"We are very glad to see you, Miss March," she said. "My aunt is not
here just now, but will be back directly."

"This is Mrs Null, isn't it?" said Roberta, and as the other smiled and
answered with a slight flush that it was, Roberta stooped just the
little that was necessary, and kissed her. Mrs Keswick's niece had not
expected so warm a greeting from this lady, to whom she was almost a
stranger, and instantly she said to herself: "In that kiss Freddy dies
to you." For some days she had been turning over and over in her mind
the question whether or not she should tell Roberta March that she was
not Mrs Null. She greatly disliked keeping up the deception where it was
not necessary, and with Roberta, if she would keep the secret, there was
no need of this aerial matrimony. Besides her natural desire to confide
in a person of her own sex and age, she did not wish Mr Croft to be the
only one who shared her secret; and so she had determined that her
decision would depend on what sort of girl Roberta proved to be. "If I
like her I'll tell her; if I don't, I won't," was the final decision.
And when Roberta March looked down upon her with her beautiful eyes and
kissed her, Freddy Null departed this life so far as those two were
concerned.

Mrs Keswick had, apparently, made a very great miscalculation in regard
to the probable time of arrival of her guest, for Miss March and Peggy,
and even Sam and the horses, had been properly received and cared for,
and Miss March had been sitting in the parlor for some time, and still
the old lady did not come into the house. Her niece had grown very
anxious about this absence, and had begun to fear that her aunt had
treated Miss March as she had treated her on her arrival, and had gone
away to stay. But Plez, whom she had sent to tell his mistress that her
visitor was in the house, returned with the information that "ole miss"
was in one of the lower fields directing some men who were digging a
ditch, and that she would return to the house in a very short time. Thus
assured that no permanent absence was intended, she went into the parlor
to entertain Miss March, and to explain, as well as she could, the state
of affairs; when, as she entered the door, she saw that lady suddenly
arise and look steadfastly out of the window.

"Can that be Mr Croft?" Miss March exclaimed.

The younger girl made a dash forward and also looked out of the window.
Yes, there was Mr Croft, riding across the yard toward the tree where
horses were commonly tied.

"Did you expect him?" asked Roberta, quickly.

"No more than I expected the man in the moon," was the impulsive and
honest answer of her companion.

"I am very glad to see you, Mrs Null," said Lawrence, when that lady met
him on the porch. And when he was shown into the parlor, he greeted Miss
March with much cordiality, but no surprise. But when he inquired after
other members of the family, he was much surprised to find that Mr
Keswick had gone to Washington. "Was not this very unexpected, Mrs
Null?" he asked.

"Why, no," she answered. "Junius told us, almost as soon as he came
here, that he would have to be in Washington by the first of this week."

Mr Croft did not pursue this subject further, but presently remarked:
"Are you and I the first comers, Miss March?"

Roberta looked from one of her companions to the other, and remarked: "I
do not understand you."

Lawrence now perceived that he was treading a very uncertain and,
perhaps, dangerous path of conversation, and the sooner he got out of it
the better; but, before he could decide what answer to make, a silent
and stealthy figure appeared at the door, beckoning and nodding in a
very mysterious way. This proved to be the plump black maid, Letty, who,
having attracted the attention of the company, whispered loudly, "Miss
Annie!" whereupon that young lady immediately left the room.

"What other comers did you expect?" then asked Roberta of Mr Croft.

"I certainly supposed there would be a small company here," he said,
"probably neighborhood people, but if I was mistaken, of course I don't
wish to say anything more about it to the family."

"Were you invited yourself?" asked Roberta.

Croft wished very much that he could say that he had accidentally
dropped in. But this he could not do, and he answered that Mrs Keswick
asked him to come about this time. He did not consider it necessary to
add that she had written to him at the Springs, renewing her invitation
very earnestly, and mentioning that Miss March had consented to make one
of the party.

This was as far as Roberta saw fit to continue the subject, on the
present occasion; and she began to talk about the charming weather, and
the pretty way in which the foliage was reddening on the side of a hill
opposite the window. Mr Croft was delighted to enter into this new
channel of speech, and discussed with considerable fervor the
attractiveness of autumn in Virginia. Miss Annie found Letty in a very
disturbed state of mind. The dinner had been postponed until the arrival
of Miss March, and now it had been still further delayed by the
non-arrival of the mistress of the house, and everything was becoming
dried up, and unfit to eat. "This will never do!" exclaimed Miss Annie.
"I will go myself and look for aunt. She must have forgotten the time of
day, and everything else."

Putting on her hat she ran out of the back door, but she did not have to
go very far, for she found the old lady in the garden, earnestly
regarding a bed of turnips. "Where have you been, my dear aunt?" cried
the girl. "Miss March has been here ever so long, and Mr Croft has come,
and dinner has been waiting until it has all dried up. I was afraid that
you had forgotten that company was coming to-day."

"Forgotten!" said the old lady, glaring at the turnips. "It isn't an
easy thing to forget. I invited the girl, and I expected her to come,
but I tell you, Annie, when I saw that carriage coming along the road,
all the old feeling came back to me. I remembered what its owners had
done to me and mine, and what they are still trying to do, and I felt I
could not go into the house, and give her my hand. It would be like
taking hold of a snake."

