discuss some 
 domestic matters that would not interest either of 
 you. I have been thinking a good deal lately of 
 two young girls who are in your charge, and who 
 ought not to remain the burden they must be to 
 both of you. I mean the Jones sisters. I should 
 be glad to use a little influence I have in the Fred- 
 ericksburg Orphan Asylum to get them into that 
 institution. I suppose the question must go before 
 the overseers of the poor before final arrangements 
 can be made. But I did not like to speak of it to 
 any one else before consulting you." 
 
 "Thank you, Ma'am!" responded the flattered 
 Rashe. "As you say, them gals is old enough to 
 know somethin' more than that mother of thurn ken 
 learn them." 
 
 By the tune he had expatiated at length upon 
 the values of education and "nice behavior" for 
 women, and the total unfitness of "that ar' Chaney 
 Jones" to impart so much as the rudiments of these 
 to her offspring, Madam thought it expedient to 
 consult her watch: 
 
 "Is it possible that it is eleven o'clock? Eliza- 
 beth, my dear, tell Tom to bring a glass of shrub 
 for these gentlemen before they set out for a walk 
 through the poultry-yard and the garden and 
 orchard. Mr. Blankenship is so much interested 
 in such things that we must allow them plenty of
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 277 
 
 time. Then, you have letters to write, I know " 
 with a gleam of the eye which Beth understood 
 "and Mrs. Blankenship and I will have our chat."
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 MADAM CARRINGTON'S programme was carried out 
 to the letter. After Beth had passed the iced draft 
 with her own hands to the two men and seen them 
 stroll across the yard, pipe in mouth, toward the 
 hennery and gardens, she smilingly excused herself 
 and left the hostess and her guest to then* "chat." 
 
 Mrs. Blankenship, mightily refreshed by the 
 "shrub" and slice of sponge cake, the more grateful 
 since, as she informed the company, she had "eat 
 next to no breakfast, being that excited at thought 
 of what was to be done that day " had never been 
 more entirely at her ease in spirit and in flesh, than 
 when she lay back in the cushioned rocker, her feet 
 upon the stool Beth had adroitly insinuated under 
 them, and the great lady of the county "a-sittin' 
 'longside o' me, with her knittin' as sociable an' 
 easy as an ole shoe." This to her sister when 
 catechised by her as to the eventful day. "Tain't 
 the real germwine quality what takes on airs." 
 
 Madam's talk began with comments upon the 
 few belongings of the dead woman, and the dis- 
 position to be made of them. 
 
 "It was kind and thoughtful hi you to pack her 
 trunk and send it with her," she said. "I suppose 
 she brought little, if anything else, back to Virginia 
 with her ? I am surprised that she kept any clothes
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 279 
 
 worth having, if all she told of her poverty were 
 true. There were some articles of underwear of 
 fair quality and not much worn, besides handker- 
 chiefs and stockings. I shall have everything washed 
 and mended and sent back to you with your permis- 
 sion. You may have no use for them yourself, but 
 you may find some poor person who would like to 
 have them." 
 
 "That's more than likely," interposed Betsey. 
 "Some of the poppers would jump out of their skin 
 with joy to have a collar or a handkerchief or a pa'r 
 o' stockings. You see I sent her underclo'es, think- 
 in' some on' em mought do to lay her out in ' 
 
 The flow of words was arrested by a negative 
 gesture of Madam's shapely hand. 
 
 "That was considerate and what might be ex- 
 pected of you. But there was little time for mend- 
 ing and washing them, or for looking over the con- 
 tents of the trunk. My niece Elizabeth and I could 
 spare whatever was needed, and we were more than 
 willing to supply the burial garments." 
 
 Mrs. Betsey had an ear for what she characterized 
 as "genteel talk," and "burial garments" accorded 
 well with what Becca had made a chance to confide 
 to her: to wit, that "She was shrouded in one of 
 the mistis's best nightgowns linen, and trimmed 
 with sure 'nough lace." There was no saying into 
 what extravagances the whims of the "quality" 
 might lead them. 
 
 Mrs. Blankenship got in her reserved bit of in- 
 formation just here:
 
 280 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "Thar was one thing I meant to 'a-spoke about 
 before. She hadn't no books fur to speak of. Jest 
 a few old trashy novels an' the like she used to read 
 herself to sleep over, o j rainy days an' of a Sunday 
 when thar was nobody to amuse her. Thar was 
 one real funny ole book pretty nigh as big as a 
 Bible, that she kep' in the trunk most times. Oncet 
 in a while I'd come upon her suddent-like, and ketch 
 her a-readin' of it. Sometimes she'd be a-writin' 
 on one of the leaves. I ast her one tune ef t'was a 
 receipt-book she was makin'. With that she laughed 
 right out, and, sez she, 'You've hit it this time!' 
 It's a receipt for makin' devil's broth that I'm gettin' 
 up. Thar '11 be the devil to pay when it's done/ 
 With that she shows me the outside of the book, an* 
 thar was a big brass cross on the side. An' sez she, 
 ' That's a charm to keep fools from meddlin' with 
 the broth before I've finished it ! ' I declar the way 
 she said it made my blood run cold. Some days 
 she was as crazy as a March hare ! So, when I come 
 upon the book in the bottom of the trunk, I felt 's 
 if I wouldn't tech it with a pa'r o' tongs. That ugly 
 cross looked so wicked ! I allers did hate the 
 Catholics, an' it popped into my head, when she 
 said that about the charm, she mought be one. Ef 
 she was, out o' my house she'd go, no matter what 
 Rashe mought have to say. He was fa'rly bewitched 
 about her sometimes. I put the question right at 
 her: 'Maybe you're a Catholic?' I sez, out bold. 
 She give another squeal : 
 
 " 'Me! devil a bit of it! I picked that up in a
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 281 
 
 shop in Rome. They tole me of the charm, you see.' 
 So, as I was a' sayin', when I come upon the nasty 
 book in the trunk I'd a great mind to take it to the 
 kitchen an' burn it up. Then, thinks I, 'After all, 
 it ain't my property, and it mought be onlucky to 
 fool with it if what she sez is half-way true/ I 
 wropped it up in a newspaper, and laid it back in 
 the far corner of the bottom of the trunk an' packed 
 all the other things on top of it. You'll find it thar, 
 onless some of the niggers may a' been foolin' with 
 the things." 
 
