Part 54 (1/2)

”Yes, Mr. Morton, it has, and I thank _you_ for the drive very much.

Let me suggest that Reuben is much too honest for a conspirator.”

”Well, he was a very willing one; and I see by his face, as he drives down to the barn, that you have made him a happy one.”

”It doesn't take much to make him happy.”

”And would it take such an enormous amount to make you happy?”

”You are much too inclined to be personal to be an editor. The world at large should hold your interest;” and she went to her room.

At the dinner-table the genial spell worked on; she recognized it with a quiet smile, but yielded to its kindly power. At last she apparently formed the resolution to make the most of this one bright day, and she became the life of the party.

”Emily,” said Mrs. Yocomb, as we rose from the table, ”father proposes that we all go on a family picnic to Silver Pond, and take our supper there. It's only three miles away. Would thee feel strong enough to go?”

Mrs. Yocomb spoke with the utmost simplicity and innocence; but the young girl laughed outright, then fixed a penetrating glance on Mr.

Yocomb, whose florid face became much more ruddy.

”Evidences of guilt clearly apparent,” she said, ”and Mr. Morton, too, looks very conscious. 'The best laid schemes of mice and men'--you know the rest. Oh, yes, I'd go if I had to be carried. When webs are spun so kindly, flies ought to be caught.”

”What is the matter with you all?” cried Adah.

”Miss Adah, if you'll find me a match for my cigar you'll make me happy,” I said hastily, availing myself of the first line of retreat open.

”Is that all thee needs to make thee happy?”

”Well, one thing at a time, Miss Adah, if you please.”

As the day grew cool, Reuben came around with the family rockaway. Mrs.

Yocomb and Adah had prepared a basket as large as their own generous natures. I placed Miss Warren beside Mrs. Yocomb on the back seat, while I took my place by Adah, with Zillah between us. Little Adela and Reuben had become good friends, and she insisted on sitting between him and his father.

As we rolled along the quiet country roads, chatting, laughing, and occasionally singing a s.n.a.t.c.h of a song, no one would have dreamed that any shadows rested on the party except those which slanted eastward from the trees, which often hung far over our heads.

I took pains not to feign any forced gayety, nor had I occasion to, for I was genuinely happy--happier than I had ever been before. Nothing was a.s.sured save the absolute truth of the woman that I loved, but with this ally I was confident. I was impartial in my attentions to Adah and Zillah, and so friendly to both that Adah was as pleased and happy as the child. We chaffed the country neighbors whom we met, and even chattered back at the barking squirrels that whisked before us along the fences. Mr. Yocomb seemed almost as much of a boy as Reuben, and for some reason Miss Warren always laughed most at his pleasantries.

Mrs. Yocomb looked as placid and bright as Silver Pond, as it at last glistened beneath us in the breathless, sunny afternoon; but like the clear surface fringed with shadows that sank far beneath the water, there were traces of many thoughts in her large blue eyes.

There was a cow lying under the trees where we meant to spread our table. I pointed her out to Miss Warren with humorous dismay. ”Shall we turn back?” I asked.

”No,” she replied, looking into my eyes gratefully. ”You have become so brave that I'm not afraid to go on.”

I ignored her reference to that which I intended she should forget for one day, believing that if we could make her happy she would recognize how far her golden-haloed lover came short of this power. So I said banteringly, ”I'll wager you my hat that you dare not get out and drive that terrific beast away.”

”The idea of Emily's being afraid of a cow, after facing Dapple!” cried Reuben.

”Well, we'll see,” I said. ”Stop the rockaway here.”

”What should I do with your hat, Mr. Morton?”

”Wear it, and suffer the penalty,” laughed Adah.