"A snake!" cried her niece, with much warmth. "She is a lovely woman!
And her coming shows what kindly feelings she has for you. But, no
matter what you think about it, aunt, you have asked her here, and you
must come in and see her. Dinner is waiting, and I don't know what more
to say about your absence."

"Go in and have dinner," said Mrs Keswick.

"Don't wait for me. I'll come in and see her after a while; but I
haven't yet got to the point of sitting down to the table and eating
with her."

"Oh, aunt!" exclaimed Annie, "you ought never to have asked her if you
are going to treat her in this way! And what am I to say to her? What
excuse am I to make? Are you not sick? Isn't something the matter with
you?"

"You can tell them I'm flustrated," said the old lady, "and that is all
that's the matter with me. But I'm not coming in to dinner, and there is
no use of saying anything more about it."

Annie looked at her, the tears of mortification still standing in her
eyes. "I suppose I must go and do the best I can," she said, "but, aunt,
please tell me one thing. Did you invite any other people here? Mr Croft
spoke as if he expected to see other visitors, and if they ask anything
more about it, I don't know what to say."

"The only other people I invited," said the old lady with a grim grin,
"were the King of Norway, and the Prime Minister of Spain, and neither
of them could come." Annie said no more, but hurrying back to the
house, she ordered dinner to be served immediately. At first the meal
was not a very lively one. The young hostess _pro tempore_ explained the
absence of the mistress of the house by stating that she had had a
nervous attack--which was quite true--and that she begged them to excuse
her until after dinner. The two guests expressed their regret at this
unfortunate indisposition, but each felt a degree of embarrassment at
the absence of Mrs Keswick. Roberta, who had heard many stories of the
old woman, guessed at the true reason, and if the distance had not been
so great, she would have gone home that afternoon. Lawrence Croft, of
course, could imagine no reason for the old lady's absence, except the
one that had been given them, but he suspected that there must be some
other. He did his best, however, to make pleasant conversation; and
Roberta, who began to have a tender feeling for the little lady at the
head of the table, who, she could easily see, had been placed in an
unpleasant position, seconded his efforts with such effect that, when
the little party had concluded their dinner with a course of hot pound
cake and cream sauce, they were chatting together quite sociably.

In about ten minutes after they had all gone into the parlor, Miss Annie
excused herself, and presently returned with a message to Miss March
that Mrs Keswick would be very glad to see her in another room. This was
a very natural message from an elderly lady, who was not well, but
Roberta arose and walked out of the parlor with a feeling as if she
were about to enter the cage of an erratic tigress. But she met with no
such creature. She saw in the back room, into which she was ushered, a
small old woman, dressed very plainly, who came forward to meet her,
extending both hands, into one of which Roberta placed one of her own.

"I may as well say at once, Roberta March," said Mrs Keswick, "that the
reason I didn't come to meet you when you first arrived was, that I
couldn't get over, all of a sudden, the feelings I have had against your
family for so many years."

"Why then, Mrs Keswick," said Roberta, very coldly, "did you ask me to
come?"

"Because I wanted you to come," said Mrs Keswick, "and because I thought
I was stronger than I turned out to be; but you must make allowances for
the stiffness which gets into old people's dispositions as well as their
backs. I want you to understand, however, that I meant all I said in
that letter, and I am very glad to see you. If anything in my conduct
has seemed to you out of the way, you must set it down to the fact that
I was making a very sudden turn, and starting out on a new track in
which I hope we shall all keep for the rest of our lives."

Roberta could not help thinking that the sudden turn in the new track
began with the visit of her uncle to this house, and that the old lady
need not have inflicted upon her the disagreeable necessity of
witnessing a hostess taking a very repulsive cold plunge; but all she
said was that she hoped the families would now live together in friendly
relations; and that she was sure that, if this were to be, it would give
her uncle a great deal of pleasure. She very much wanted to ask Mrs
Keswick how Mr Croft happened to be here at this time, but she felt that
her very brief acquaintance with the lady would not warrant the
discussion of a subject like that.

"She is very much the kind of woman I thought she was," said Roberta to
herself, when, after some further hospitable remarks from Mrs Keswick,
the two went to the parlor together to find Mr Croft. But that
gentleman, having been deserted by all the ladies, was walking up and
down the greensward in front of the house, smoking a cigar. Mrs Keswick
went out to him, and greeted him very cordially, begging him to excuse
her for not being able to see him as soon as he came.

Lawrence set all this aside in his politest manner, but declared himself
very much disappointed in not seeing Mr Keswick, and also remarked that
from what she had said to him on his last visit he had expected to find
quite a little party here.

"I am sorry," said the old lady, "that Junius is away, for he would be
very glad to see you, and it never came into my mind to mention to you
that he was obliged to be in Washington at this time. And, as for the
party, I thought afterwards that it would be a great deal cosier just to
have a few persons here."

"Oh, yes," said Lawrence, "most certainly, a great deal cosier."