 "I found it when I unpacked the trunk the day 
 she came." Madam had been re-winding a ball of 
 knitting cotton that did not seem to suit her. Her 
 hands and voice were steady as she took up the 
 stocking she was at work upon. "It is what is called 
 a Roman Breviary very old and perhaps valuable 
 upon that account. It is written in Latin, and, no 
 doubt, belonged to some Roman Catholic priest. 
 Travellers in foreign lands pick up such things and 
 bring them home as curiosities. Some time I must 
 think to show the book to Mr. Rice. He knows 
 more of such things than I do." 
 
 Mrs. Rashe giggled: "He's a preacher, and ain't 
 afeered to handle what may be ' charmed' for what 
 we know. As I said, I wouldn't 'a' teched it with a 
 pa'r o' tongs. Without they was red-hot." 
 
 Madam smiled good-humored toleration of the 
 superstition : 
 
 "I wish I could make you comprehend, Mrs. 
 Blankenship, how we all appreciate your great kind-
 
 282 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 ness to the unfortunate woman whom we buried 
 to-day. She was a stranger and you took her in, 
 sick and friendless, and you ministered unto her. 
 Our Lord promised an especial blessing to those 
 who do these things." 
 
 Betsey's handkerchief went up to her eyes and 
 she sniffed loudly. Madam's knitting-needles clicked 
 evenly until her visitor's emotion subsided. Betsey 
 belonged to a class which may still be found in cer- 
 tain provincial regions, who consider it comely and 
 reverent to pay the tribute of watery emotion to 
 "Bible talk," whenever introduced into conversa- 
 tion. It was not a violent transition when Madam 
 Carrington led the talk to the every-day works and 
 ways of the motley crew over whom Betsey and 
 her spouse presided. 
 
 By the time the inspectors of gardens, orchard, 
 and poultry-yard returned, hot and tired, dinner 
 was ready. The guests did not suspect that it was 
 served an hour earlier than was the High Hill cus- 
 tom because the hostess knew one o'clock to be 
 the time at which the two were used to take the 
 heaviest meal of the day. It was hospitable to make 
 the concession to plebeian habits, and tactful not 
 to let them know why the change was made. 
 
 Madam had her confidential comment upon the 
 alteration in the daily routine when, at three o'clock, 
 the carriage received the gratified Blankenships 
 and rolled down the avenue. 
 
 "They have dinner at one, or maybe half past 
 twelve at home," she remarked, a half-tone of weari-
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 283 
 
 ness in her voice. "It was convenient, moreover, 
 to me to-day for I must rest for a little while before 
 I have a somewhat important business-talk with 
 you, Mr. Rice. 
 
 "May I trouble you to step into my room for a 
 minute?" 
 
 The spacious chamber had been literally swept 
 and garnished in the last twenty-hour hours. It 
 had never worn a fairer aspect to Mr. Rice's eyes 
 than when he stood in the middle of the floor and 
 looked about him at the changed aspect of the 
 whilome hospital ward. 
 
 Sheer, crisp curtains were looped back from the 
 windows; the hangings of the white bed were again 
 in place; the folding-screen had disappeared; the 
 table and reading-lamp it had concealed were at 
 the other end of the room. Fresh covers were upon 
 the cushions of chair and window-seats. Not a 
 vestige of the scenes which had kept nerves and 
 sympathies on the rack remained. The air swept 
 freely through the chamber, faintly and deliciously 
 scented by the roses abloom about the porch. 
 
 "All that has passed in the last fortnight might 
 be a bad dream !" said the Little Minister, half aloud 
 as Madam Carrington bade him "Sit down! I 
 have something that must be said to you without 
 further delay." 
 
 In saying it, she took a chair facing him and he 
 was instantly impressed by the seriousness of her 
 manner and tone. 
 
 She was never florid. Neither had her complexion
 
 284 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the hue of fine old ivory which sometimes marks the 
 approach of age in complexions that were once fair 
 and delicate. But her pallor now was startling. 
 There were shadows under the dark eyes that were 
 not there an hour ago. Her voice had a hard timbre 
 he had never heard in it before. 
 
 In her hand was a parcel done up in white paper 
 apparently a book or a box. Her ringers were taut 
 upon it as she went on: 
 
 "This book was in the trunk brought from the 
 poorhouse. Thanks to Mrs. Blankenship's super- 
 stitious fears, she did not open it. It has a cross 
 on one side which she took to be a proof that the 
 owner was a Roman Catholic. 
 
