Part 17 (1/2)

CHAPTER X.

CAP IN CAPTIVITY.

I lingered here and rescue planned For Clara and for me.

--SCOTT.

Meanwhile how fared it with Capitola in the Hidden House?

”I am in for it now!” said Cap, as she closed the door behind Clara; ”I am in for it now! This is a jolly imprudent adventure! What will Wool do when he discovers that he has 'lost sight' of me? What will uncle say when he finds out what I've done? Whe-ew! Uncle will explode! I wonder if the walls at Hurricane Hall will be strong enough to stand it! Wool will go mad! I doubt if he will ever do a bit more good in this world!”

”But above all, I wonder what the Le Noirs, father and son, will say when they find that the heiress is flown and a 'beggar,' as uncle flatters me by calling me, will be here in her place! Whe-ew-ew-ew!

There will be a tornado! Cap, child, they'll murder you! That's just what they'll do! They'll kill and eat you, Cap, without any salt! or they may lock you up in the haunted room to live with the ghost, Cap, and that would be worse!”

”Hus.h.!.+ here comes Dorcas Knight! Now I must make believe I'm Clara, and do the sentimental up brown!” concluded Capitola, as she seated herself near the door where she could be heard, and began to sob softly.

Dorcas rapped.

Cap sobbed in response.

”Are you coming to luncheon, Miss Day?” inquired the woman.

”Ee-hee! Ee-hee! Ee-hee! I do not want to eat,” sobbed Cap, in a low and smothered voice. Any one would have thought she was drowned in tears.

”Very well; just as you like,” said the woman harshly, as she went away.

”Well, I declare,” laughed Cap, ”I did that quite as well as an actress could! But now what am I to do? How long can I keep this up? Heigh-ho 'let the world slide!' I'll not reveal myself until I'm driven to it, for when I do-! Cap, child, you'll get chawed right up!”

A little later in the day Dorcas Knight came again and rapped at the door.

”Ee-hee! Ee-hee! Ee-hee!” sobbed Cap.

”Miss Day, your cousin, Craven Le Noir, wishes to speak with you alone.”

”Ee-hee! Ee-hee! Ee-hee! I cannot see him!” sobbed Cap, in a low and suffocating voice.

The woman went away, and Cap suffered no other interruption until six o'clock, when Dorcas Knight once more rapped saying:

”Miss Day, your uncle is at the front door with the carriage, and he wishes to know if you are ready to obey him.”

”Ee-hee! Ee-hee! Ee--hee!-te-te-tell him yes!” sobbed Cap, as if her heart would break.

The woman went off with this answer, and Capitola hastily enveloped her form in Clara's large, black shawl, put on Clara's black bonnet and tied her thick mourning veil closely over her face.

”A pretty bridal dress, this; but, however, I suppose these men are no more particular about my costume than they are about their own conduct,” said Cap.

She had just drawn on her gloves when she heard the footsteps of two men approaching. They rapped at the door.

”Come in,” she sobbed, in a low, broken voice, that might have belonged to any girl in deep distress, and she put a white cambric handkerchief up to her eyes and drew her thick veil closely over her face.