Mrs Keswick ate supper with her guests, and behaved very well. During
the evening she sustained the main part of the conversation, giving the
company a great many anecdotes and reminiscences of old times and old
families, relating them in an odd and peculiar way that was very
interesting, especially to Croft, to whom the subject matter was quite
new. But, although her three companions listened to the old lady with
deferential attention, interspersed with appropriate observations, each
one made her the object of severe mental scrutiny, and endeavored to
discover the present object of her scheming old mind. Roberta was quite
sure that her invitation and that of Mr Croft was a piece of artful
management on the part of the old lady, and imagined, though she was not
quite sure about it, that it was intended as a bit of match-making. To
get her married to somebody else, would be, of course, the best possible
method of preventing her marrying Junius; and this, she had reason to
believe, was the prime object of old Mrs Keswick's existence. But why
should Mr Croft be chosen as the man with whom she was to be thrown. She
had learned that the old lady had seen him before, but was quite certain
that her acquaintance with him was slight. Could Junius have told his
aunt about the friendship between herself and Mr Croft? It was not like
him, but a great many unlikely things take place.

As for Lawrence, he knew very well there was a trick beneath his
invitation, but he could not at all make out why it had been played. He
had been given an admirable opportunity of offering himself to Miss
March, but there was no reason, apparent to him, why this should have
been done.

Miss Annie, watching her aunt very carefully, and speaking but seldom,
quite promptly made up her mind in regard to the matter. She knew very
well the bitter opposition of the old woman to a marriage between Junius
and Miss March; and saw, as plainly as she saw the lamp on the table,
that Roberta had been brought here on purpose to be sacrificed to Mr
Croft. Everything had been made ready, the altar cleared, and, as well
as the old lady's grindstone would act, the knife sharpened. "But," said
Miss Annie to herself, "she needn't suppose that I am going to sit quiet
and see all this going on, with Junius away off there in Washington,
knowing nothing about any of it."

Miss Roberta retired quite early to her room, having been fatigued by
her long drive, and she was just about to put out her light when she
heard a little knock at the door. Opening it slightly, she saw there
Junius Keswick's cousin, who also appeared quite ready for bed.

"May I come in for a minute?" said Annie.

"Certainly," replied Miss March, admitting her, and closing the door
after her.

"I have something to tell you," said the younger lady, admiring as she
spoke, the length of her companion's braided hair. "I intended to keep
it until to-morrow, but since I came up stairs I felt I could not let
you sleep a night under the same roof with me without knowing it. I am
not Mrs Null."

"What!" exclaimed Roberta, in a tone which made Annie lift up her hands
and implore her not to speak so loud, for fear that her aunt should hear
her. "I know she hasn't come up stairs yet, for she sits up dreadfully
late, but she can hear things, almost anywhere. No, I am not Mrs Null.
There is no such person as Mr Null, or, at least, he is a mere gaseous
myth, whom I married for the sake of the protection his name gave me."

"This is the most extraordinary thing I ever heard," said Roberta. "You
must tell me all about it."

"I don't want to keep you up," said Annie, "you must be tired."

"I am not tired," said Roberta, "for every particle of fatigue has flown
away." And with this she made Annie sit down beside her on the lounge.
"Now you must tell me what this means," she said. "Can it be that your
aunt does not know about it?"

"Indeed, she does not," said Annie. "I married Freddy Null in New York,
for reasons which we need not talk of now, for that matter is all past
and gone; but when I came here, I found almost immediately, that he
would be more necessary to me in this house than anywhere else."

"I cannot imagine," said Roberta, "why a gaseous husband should be
necessary to you here."

"It is not a very easy thing to explain," said the other, "that is, it
is easy enough, but--"

"Oh," said Roberta, catching the reason of her companion's hesitation,
"I don't think you ought to object to tell me your reason. Does it
relate to your cousin Junius?"

"Well," said Annie, "not altogether, and not so much to him as to my
aunt." "I think I see," said Roberta. "A marriage between you two would
suit her very well. Are you afraid that she would try to force him on
you?"

"Oh, no;" said Annie, "that would be bad enough, but it would not be so
embarrassing, and so dreadfully unpleasant, as forcing me on him, and
that is what aunt wants to do. And you can easily see that, in that
case, I could not stay in this house at all. I scarcely know my cousin
as a man, my strongest recollection of him being that of a big and very
nice boy, who used to climb up in the apple-trees to get me apples, and
then come down to the very lowest branch where he could drop the ripest
ones right into my apron, and not bruise them. But, even if I had been
acquainted with him all these years, and liked him ever so much, I
couldn't stay here and have aunt make him take me, whether he wanted
to, or not. And, unless you knew my aunt very well, you could not
conceive how unscrupulously straightforward she is in carrying out her
plans."

"And so," said Roberta, "you have quite baffled her by this little ruse
of a marriage."

"Not altogether," said Annie with a smile, "for she vows she is going to
get me divorced from Mr Null."

"That is funnier than the rest of it," said Roberta, laughing. And they
both laughed together, but in a subdued way, so as not to attract the
attention of the old lady below stairs. "And now, you see," said Annie,
"why I must be Mrs Null while I stay here. And you will promise me that
you will never tell any one?"

"You may be sure I shall keep your queer secret. But have you not told
it to any one but me?"

"Yes," said Annie, "but I have only told it to one other, Mr Croft. But
please don't speak of it to him."

"Mr Croft!" exclaimed Roberta. "How in the world did you come to tell
him? Do you know him so well as that?"

"Well," said Annie, "it does seem out of the way, I admit, that I should
tell him, but I can't give you the whole story of how I came to do it.
It wouldn't interest you--at least, it would, but I oughtn't to tell it.
It is a twisty sort of thing."