 "As you will see, the cross has nothing to do with 
 the contents. I am morally certain that nobody 
 has read what is written here except myself. No 
 other eyes beside yours and mine must ever read 
 a word of it. You will understand why I say this, 
 and agree with me when you have mastered the 
 manuscript. You will be surprised and horrified 
 at what you will see here. One thing you should 
 know before I pass the book over to you. One reason 
 why I select you as my only confidant of the in- 
 credible story is, you have a right to know that the 
 woman who died in that bed, and was buried in the 
 Carrington graveyard to-day was not what she pro- 
 fessed to be. She was not Mary Watkins although 
 you will learn something here of her life and death. 
 I tell you this, because I do not wish to spring the 
 strange truth upon you without notice.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 285 
 
 " Will you take that to the office and read it from 
 beginning to end? It is now half past three. If 
 you will let me come to you at half past four, we 
 will discuss the matter calmly. As I have said, 
 there is no other person living to whom I would 
 entrust it for an instant." 
 
 He arose when she set back her chair as a token 
 that the conference was at an end, and received 
 the parcel from her hand. Literally stricken dumb 
 by the astounding preamble mysterious as astound- 
 ing he could only express his acquiescence in her 
 will and obedience to her behest. 
 
 Bowing again, deeply and silently, as they parted, 
 he took his way to the office, meeting and seeing 
 no one in the shaded path. His door stood wide 
 open. It was seldom shut in fine weather, this corner 
 of the yard being secluded from other parts of the 
 grounds. He closed it instinctively hi entering, 
 and as mechanically turned the key in the lock. 
 But one thought took shape in his mind in the con- 
 fusion wrought by the amazing communication to 
 which he had hearkened: He must not share the 
 secret which he was to learn with anybody. No 
 one must know that it had been committed to him. 
 The sunshine, streaming through the western win- 
 dows, flooded him as he seated himself just where 
 Paul Carrington had sat on that rainy afternoon, 
 less than a month ago, and poured into his friend's 
 ears the story of the grievous burden that had 
 cramped his young manhood. The memory came 
 back vaguely to Mahlon Rice as he undid the twine
 
 286 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 binding the parcel and stripped off the paper. His 
 subconscious self put a question as he did this: 
 
 Why should this dark and direful mystery be 
 revealed to him instead of to the son Madam idolized 
 and trusted beyond all other counsellors? Why 
 was her chaplain explicitly informed that he was 
 not to share the revelation with another living 
 creature ? 
 
 The problem was still uppermost in his perturbed 
 brain when the book was uncovered. 
 
 It was, he saw at a glance, an ancient Roman 
 Breviary, worn and dingy except where the brass 
 cross in bold relievo had been burnished as by re- 
 peated rubbings. The owner had apparently at- 
 tached peculiar sacredness to the emblem. About 
 fifty printed leaves at the front and back of the 
 volume had been neatly pared away to within an 
 inch of the margins. The rest had been removed 
 entirely and the space left was filled with letter- 
 paper, trimmed to the size of the missing leaves. 
 It was an ingenious device, the outer pages forming 
 a firm frame for the interpolated matter. This was 
 covered with written characters, all done by the 
 same hand, although the manuscript in some parts 
 was irregular as if penned under excitement or by 
 feeble ringers. 
 
 His bewilderment unabated, the one man to whom 
 Madam Carrington was willing to reveal the dis- 
 covery forced upon her by fate, began at the top 
 of the outermost page.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 AND this is what he read in the dancing lights cast 
 athwart the pages by the August sun, laughing 
 through the leaves of the acacia-tree outside of the 
 window. This, what had been read in the dead of 
 night by the light of her shaded lamp, behind the 
 folding-screen, during Madam Carrington's first vigil 
 in the sick-room. 
 
 "To Madam Paulina Carrington, alias Mrs. Ed- 
 mund Travers Carrington (otherwise 'Et Cetera'), 
 Lady of the Manor of High Hill and High Priestess 
 of the Church and Parish of Mount Hor, Opecan- 
 canough County, State of Virginia, United States of 
 North America. 
 
 "I am writing this on shipboard, bound for 
 America. This is the first stage of the third earthly 
 existence upon which I have entered. I have had 
 Christian burial for the second tune, but in a for- 
 eign land under the patronage of the American con- 
 sul who has forwarded to your impeccable son the 
 legal certificate of my demise. 
 
 "I am once more free to carry out my own plans 
 without interference from any mortal man or 
 woman ! 
 
 "Your son and henchman has perhaps told you 
 what my brother, acting as my agent, confided to 
 him as the preliminary to the system of blackmail 
 that we carried on successfully for five years. You 
 
 287
 
 288 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 have then known long ago that the coffin laid away 
 under the auspices of your Presbyterian Shepherd 
 of souls, did not contain human remains. You have 
 helped the immaculate Paul keep a secret that would 
 have left a big smear across the Carrington es- 
 cutcheon and made your majesty the laughing-stock 
 of the whole State. 
 
 "It was an audacious stroke, but it worked well. 
 Armande, my clever brother, was my kindred spirit. 
 We laughed together many tunes over his master- 
 piece. He had the money all of it. As Mrs. Jules 
 Dupont, the wife of one of the richest planters in 
 the West Indies, who was frantically in love with 
 me, I needed no pecuniary aid. My second matri- 
 monial venture was more brilliant than the first. 
 I need not remind you what a despicable failure 
 that was. For three years I was like an eagle chained 
 in a mud-puddle. And how I hated the man who 
 had tricked me into it by stories of his baronial halls 
 and ample income! It enrages and sickens me to 
 think of it ! 
 
 "Well! for ten years we had our swing Jules 
 and I on both sides of the ocean. You wouldn't 
 be interested hi the details, and I can't trust my- 
 self to think of the happiest period of my life. 
 
