Part 15 (2/2)
”Not a bit of it, ot soet it honestly,” her father answered with soothing toleration; for Mary had ideas, and was apt to air thee when she was roused
”It see , and so ,” she said, with a note of pathos in her tone
”Thepeople is to assist the themselves,” broke in Jervis ”If Mr Selincourt develops this fishi+ng as it is capable of being developed, he will do ood than if he spent hundreds of pounds in charity”
”If you were really a Canadian you would have said dollars, not pounds,” she interrupted, withfun of hilishman,” he said quietly, too much in earnest just then to resent her levity, ”so it is most natural to me to speak of pounds But that makes no difference to the question at issue When your father gets his factory going he will employ twenty men where he now employs one They in turn will be able to support wives and families, which will mean employment for storekeepers, school teachers--”
”Oh, spare !” she implored penitently, ”and I proain I know you were going to add that the twenty men's wives would want twenty new hats, and so there would be an opening for a first-class e”
”I had not thought of that, but of course it is quite true,” he said, adding with a laugh: ”and there would be an opening for a dressmaker also, don't you see?”
”I don't want to see I don't want to hear anything more about it at all It is all too ether to fit such a twilight as this,” she said, with a touch of petulance ”I want to know about the people here What sort of a man is Oily Dave? He looks a veritable old rascal”
”And for once appearances are not deceptive,” replied Jervis ”Since I have been here he has tried to quietly do for e He so nearly succeeded the first tied him to persevere,”
”How truly horrid!” she cried with a shi+ver ”But there are nicer people to cohtfully hospitable woman who lives in the house on the bluff, with a boatlike projection at one end?”
”That is Mrs Jenkin, my landlady, and the boat-like projection is my abode It is very comfortable, too,” he answered
”Then who is the very pretty girl who ht up in drawing-rooe like abeen intended only to lead up to this
Jervis Ferrars stood up with a quickhad become suddenly intolerable; but his voice was quiet and steady as he answered: ”That would be Miss Radford, whose father has the store over the river But he has been ill for a long tihter has a very hard life I a over to see him now, if you will excuse me There is no doctor here, of course, so I have done what I could for hihtful little person named Mrs Burton, as here e calad to find there are such nice people here, and I hope we shall be friends”
Jervis flung up his head with a haughty movement, almost as if he resented the kindly overture, but he replied civilly enough; only the thought in his mind as he went down to the river was that poor Katherine, with her hard, drudging life for the good of others, was so irl, who lived only to please herself, that it would be a condescension on Katherine's part to be friendly with her When he reached the store it was to find no one about but Mrs Burton and the invalid
”Ah, I a of sharp disappointo over to report progress to him”
”What very nice people they are!” exclaimed Mrs Burton with enthusiasreat acquisition here this summer”
”Yes,” Jervis resaid, for he was in perplexity as to why Katherine was not visible; and seeing no prospect of finding out without a direct question, he e and asked: ”Where is your sister? Isn't she well?”
”Katherine has gone to bed, because she is so tired to-night She and Phil have done the backache portage, as they call it, and it alears her so h Then she said, with an involuntary lowering of her voice as she glanced at her father: ”Katherine does not like the idea of our telling Father that Mr Selincourt has come She says it may excite him, and be very harlanced at the invalid, who sat in a chair by the open door, gazing out at the evening sky, where the twilight still lingered 'Duke Radford was sitting with his head stooped a little forward, and shts pleased him
”I don't think it would hurt hi man answered slowly Then he added: ”But Miss Radford would know better about that than I do, and if she is afraid of the effect upon him, it would be well to be careful”
”I don't think Katherine knows more about Father than I do, because you see she is not much with him, and I don't think he understands the difference between one person and another,” said Mrs Burton ”He see to Oily Dave as to Astor M'Kree, and that is certainly different from what he used to be But it will be very hard if we have to shut nice people like the Selincourts out of the house just because it may upset Father, who probably won't even realize that they are strangers at all”
”Well, we can but try his any worry to hian to talk to the invalid ”Mr Selincourt and his daughter have come to spend the summer here; they live in the hut across the river that Astor M'Kree has done up so nicely Would you like them to come and see you?”
'Duke Radford looked at hi about; then he said slowly: ”Oh yes, I like to see people, nice people; where do they co man