"Twisty?" said Roberta, drawing herself up, and a little away from her
companion.

Annie looked up, and caught the glance by which this word was
accompanied, and the tone in which it was spoken went straight to her
soul. "Now," said she, "if you are going to look at me, and speak in
that way, I'll tell you every bit of it." And she did tell the whole
story, from her first meeting with Mr Croft in the Information Shop,
down to the present moment.

"What is your name, anyway?" said Roberta, when the story had been told.

"My name," said the other, "is Annie Peyton."

"And now, do you know, Annie Peyton," said Roberta, passing her fingers
gently among the short, light-brown curls on her companion's forehead,
"that I think you must have a very, very kindly recollection of the boy
who used to come down to the lowest branches of the tree to drop apples
into your apron."




CHAPTER XVI.


Shortly after Peggy arrived with her mistress at the Keswick
residence, her mind began to be a good deal disturbed. She had been
surprised, when the carriage drew up to the door, that "Mahs' Junius"
had not rushed down to meet his intended bride, and when she found he
was not in the house, and had, indeed, gone away from home, she did not
at all know what to make of it. If Miss Rob took the trouble to travel
all the way to the home of the man that the Midbranch people had decided
she should marry, it was a very wonderful thing, indeed, that he should
not be there to meet her. And while these thoughts were turning
themselves over in the mind of this meditative girl of color, and the
outgoing look in her eyes was extending itself farther and farther, as
if in search of some solution of the mystery, up rode Mr Croft.

"Dar _he!_" exclaimed Peggy, as she stood at the corner of the house
where she had been pursuing her meditations. "He!" she continued in a
voice that would have been quite audible to any one standing near. "Upon
my libin' soul, wot brung him h'yar? Miss Rob don' wan' him round,
nohow. I done druv him off wunst. Upon my libin' soul, he's done brung
his bag behin' him on de saddle, an' I reckon he's gwine to stay."

As Mr Croft dismounted and went into the house, Peggy glowered at him;
sundry expressions, sounding very much like odds and ends of
imprecations which she had picked up in the course of a short but
investigative existence, gurgling from her lips. "I wish dat ole Miss
Keswick kunjer him. Ef she knew how Miss Rob hate him, she curl he legs
up, an' gib him mis'ry spranglin' down he back."

The hope of seeing this intruder well "kunjered" by the old lady was the
only thing that gave a promise of peace to the mind of Peggy; and though
her nature was by no means a social one, she determined to make the
acquaintance of some one or other in the house; hoping to find out how
Mrs Keswick conducted her conjurations; at what time of day or night
they were generally put into operation; and how persons could be brought
under their influence.

The breakfast hour in the Keswick house was a variable one. Sometimes
the mistress of the establishment rose early and wanted her morning meal
before she went out of doors; at other times she would go off to some
distant point on the farm to see about something that was doing or ought
to be done, and breakfast would be kept waiting for her. The delays,
however, were not all due to the old lady's irregular habits. Very often
Letty would come up stairs with the information that the "bread ain't
riz;" and as a Virginia breakfast without hot bread would be an
impossibility, the meal would be postponed until the bread did conclude
to rise, or until some substitute, such as "beaten biscuit" had been
provided.

On the morning after his arrival, Lawrence Croft came down stairs about
eight o'clock, and found the lower part of the house deserted; and
glancing into the dining-room as he passed its open door, he saw no
signs of breakfast. The house was cool, but the sun appeared to be
shining warmly outside, and he stepped out of the open back door into a
small flower garden, with a series of broad boards down the walk which
lay along the middle of it. Up and down this board walk Lawrence strode,
breathing the fresh air, and thinking over matters. He was not at all
satisfied at being here during Keswick's absence, feeling that he was
enjoying an advantage which, although it was quite honorable, did not
appear so. What he had to do was to get an interview with Miss March as
soon as possible, and have that matter over. When he had been definitely
accepted or rejected, he would go away. And, whatever the result might
be, he would write to his rival as soon as he returned to the Springs,
and inform him of it, and would also explain how he had happened to be
here with Miss March. While he was engaged in planning these honorable
intentions, there came from the house Mrs Keswick's niece, with a basket
in one hand, and a pair of scissors in the other, and she immediately
applied herself to cutting some geraniums and chrysanthemums, which were
about the last flowers left blooming at that season in the garden. "Good
morning," said Croft, from the other end of the walk. "I am glad to see
you out so early."

"Good morning," she replied, with a look which indicated that she was
not at all glad to see him, "but I don't think it is early."

Croft had noticed on the preceding day that her coolness towards him
still continued, but it did not suit him to let her know that he
perceived it. He went up to her, and in a very friendly way remarked:
"There is something I wish very much you would tell me. What is your
name? It is very odd that during all the time I have been acquainted
with you I have never known your name."

"You must have taken an immense interest in it," she said, as she
snipped some dried leaves off a twig of geranium she had cut.

"It was not that I did not take any interest," said Croft, "but at first
your name never came forward, and I soon began to know you by the title
which your remarkable condition of wedlock gave you."

"And that is the name," said the lady, very decidedly, "by which I am to
be known in this house. I am very proud of my maiden name, but I am not
going to tell it to you for fear that some time you will use it."