 "Then, my husband died, and by some unac- 
 countable oversight on his part, he had failed to 
 make a will, or if it were made, it was never found. 
 His scoundrelly sisters, who had been madly jealous 
 of me, came forward with the demand that my mar- 
 riage to their brother be proved, and with assertions
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 289 
 
 that I was neither widow nor divorcee, when I claimed 
 to have married him. There was a terrible fight 
 and it ended in a compromise. I had to take my 
 lawyer into full confidence, and he advised me to 
 suppress the facts in the case, and let him get me 
 out of the scrape as best he could. To avoid the 
 publicity and expense of a lawsuit, the crafty women 
 offered to pay me a given sum if I would not inter- 
 fere with the course of the law, which made them 
 legatees of the entire estate. Thanks to the manner 
 of life that suited us both, this same estate was less 
 than one-half of the plunder they expected to secure. 
 But they had to be content with what they got. 
 As for me, I faced the fact that I must now spend 
 hundreds where I had been used to spending thou- 
 sands. I took the pitiful sum remaining after that 
 rascally lawyer had his fee, and began life anew. 
 
 "I will not bore you with the incidents of the 
 next three years. The recital would disgust you, 
 even more than my dancing and theatre-going and 
 other vagaries used to vex your righteous soul. 
 
 "It may interest you somewhat to hear that dur- 
 ing a visit to Tallahassee, Florida, I encountered, 
 by the oddest chance imaginable, my old neighbor 
 and admirer, 'Molly* Watkins. She told me her 
 story a wretched affair from first to last. 
 
 "Of course you do not credit me you never 
 did with having so much as a rag of conscience, 
 or what you would call, 'natural affection.' So 
 you will probably attribute to other causes the cir- 
 cumstance that I had certain queer qualms when
 
 290 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 the poor creature reminded me that we were ' inti- 
 mate friends' when I lived in Virginia, and how 
 she 'fairly worshipped me and was never so flattered 
 by anything she ever heard as when she was called 
 like Mrs. Paul Carrington.' There was a resem- 
 blance as you may recall in height, complexion, 
 and in some features. She confessed that she had 
 tried to copy my manner and speech, and had been 
 told over and over that she had succeeded. In fact, 
 she had been my parasite and was really fond of 
 me in her way. 
 
 "The upshot of the matter was that we joined 
 our forces such as they were and set out to seek 
 our fortunes in company. These took us by hook 
 and by crook to the other side of the world. We 
 managed to see foreign countries together, and had 
 some marvellous experiences in those three years. 
 Our longest stay was in a miserable lodging-house 
 in Genoa. My companion fell ill that winter and 
 was not well enough to 'move on/ if we had cared 
 to travel. 
 
 "The night she died the brightest idea of my life 
 came to me. 
 
 "I had died once, and improved my fortunes 
 immensely by the act. Why not die again, and 
 be buried decently and officially? My invaluable 
 memory had brought to me the recollection that 
 the present American consul in Genoa was an old 
 acquaintance of your son. Indeed, we had met 
 him at the White Sulphur Springs the summer I 
 was there for my health. He had had the merest
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 291 
 
 glimpse of me, but he would recollect his former 
 classmate and be kind to any compatriot. 
 
 "So, I wrote to him over the signature of 'Mary 
 Watkins,' of the death of my travelling-companion, 
 Mrs. Jules Dupont, a native of Opecancanough 
 County, Virginia, although she had not lived there 
 for many years. She was a near connection of Paul 
 Carrington of High Hill in the same county. 
 
 "The scheme worked to a charm! He called 
 upon Miss Mary Watkins, engaged to see to all 
 the matters connected with the obsequies of the 
 late Mrs. Jules Dupont, and was 'almost sure he 
 had seen me somewhere years ago. He had a most 
 pleasant recollection of Paul Carrington and the 
 highest respect for the family.' 
 
 "I accounted for the fancied resemblance by 
 suggesting that he 'may have met Mrs. Dupont 
 upon a visit to Opecancanough County, and that 
 we were said to look alike although there was no 
 relationship.' 
 
 "I also said that I had heard her speak often 
 and affectionately of the Carringtons, and I was 
 sure they would be grateful for news of her. I was 
 not personally acquainted with them, having re- 
 sided so long abroad, first as a governess in Paris, 
 latterly, as friend and companion to my deceased 
 country woman. My name need not be mentioned 
 in the correspondence. He swallowed the bait, 
 hook and all, as you know from the official and 
 friendly letters your son received from the con- 
 sulate.
 
 292 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 "I chanced once to overhear you say to your 
 blessed son, 'Your wife is the cleverest, most bril- 
 liant woman I have ever known.' 
 
 "I giggled then. I am laughing outright now 
 in reckoning up the stock with which I am begin- 
 ning the world for the fourth time counting my 
 birth as a baby, as one. What you Virginians would 
 call the 'smartest thing' I ever did came about by 
 the accident of seeing the tattooed arm of an Italian 
 peddler who had been a sailor. He called to offer 
 his wares to me a week after Molly's death. Like 
 a flash, the sight of the marks brought to me the 
 recollection of the initials upon Molly's shoulder, 
 the story of which I had heard often. I asked the 
 man where I could be tattooed, making a joke of 
 the wish. He answered that he could do it; that 
 he had been employed by other foreigners to tattoo 
 them. 'American Forestieri had strange fancies, 
 and plenty of money.' 
 
 "I engaged him out of hand to tattoo two letters 
 upon my shoulder, and paid him four lires for the 
 job. 
 
 "I imagined that the letters might be of use in 
 the drama I had already forecast. For I am bound 
 for my native shores as the vagrant Molly Watkins, 
 and I shall prosecute my claims upon you, madam, 
 and my ci-devant husband, under this disguise. 
 