"Oh!" ejaculated Mr Croft. "Then I suppose I am to continue even to
think of you as Mrs Null."

"You needn't think of me at all," said she, "but when you speak to me I
most certainly expect you to use that name. It was only by a sort of
accident that you came to know it was not my name." "I don't consider it
an accident at all," said Croft. "I look upon it as a piece of very
kindly confidence."

Miss Annie gave a little twist to her mouth, which seemed to indicate
that if she spoke she should express her contempt of such an opinion,
and Croft continued:

"I am very sorry that upon that occasion I should have felt myself
obliged to refuse your request that I should make you acquainted with my
reasons for desiring to know Mr Keswick's whereabouts. But I am sure, if
you understood the matter, you would not be in the least degree--"

"Oh, you need not trouble yourself about that," she interrupted. "I
don't want you to tell me anything at all. It is quite easy, now, to see
why you wished to know where my cousin was."

"It is impossible that you should know!" exclaimed Croft.

"We will say no more about it," replied Annie. "I am quite satisfied."

"I would give a good deal," said Lawrence, after looking steadily at her
for a few moments, "to know what you really do think."

Annie had cut all the flowers she wanted, or, rather, all she could get;
and she now stood up and looked her companion full in the face. "Mr
Croft," she said, "it has been necessary, and it is necessary now for me
to have some concealments, and I am sorry for it; but it isn't at all
necessary for me to conceal my opinion of your reasons for wanting to
know about Junius. You were really in pursuit of Miss March, and knowing
that he was in love with her, you wanted to make sure that when you
went to her, he wouldn't be there. It is my firm opinion that is all
there is about it; and the fact of your turning up here just after my
cousin left, proves it."

"Miss Annie," exclaimed Croft--"I have heard you called by that name,
and I vow I won't call you Mrs Null, when there is no need for it--you
were never more mistaken in your life, and I am very sorry that you
should have such a low opinion of me as to think I would wish to take
advantage of your cousin during his absence."

"Then why do you do it?" asked Miss Annie, with a little upward pitch of
her chin.

At this moment the breakfast-bell rang, and Mrs Keswick appeared in the
back door, evidently somewhat surprised to see these two conversing in
the garden.

"I am very much vexed," said Lawrence, as he followed his companion, who
had suddenly turned towards the house, "that you should think of me in
this way."

But to this remark Miss Annie had no opportunity to reply.

After breakfast, Mrs Keswick proved the truth of what her niece had said
about her unscrupulous straightforwardness when carrying out her
projects. She had invited Mr Croft and Miss March to her house in order
that the former might have the opportunity which she had discovered he
wanted and could not get, of offering himself in marriage to the lady;
and she now made it her business to see that Mr Croft's opportunity
should stand up very clear and definite before him; and that all
interfering circumstances should be carefully removed. She informed her
niece that she wished her to go with her to a thicket on the other side
of the wheat field which that young lady had advised should be ploughed
for pickles, to look for a turkey-hen which she had reason to believe
had been ridiculous enough to hatch out a brood of young at this
improper season. Annie demurred, for she did not want to go to look for
turkeys, nor did she want to give Mr Croft any opportunities; but the
old lady insisted, and carried her off. Croft felt that there was
something very bare and raw-boned about the position in which he was
left with Miss March; and he thought that lady might readily suppose
that Mrs Keswick's object was to leave them together. He imagined that,
himself, though why she should be so kind to him he could not feel quite
certain. However, his path lay straight before him, and if the, old lady
had whitewashed it to make it more distinct, he did not intend to refuse
to walk in it.

"I have been looking at that hill over yonder," said he, "with a cluster
of pine trees on the brow of it. I should think there would be a fine
view from that hill. Would you not like to walk up there?"

Lawrence felt that this proposition was quite in keeping with the
bareness of the previous proceedings, but he did not wish to stay in the
house and be subject to the unexpected return of the old lady and her
niece.

"Certainly," said Miss March; "nothing would please me better." And so
they walked up Pine Top Hill.

When they reached this elevated position, they sat down on the rock on
which Mrs Null had once conversed with Freddy, and admired the view,
which was, indeed, a very fine one. After about five minutes of this,
which Lawrence thought was quite enough, he turned to his companion and
said:

"Miss March, I do not wish you to suppose that I brought you up here for
the purpose of viewing those rolling hills and distant forests."

"You didn't?" exclaimed Roberta, in a tone of surprise.

"No," said he; "I brought you here because it is a place where I could
speak freely to you, and tell you I love you."

"That was not at all necessary," said Miss March. "We had the lower
floor of the house entirely to ourselves, and I am sure that Mrs
Keswick would not have returned until you had waved a handkerchief, or
given some signal from the back of the house that it was all over."

Croft looked at her with a troubled expression. "Miss March," said he,
"do you not think I am in earnest? Do you not believe what I have said?"
"I have not the slightest doubt you are in earnest," she answered.
"The magnitude of the preparation proves it." "I am glad you said that,
for it gives me the opportunity for making an explanation," said
Lawrence. "Our meeting at this place may be a carefully contrived
stratagem, but it was not contrived by me. I am very well aware that Mr
Keswick also wishes to marry you--"

"Did you see that in the Richmond _Dispatch_ or in one of the New York
papers?" interrupted Miss March.

"That is a point," said Lawrence, overlooking the ridicule, "which we
need not discuss. I am perfectly aware that Mr Keswick is my rival, but
I wish you to understand that I am not voluntarily taking any undue
advantage of his absence. I believe him to be a very fair and generous
man, and I would wish to be as open and generous as he is. When I came,
I expected to find him here, and, standing on equal ground with him, I
intended to ask you to accept my love."

"Well, then," said Roberta, "would it not be more fair and generous for
you to go away now, and postpone this proposal until some time when you
would each have an equal chance?"

"No, it would not," said Lawrence, vehemently. "I have now an
opportunity of telling you that I love you ardently, passionately; and
nothing shall cause me to postpone it. Will you not consider what I
say? Will you make no answer to this declaration of most true and honest
love?"

"I am considering what you have said," she answered; "and I am very glad
to hear that you did not know of this cunning little trap that Mrs
Keswick has laid for me. It is all very plain to me, but I do not know
why she should have selected you as one of the actors in the plot. Have
you ever told her that you are a suitor for my hand?"

"Never!" exclaimed Lawrence. "She may have imagined it, for she heard I
was a frequent visitor to Midbranch. But let us set all that aside. I am
on fire with love for you. Will you tell me that you can return that
love, or that I must give up all hope? This is the most important
question of my whole life. I beg you, from the bottom of my heart, to
decide it."

"Mr Croft," said she, "when you used to come, nearly every day, to see
me at Midbranch, and we took those long walks in the woods, you never
talked in this way. I considered you as a gentleman whose prudence and
good sense would not allow him to step outside of the path of perfectly
conventional social intercourse. This is not conventional and not
prudent."

"I loved you then, and I love you now;" exclaimed Lawrence. "You must
have known that I loved you, for my declaration does not in the least
surprise you."

"Once--it was the last time you visited Midbranch--I suspected, just a
little, that your mind might be affected somewhat in the way you speak
of, but I supposed that attack of weakness had passed away."

"I know what you mean," said Lawrence, "but I can't endure to talk of
such trifles. I love you, Roberta--"

"Miss March," she interrupted.

"And I want you to tell me if you love me in return."

Miss March rose from the rock where she had been sitting, and her
companion rose with her. After a moment's silence, during which he
watched her with intense eagerness, she said: "Mr Croft, I am going to
give you your choice. Would you prefer being refused under a cherry
tree, or under a sycamore?"

There was a little smile on her lips as she said this, which Lawrence
could not interpret.

"I decline being refused under any tree," he said with vehemence.

"I prefer the cherry tree," said she, "there is a very pretty one over
there on the ridge of this hill, and its leaves are nearly all gone,
which would make it quite appropriate--but what is the meaning of this?
There comes Peggy. It isn't possible that she thinks it's time for me to
give out something to Aunt Judy."

Croft turned, and there was the wooden Peggy, marching steadily up the
hill, and almost upon them.

"What do you want, Peggy?" asked Miss Roberta.

"Dar's a man down to de house dat wants him," pointing to Mr Croft.

Lawrence was very much surprised. "A man who wants me!" he exclaimed.
"You must be mistaken."

"No sah," replied Peggy, "you's de one."

For a moment Lawrence hesitated. His disposition was to let any man in
the world, be he president or king, wait until he had settled this
matter with Miss March. But with Peggy present it was impossible to go
on with the love-making. He might, indeed, send her back with a message,
but the thought came to him that it would be well to postpone for a
little the pressing of his suit, for the lady was certainly in a very
untoward humor, and he was not altogether sorry to have an excuse for
breaking off the interview at this point. He had not yet been discarded,
and he would like to think over the matter, and see if he could discover
any reason for the very disrespectful manner, to say the least of it,
with which Miss March had received his amatory advances. "I suppose I
must go and see the man," he said, "though I can't imagine who it can
possibly be. Will you return to the house?"

"No," said Miss Roberta, "I will stay here a little longer, and enjoy
the view."




CHAPTER XVII.


As Lawrence Croft walked down Pine Top Hill his mind was in a good deal
of a hubbub. The mind of almost any lover would be stirred up if he came
fresh from an interview, in which his lady had pinned him, to use a
cruel figure, in various places on the wall to see how he would spin and
buzz in different lights. But the disdainful pin had not yet gone
through a vital part of Lawrence's hopes, and they had strength to spin
and buzz a good deal yet. As soon as he should have an opportunity he
would rack his brains to find out what it was that had put Roberta March
into such a strange humor. No one who simply desired to decline the
addresses of a gentleman would treat her lover as Miss March had treated
him. It was quite evident that she wished to punish him. But what had
been his crime?

But the immediate business on his hands was to go and see what man it
was who wished to see him. Ordinarily the fact that a man had called
upon him would not be considered by Lawrence a matter for cogitation,
but as he walked toward the house it seemed to him very odd that any one
should call upon him in such an out-of-the-way place as this, where so
few people knew him to be. He was not a business man, but a large
portion of his funds were invested in a business concern, and it might
be that something had gone wrong, and that a message had been sent him.
His address at the Green Sulphur Springs was known, and the man in
charge there knew that he was visiting Mrs Keswick.

These considerations made him a little anxious, and helped to keep his
mind in the hubbub which has been mentioned.