 "I shall make my way into the county, and lie 
 in wait somewhere in the humblest house I can find, 
 where I will not be recognized, until, as orphaned 
 and unfriended Molly Watkins, I learn all that I
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 293 
 
 would know of the present status of the 'royal line 
 of Carringtons' (that is what I heard it called in 
 dead earnest by one of your tribe). 
 
 "If the man who is still my husband had taken 
 to himself another wife, I should be exceeding glad 
 of the chance to bleed him of his last dollar, or, if 
 he refused to buy me off, to make him and his royal 
 line a stench in the nostrils of the community which 
 is his world. 
 
 "That was my well-concerted plan before I took 
 passage for America. It is still my rooted purpose 
 now that we are six days out. I have never learned 
 how to save money, and the scanty sum I have 
 contrived to reserve for this expedition represents 
 my last cent hi the game of living. 
 
 "Should I not live to reach my destination you 
 may perhaps get this. When I am once on Vir- 
 ginia soil, I will take measures to ensure its delivery 
 to you. 
 
 "For I hate you with a hatred I have never felt 
 for another human being ! You foiled my ambition 
 at every point. The man who was my slave before 
 he took me to the home over which I had supposed 
 I was to reign a queen took your sovereignty as 
 a thing to be expected. He was stunned when he 
 found that I was dissatisfied with a secondary place 
 in the household, and not disposed to submit to 
 your despotic rule. 
 
 "Your show of resignation to the plight into which 
 he had plunged you, did not blind me for a second. 
 When I dashed wildly into social dissipations, un-
 
 294 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 heard of by the ninety-and-nine righteous who were 
 the elite of your petty court, you refrained from 
 open opposition. Do you imagine that I did not see 
 through your scheme to strengthen your hold upon 
 your subservient son by apparent indulgence of 
 my excesses? I read it all as clearly as if you had 
 fought me hi the open field, instead of manoeuvring 
 to circumvent me. We made no pretense of friend- 
 liness you and I, as you know, while keeping up 
 a show of civility in society at large. 
 
 "I hope you comprehended why and how heartily 
 I hated you, your works and ways and finally the 
 son who had tricked me into bondage. 
 
 "Upon him, at least, I can wreak my vengeance, 
 should the fates grant that I find him alive and en- 
 joying the smug respectability paid for by the black- 
 mail cunningly extracted by my brother and fellow- 
 conspirator. He shall pay with his heart's blood 
 for every humiliation he has made me suffer. The 
 debt rolled up against him in all these last years of 
 comparative indigence and Bohemianism, is not to 
 be cancelled by money." 
 
 (Several blank pages intervened before the manu- 
 script was resumed.) 
 
 "Poor house Pension : H. G. Blankenship, pro- 
 prietor, July third, 184- 
 
 "The plot thickens ! I am installed in these aris- 
 tocratic precincts, in high favor with my host, and 
 tolerated by his wife.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 295 
 
 "My identity, as the adventurous vagabond 
 Molly Watkins, is established beyond the shadow 
 of a doubt. I had a rheumatic twinge in my shoulder 
 the night of my arrival and begged 'Betsey' to rub 
 it with some liniment she recommended as a 'sure 
 and certain cure for rheumatiz.' She espied the 
 tattooing, and got the tale of how my sailor-brother 
 had persuaded me to let him do it when I was a 
 girl. One or two of the elect ninety-and-nine have 
 driven to the door to inquire into the rumor that 
 the reprobate of the flock has taken refuge in the 
 poorhouse. But no offer of rescue and conversion 
 was made until to-day, when your magnificent son 
 and heir caused a terrible commotion among the 
 herded swine here by bringing in person a message 
 from your sublime self! 
 
 "I fled up to my wretched room at the first alarm, 
 and watched him from my window, screened by 
 the cotton curtain. Tune has dealt more mercifully 
 with him than might have been expected in a dis- 
 consolate widower. As I took in every detail of his 
 appearance and manner as he sat at his ease under 
 the trees, conversing in his most polished style with 
 the superintendent of the almshouse who had taken 
 me in and lodged and fed me as a beggar do you 
 wonder that I cursed him and you in my hot heart ? 
 My hostess who admires him immensely tells me 
 he is likely to marry your ward Elizabeth Moore. 
 (The pen cut through the paper there and no wonder!} 
 I always detested her, partly because she was a 
 favorite with you, and I suspected that you were
 
 296 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 disappointed not to add her fortune to the Car- 
 rington wealth and partly because her praises 
 were rung hi my ears wherever I went, lastly, be- 
 cause she was invariably courteous and forbearing 
 to me, try to provoke her 'though I might. And 
 after all these years of waiting, you are really going 
 to marry her to your immaculate Paul ! 
 
 "Never mind! I am biding my time. Heaven 
 (or the devil) grant me patience to wait until the 
 right hour the hour of vengeance strikes ! 
 
 "The boon-companions sat too far from me for me 
 to catch more than stray fragments of their talk, but 
 the well-modulated voice of one brought to me what 
 I have tried to forget all these years. The same 
 voice promised me the fulfilment of my highest 
 hopes when we were both young ! 
 
 "And now! 
 
 
 
 "Sunday, July 8, 184 
 
 "I 'attended divine service' to-day for the first 
 time in the Lord knows how many years if He 
 cares to keep the account. 
 