When he reached the front of the house, Lawrence saw a lean, gray horse
tied to a tree, and a man sitting upon the porch; and as soon as he made
his appearance the latter came down the steps to meet him.

"I didn't go into the house, sir," he said, "because I thought you'd
just as lief have a talk outside."

"What is your business?" asked Croft.

The man moved a few steps farther from the house, and Lawrence followed
him.

"Is it anything secret you have to tell me?" he asked.

"Well, yes, sir, I should think it was," replied the other, a tall man,
with sandy hair and beard, and dressed in a checkered business suit,
which had lost a good deal of the freshness of its early youth. "I may
as well tell you at once who I am. I am an anti-detective. Never heard
of that sort of person, I suppose?"

"Never," said Lawrence, curtly.

"Well, sir, the organization which I belong to is one which is filling a
long felt want. You know very well, sir, that this country is full of
detective officers, not only those who belong to a regular police force,
but lots of private ones, who, if anybody will pay them for it, will go
to Jericho to hunt a man up. Now, sir, our object is to protect society
against these people. When we get information that a man is going to be
hounded down by any of these detectives--and we have private ways of
knowing these things--we just go to that man, and if he is willing to
become one of our clients, we take him into our charge; and our
business, after that, is to keep him informed of just what is being done
against him. He can stay at home in comfort with his wife, settle up his
accounts, and do what he likes, and the day before he is to be swooped
down on, he gets notice from us, and comfortably goes to Chicago, or
Jacksonville, where he can take his ease until we post him of the next
move of the enemy. If he wants to take extra precautions, and writes a
letter to anybody in the place where he lives, dated from London or Hong
Kong, and sends that letter under cover to us, we'll see that it is
mailed from the place it is dated from, and that it gets into the hands
of the detectives. There have been cases where a gentleman has had six
months or a year of perfect comfort, by the detectives being thrown off
by a letter like this. That is only one of the ways in which we help
and protect persons in difficulties who, if it wasn't for us, would be
dragged off, hand-cuffed, from the bosom of their families; and who,
even if they never got convicted, would have to pay a lot of money to
get out of the scrape. Now, I have put myself a good deal out of the
way, sir, to come to you, and offer you our assistance."

"Me!" exclaimed Croft. "What are you talking about?"

The man smiled. "Of course, it's all right to know nothing about it, and
it's just what we would advise; but I assure you we are thoroughly
posted in your affair, and to let you know that we are, I'll just
mention that the case is that of Croft after Keswick, through Candy."

"Stuff and nonsense!" exclaimed Lawrence, getting red in the face.
"There is no such case!"

He was about to say more, when a few words from the anti-detective
stopped him suddenly.

"Look here, Mr Keswick," said the man, leveling a long fore-finger at
him, and speaking very earnestly, "don't you go and flatter yourself
that this thing has been dropped, because you haven't heard of it for a
month or two; and if you'll take my advice, you'll make up your mind on
the spot, either to let things go on and be nabbed, or to put yourself
under our protection, and live in entire safety until this thing has
blown over, without any trouble, except a little travelling." At the
mention of Keswick's name, Lawrence had seen through the whole affair at
a single mental glance. The man was after Junius Keswick, and his
business was to Lawrence more startling and repugnant than it could
possibly be to any one else. It was necessary to be very careful. If he
immediately avowed who he was, the man might yet find Keswick, before
warning and explanation could be got to him, and not only put that
gentleman in a very unpleasant state of mind, but do a lot of mischief
besides. He did not believe that Mr Candy had recommenced his
investigations without consultation with him, but this person evidently
knew that such an investigation had been set on foot, and that would be
sufficient for his purposes. Lawrence decided to be very wary, and he
said to the man, "Did you ask for me here by name?"

"No, _sir_," said the other, "I had information that you were here, and
that you were the only gentleman who lived here and although you are in
your own home, I did not know but this was one of those cases in which
names were dropped and servants changed, to suit an emergency. I asked
the little darkey I saw at the front of the house if she lived here, and
she told me she had only just come. That put me on my guard, and so I
merely asked if the gentleman was in, and she went and got you. We're
very careful about calling names, and you needn't be afraid that any of
our people will ever give you away on that line."

Lawrence reflected for a moment, and then he said: "What are your terms
and arrangements for carrying on an affair of this kind?"

"They are very simple and moderate," said the man, taking a wallet from
his pocket. "There is one of our printed slips, which we show but don't
give away. To become a client all you have to do is to send fifteen
dollars to the office, or to pay it to me, if you think no time should
be lost. That will entitle you to protection for a year. After that we
make the nominal charge of five dollars for each letter sent you, giving
you information of what is going on against you. For extra services,
such as mailing letters from distant points, of course there will be
extra charges."

Lawrence glanced over the printed slip, which contained information very
similar to that the man had given him, and as he did so, he came to the
conclusion that there would be nothing dishonest in allowing the fellow
to continue in his mistake, and to endeavor to find out what mischief
was about to be done in his, Lawrence's, name, and under his apparent
authority. "I will become a subscriber," said he, taking out his
pocket-book, "and request that you give me all the information you
possess, here and immediately."

"That is the best thing to do," said the man, taking the money, "for, in
my opinion, no time is to be lost. I'll give you a receipt for this."

"Don't trouble yourself about that," said Lawrence; "let me have your
information."