 "I put on my Sunday clothes and accompanied 
 Mrs. Blankenship in an open carryall drawn by a 
 pair of mules. You may have seen the equipage? 
 I left her at her sister's house, a mile or so from the 
 sanctuary, and went on with the driver. I had 
 him put me out a hundred yards or so from the 
 church. Then I strolled with lady-like languor 
 toward the sacred edifice (you see I have not for- 
 gotten the vocabulary of the ninety-and-nine). I
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 297 
 
 had a queer catch in the throat when I recognized 
 Aleck, who drove the High Hill carriage fifteen years 
 ago. He was standing near a handsome chariot 
 with an embossed 'C.' on the door, and the detached 
 horses tied to the nearest tree were fine enough to 
 match carriage and driver. His wool has been pep- 
 pered-and-salted by tune, and he has grown stouter 
 but I should have known him anywhere, and the 
 sight shook me as nothing else in the region has 
 done. I hurried by and got me safely into the 
 church. 
 
 "The preacher was the only unfamiliar feature 
 in the scene. I had heard that little Rice had been 
 laid on the shelf, but makes edifying exhibition of 
 his Christian spirit by continuing to go to church 
 regularly. I soon detected him in the small, spruce 
 worshipper sitting half-way up the aisle. You, I had 
 seen as I entered sitting, as you have for fifty years, 
 in what the Methodists call 'the Amen benches' at 
 the right of the pulpit. Alongside of you was your 
 ward and prospective daughter-in-law. 
 
 (/ had to stop to laugh there /) 
 
 "The incomparable scion of your noble house 
 was modestly ensconced in a corner under a window 
 three-quarters of the way to the door. He did not 
 stare over the congregation, as is the manner of 
 many of your fellow saints of the masculine gender, 
 so I cannot flatter myself that he saw the woman 
 in black, sheltered behind a thick blue veil sitting 
 not far from the door. 
 
 "To borrow a Bible phrase 'the day of my ven-
 
 298 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 geance is at hand ! ' I have planned it to the minutest 
 feature. I shall wait until the wedding-day is 
 fixed. . . . 
 
 "I could have choked her to-day when I saw her, 
 serene and refined prettier than she was at twenty 
 the gentlewoman through-and-through fitted by 
 nature and by education to play the Lady Bounti- 
 ful far more graciously than you have ever done 
 and be adored to her latest day by the man of her 
 heart. For one insane instant I was tempted to 
 rise in the middle of the sermon, and pour out the 
 story that would bring the fair fabric about her 
 ears. It is better that my original design should 
 be developed. 
 
 "There will be one uninvited guest at that wed- 
 ding-feast ! 
 
 "Nothing else has brought those abhorrent years 
 of servitude and rebellion back to me with such 
 force as that conventicle in the grove and the so- 
 called ' services ' held there to-day. I shut my eyes 
 as the preacher alternately thundered and whined his 
 message to the prim and proper and pious assembly 
 of saints, and the few sinners that might have 
 straggled in and fancied I was back at High Hill. 
 I recalled the headaches and belated toilettes I in- 
 vented to excuse me from attendance at morning 
 prayers in the big dining-room, with a background 
 of negroes near the door divided even at the throne 
 of grace and the family altar (you see I have all 
 the phrases pat at my tongue's end !) from the pale- 
 faced elect. The same sickening farce was played
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 299 
 
 every night. At the latter there was singing, and 
 through the open drawing-room door 'Miss' Liza- 
 beth's piano led her choir in a hymn. 
 
 "My for the nonce sanctimonious spouse played 
 the patriarch hi reading the Bible and 'leading 
 in prayer' ! 
 
 "Ugh ! I used to pinch myself to make sure this 
 was really Cecile Larue, who was condemned to bear 
 a part in the ghastly performance. 
 
 "I suppose the son of thunder who held forth 
 to-day will expect a thumping big fee for 'uniting 
 in the holy bonds of matrimony ' the richest planter 
 in the county with the polysyllabic Indian name, 
 to the heiress whose fortune he has nursed into goodly 
 proportions for lo ! these many years. The pastor's 
 disappointment will be another feature in my drama. 
 
 " I have rehearsed it, a hundred times in imagina- 
 tion. This record done up in a breviary His Holi- 
 ness the Pope has blessed will be my wedding- 
 gift to yourself. You can communicate the con- 
 tents to the unhappy pair at your leisure. You 
 will need a little time in which to collect your wits 
 and breath. You celebrated my first homecoming 
 by a fainting fit which is historical in the family 
 annals. I must have heard of it, from black and 
 from white gossips, a hundred times. The negroes 
 used to say that 'mistis fainted dead away.' 
 
 "I devoutly hope and pray that the adjective 
 may be no mere figure of speech in the swoon which 
 should make my second bridal reception immortal 
 in the history of the Royal Carringtons."
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE latter pages of the manuscript were written 
 in haste, or under a nervous strain that changed 
 the handwriting almost out of resemblance to the 
 clerkly characters of the portions penned in the 
 leisurely hours and days of the ocean voyage. Some 
 passages were so nearly illegible that the reader 
 was obliged to study out a few words and to guess 
 at the meaning of others. The physical condition 
 of the half-crazed woman accounted for much of 
 this irregularity, but the reflection wrought no re- 
 lenting in the gentle-hearted reader. 
 
 The last line read, he collected the loose leaves, 
 and, because his habits were scrupulously methodi- 
 cal, rearranged them in the order of the numbers 
 scrawled at the upper right-hand corner of each 
 page; laid them smoothly in place and packed them 
 back in the hollowed breviary. He snapped the 
 clasps tightly and pushed the book as far away as 
 his arms could reach. Then he leaned his elbows 
 upon the table, bound his throbbing temples with 
 tense fingers, and shut his eyes. 
 
 He could have fancied that he stood upon the 
 verge of a seething pit from which vapors, assuming 
 the shapes of mocking devils, arose to confront him. 
 Never, in all the course of his calm, sheltered life, 
 had imagination conjured up such a series of weird 
 
 300
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 301 
 
 horrors and incredible adventure as he had read 
 as actual and present human history. He got up, 
 by and by, staggering like a drunken man, and went 
 into the back room where stood a bowl and pitcher 
 of water. Madam Carrington would be here pres- 
 ently. He must get the blood out of his brain be- 
 fore she came. 
 
 He mumbled it to himself in plunging his head into 
 the bowl. Dazed though he was, she was uppermost 
 in his thought. As he dried his hair and rubbed the 
 back of his neck with a coarse towel to equalize the 
 circulation, he spoke aloud again, solemnly and 
 clearly: 
 
 "Lord ! teach me to speak some word of comfort 
 to her!" 
 
 He repeated the prayer in his heart when he saw 
 her turn the corner of the house into the gravel- 
 path. He watched her, as for the first time. In 
 height she was above the medium stature of women, 
 and her erect carriage and the stately poise of chin 
 and head made her seem even taller. Her son as- 
 serted teasingly that she had "learned her gait in 
 the days of the minuet, like many another Presby- 
 terian belle, who had never danced in her life." Her 
 step was as even and firm as that of a healthy woman 
 of half her age. Somehow, the sight of her steadied 
 the watcher's pulses. He met her in the door, lend- 
 ing an unnecessary hand to help her up the single 
 step, with a mien so natural that she did not give 
 him a second glance. 
 
 Her eyes passed directly to the breviary, the more
 
 302 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 conspicuous for lying in the sunshine that threw 
 into bold relief the glittering cross upon the side. 
 
 As directly she began what she had come to say. 
 
 "You have read it all?" pointing to the book 
 in taking the chair set for her. 
 
 The Little Minister bowed: "Every line, Madam ! 
 I could wish it had never been written or rather 
 that every word were a lie !" 
 
 "Be seated please! We will talk the matter 
 out like sensible Christians. I am thankful, on my 
 part, that we have the truth, the whole truth, and 
 nothing but the truth, although seen through a 
 medium colored by such hate and spite as I had 
 never dreamed possible hi any human being least 
 of all, in a wife and mother. I shall regret all the 
 rest of my lif e, that she did not recover consciousness 
 for a few hours, that I might have asked forgiveness 
 for neglect of my duty toward her. Don't inter- 
 rupt me please! I was never actively unkind to 
 her, even when my disapproval of her conduct was 
 strongest. But I merely tolerated her! I never 
 tried, in the fear of God and in the spirit of true relig- 
 ion, to seek what was best in her and to make 
 her feel that I her husband's mother would be 
 a mother to her, if she would let me. Do you know 
 that her own mother left her husband and three 
 children and ran away with another man when Cecile 
 was ten years old? Paul told me this long after 
 he was deserted by Mrs. Lame's daughter. The 
 children were brought up by an aunt who was 
 nominally Larue's sister-in-law and housekeeper 
 in reality, she was his mistress. All this Paul
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 303 
 
 gathered, little by little, when it was too late for 
 the knowledge to save him from wrecking his own 
 life. The whole stock was corrupt root and branch. 
 Ce*cile's beauty and accomplishments were regarded 
 by her family as her capital of which she must make 
 good use. You know the rest ! 
 
 "She was young when she was married. Had 
 I pursued a different course of conduct if I had 
 compelled myself to love and understand her; if 
 I had made concessions to her prejudices and studied 
 methods of conciliating her when she gave way to 
 her temper, and showed how she detested her new 
 mode of life if, in short, I had left nothing undone 
 to win her, instead of forcing upon her lessons for- 
 eign to her instincts and what she called principles 
 you and I might not be now discussing the most 
 shameful career that ever disgraced the annals of 
 an honorable family." 
 
 "My dear lady!" for her voice broke upon the 
 last words and she turned partly away, that he 
 might not see her face. "Your forbearance, your 
 tact your long-suffering kindness were beyond 
 praise. And when you brought the unrepentant 
 sinner home to your house even after you learned 
 that she had imposed herself upon you as another 
 person and you knew her for what she was one 
 who had wrought sorrow after sorrow for you and 
 yours you nursed her as if she had been your own 
 child. I saw and heard you " 
 
 The forced composure gave way at the recollec- 
 tion. He walked to the window to regain com- 
 posure.
 
 304 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 The full mellow tones of the one he sought to 
 defend against herself broke the troubled silence: 
 
 "From my heart I thank you for trying to ex- 
 culpate me from the accusations of my own con- 
 science, dear friend. But I have thought of little 
 else in my waking hours for a week, and more. God 
 grant that the terrible lesson be not thrown away ! 
 Now for a matter or two which must be definitely 
 settled between us before we bury this shameful 
 thing out of sight and mind. As I said to you to- 
 day, no other excepting ourselves, must ever so 
 long as our lives last, nor ever afterward know 
 this story. It is as unbelievable as it is monstrous 
 and revolting. If known it would take rank with 
 county legends for a century to come. I will not 
 have my son's name blackened by the tale you have 
 read to-day. He has suffered enough to atone for 
 his early folly and temporary madness. So far as 
 I can accomplish it, by the help of God, his future 
 shall be as tranquil and rich as the love of a good 
 and pure woman can make it. 
 
 "To confide the foul tale to her would be needless 
 barbarity. I will not have her heart broken and 
 her imagination fouled by the recital. 
 
 "And there is Helen ! when I go over the various 
 stages of the tragedy in which I have borne a part, 
 I find it harder to forgive that poor wretch when 
 I recall her lack of motherliness than for any other 
 enormity of which she was guilty. She never cared 
 for her baby; neither in her letter nor in anything 
 reported to us of her sayings, is there an allusion 
 to her child. And you recollect the epithet she threw
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 305 
 
 at her the only time she spoke to her I Not for worlds 
 would I let the dear girl suspect the relationship. 
 It may have been a touch of sentimentality that 
 moved me to have Helen lay flowers upon the grave 
 of her real mother, when I thought of the pitiful 
 farce of her care and tenderness for the mock grave 
 beside it. The tombstone tells no lie now!" 
 