"You're very right," said the man. "It's a great deal better not to
have your name on anything. And now for the points. Candy, who has
charge of Croft's job, is going more into the detective business than he
used to be, and we have information that he has lately taken up your
affair in good, solid earnest. He found out that Croft had put somebody
else on your track, without regularly taking the business out of his
hands, and this made him mad; and I don't wonder at it, for Croft, as I
understand, has plenty of money, and if he concluded to throw Candy
over, he ought to have done it fair and square, and paid him something
handsome in consideration for having taken the job away. But he didn't
do anything of the kind, and Candy considers himself still in his
employment, and vows he's going to get hold of you before the other
party does; so, you see, you have got two sets of detectives after you,
and they'll be mighty sharp, for the first one that gets you will make
the money."

"Where are Candy's detectives now?" asked Lawrence.

"That I can't tell you positively, as I am so far from our New York
office, to which all information comes. But now that you are a
subscriber, I'll communicate with head-quarters and the necessary points
will be immediately sent to you by telegraph, if necessary. All that you
have to do is to stay here until you hear from us."

"From the way you spoke just now," said Lawrence, "I supposed the
detective would be here to-day or to-morrow."

"Oh no," said the other, "Candy has not the facilities for finding
people that we have. But it takes some time for me to communicate with
head-quarters and for you to hear from there; and so, as I said before,
there isn't an hour to be lost. But you're all right now."

"I expected you to give me more definite information than this," said
Lawrence, "but now, I suppose, I must wait until I hear from New York,
at five dollars a message."

"My business is to enlist subscribers," said the other. "You couldn't
expect me to tell you anything definite when I am in an out-of-the-way
place like this."

"Did you come down to Virginia on purpose to find me?" asked Lawrence.

"No," said the man, "I am on my way to Mobile, and I only lose one train
by stopping here to attend to your business."

"How did you know I was here?"

"Ah," said the anti-detective, with a smile, "as I told you, we have
facilities. I knew you were at this house, and I came here, straight as
a die."

"It is truly wonderful," said Lawrence, "how accurate your information
is. And now I will tell you something you can have, gratis. You have
made one of the most stupid blunders that I ever heard of. Mr Keswick
went away from here, nearly a week ago, and I am the Mr Croft whom you
supposed to be in pursuit of him."

The man started, and gave vent to an unpleasant ejaculation.

"To prove it," said Lawrence, "there is my card, and," putting his hand
into his pocket, "here are several letters addressed to me. And I want
to let you know that I am not in pursuit of Mr Keswick; that he and I
are very good friends; and that I have frequently seen him of late; and
so you can just drop this business at once. And as for Candy, he has no
right to take a single step for which I have not authorized him. I
merely employed him to get Mr Keswick's address, which I wished for a
very friendly motive. I shall write to Candy at once."

The man's face was not an agreeable study. He looked angry; he looked
baffled; and yet he looked incredulous. "Now, come," said he, "if you
are not Keswick, what did you pay me that money for?"

"I paid it to you," said Lawrence, "because I wanted to find out what
dirty business you were doing in my name. I have had the worth of my
money, and you can now go."

The man did not go, but stood gazing at Lawrence in a very peculiar way.
"If Mr Keswick isn't here," he said, "I believe you are here waiting
for him, and I am going to stay and warn him. People don't set private
detectives on other men's tracks just for friendly motives."

Lawrence's face flushed and he made a step forward, but suddenly
checking himself, he looked at the man for a moment and then said: "I
suppose you want me to understand that if I become one of your
subscribers in my own name, you will be willing to withhold the
information you intended to give Mr Keswick."

"Well," said the man, relapsing into his former confidential tones,
"business is business. If I could see Mr Keswick, I don't know whether
he would employ me or not. I have no reason to work for one person more
than another, and, of course, if one man comes to me and another
doesn't, I'm bound to work for the man who comes. That's business!"

"You have said quite enough," said Lawrence. "Now leave this place
instantly!"

"No, I won't!" said the man, shutting his mouth very tightly, as he drew
himself up and folded his arms on his chest.

Lawrence was young, well-made, and strong, but the other man was taller,
heavier, and perhaps stronger. To engage in a personal contest to compel
a fellow like this to depart, would be a very unpleasant thing for
Lawrence to do, even if he succeeded. He was a visitor here, the ladies
would probably be witnesses of the conflict, and although the natural
impulse of his heart, predominant over everything else at that moment,
prompted him to spring upon the impudent fellow and endeavor to thrash
him, still his instincts as a gentleman forbade him to enter into such a
contest, which would probably have no good effect, no matter how it
resulted. Never before did he feel the weakness of the moral power of a
just cause when opposed to brutal obstinacy. Still he did not retreat
from his position. "Did you hear what I said?" he cried. "Leave this
place!"

"You are not master here," said the other, still preserving his defiant
attitude, "and you have no right to order me away. I am not going."

Despite his inferiority in size, despite his gentlemanly instincts, and
despite his prudent desire not to make an exhibition of himself before
Miss March and the household, it is probable that Lawrence's anger would
have assumed some form of physical manifestation, had not Mrs Keswick
appeared suddenly on the porch. It was quite evident to her, from the
aspect of the two men, that something was wrong, and she called out:
"Who's that?"