 She checked herself abruptly at that. It was 
 plain that the one bitter drop of which she could 
 not purge her heart was the insult to her beloved 
 grandchild. 
 
 A brief pause was ended by her putting out her 
 hand for the breviary. "If she had had any real 
 respect not to say reverence for what she said 
 was her church I could not excuse the desecration 
 of a book that should have been sacred in her eyes. 
 I learned, before I had known her a month, that 
 the church to which she feigned allegiance was no 
 more to her than any other. Her visits to town, 
 under the pretext of attending the confessional, were 
 a pretext for theatre-going, shopping, and the like. 
 She owned this to Paul and regarded it as a joke. 
 
 "But enough of this! I bring myself up peni- 
 tently, many times a day, by asking how the poor 
 girl could have been anything but what she was 
 with that fatal, corrupt strain of ancestry. 
 
 "One thing remains to be done to seal our com- 
 pact. I trust you without a shade of doubt." She 
 undid the clasps and turned the contents of the 
 hollowed book upon the table. 
 
 "Put them into the fireplace, and strike a match."
 
 306 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 He obeyed dumbly. The loose sheets caught the 
 blaze and burned like tinder. 
 
 The sun's rays were level by now, and a rising 
 breeze rustled the feathery sprays of the acacias. 
 The shadows were cast across the room to the hearth 
 as the flames flickered into black ashes. 
 
 Mr. Rice swept them under the logs piled on the 
 hearth, and replaced the broom in its corner. Next, 
 he wrapped the clamped breviary in the paper in 
 which Madam Carrington had enveloped it. 
 
 "I will bury it, by and by," he said, briefly. 
 
 The involuntary emphasis upon the pronoun 
 made inquiry superfluous. Nor was a word ex- 
 changed between them when they parted at the 
 intersection of the white gravelled path with the 
 wider walk leading to the garden gate. 
 
 Half an hour later he rejoined Madam on the 
 side-porch. Their chairs were set there in the old 
 familiar order. Madam occupied hers and motioned 
 to the rocker set at an inviting conversational angle. 
 
 "It is a goodly and pleasant thing to take up the 
 old life again," he said, gratefully. "One can hardly 
 believe that we have left it off even for a little while. 
 And we are to have what our Helen calls a 'real 
 High Hill sunset.' She will have it that there are 
 none such anywhere else in the world. We miss 
 the sprite. She will be back soon ?" 
 
 "In two days more. There is no propriety in 
 her staying away longer." 
 
 Again mutual comprehension of a hidden mean- 
 ing rendered comment needless.
 
 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 307 
 
 Both studied silently the sunset that justified 
 Helen's encomium. The dark lines of tree-tops that 
 jagged the western hills were defined sharply against 
 a horizon of purest saffron, merging, by a miraculous 
 sympathy of color, into rose-pink, and, far above 
 this, into clear azure shading into tenderness in 
 pulsing up to the zenith. 
 
 The exquisite harmonies of the "homing hour" 
 in the country the distant chiming of bells and 
 gentle lowing of herds on the way from pasture to 
 byre; the chirping of feeding birds and the crooning 
 of their mothers, as they were nested for the night; 
 the vespers of katy-did and cicada attuned as 
 no mortal master could harmonize them all ac- 
 corded perfectly with a sunset strangely beautiful 
 even for High Hill. 
 
 A light step upon the porch-floor stole into, rather 
 than broke upon, the dreamful silence entrancing 
 the two rapt observers of the unspeakable glory. 
 Both turned, smilingly, as Beth appeared, her hands 
 full of papers. 
 
 "I walked down the avenue a little way to meet 
 Dick with the mail," she said, beginning the dis- 
 tribution. "Three letters for you, aunt. All of 
 which look like bills receipted of course and the 
 Watchman and Observer, and the Compiler. For you, 
 Mr. Rice, The Whig and The Farmer's Register, 
 and never a letter ! Don't look at the papers until 
 the sun is entirely down. Was there ever anything 
 more lovely?" 
 
 Madam's glance passed from the speaker's face
 
 308 THE CARRINGTONS OF HIGH HILL 
 
 to the letter in her hand. Putting her arm about 
 the slender figure, she drew Beth down upon her 
 lap. One of the beautiful old hands stroked the 
 blushing face: 
 
 "You have had good news, then?" as if an af- 
 firmative were a foregone conclusion. 
 
 "The best we could have ! By a fortunate chance, 
 he met in New York the man he expected to see in 
 Cincinnati. So the Ohio trip may be postponed." 
 The soft voice took on a joyous ring. "He is com- 
 ing home sooner than he had planned. We may 
 expect him to-morrow." 
 
 The cadence of the last sentences blended har- 
 moniously, to the listeners' ears, with the "homing" 
 symphony that had enchained their senses. 
 
 None of the trio had any words ready. In the 
 tulip-poplar nearest the garden gate the night-sing- 
 ing mocking-bird began his vespers. A mist swam 
 between the eyes of the Little Minister and the pur- 
 pling hills tipped with gold. 
 
 It was Madam Carrington who broke the long 
 silence. Her voice was full and rich, and every 
 syllable was rounded reverently. Her look was 
 that of one who listens to, and renders from dicta- 
 tion, a message not her own: 
 
 "At evening- time there shall be PEACE!" 
 
 THE END
 
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