第26章

Istoppedshort。IcouldnottellhimwhyIdidnotanchor。Helaughedaloud。

"That’sallright，"hesaid。"IguessMabel’sstoryisnearenoughtothetruthforallpracticalpurposes。Mrs。Paine，"withasuddenchangetoseriousness，"youcanunderstandwhyIhavecomeherethismorning。Ifithadnotbeenforyourson’spluck，andcoolhead，andgoodjudgmentI——Mrs。ColtonandImighthavebeen——

Godknowsinwhatstatewemighthavebeento—day！Godknows！I

can’tthinkofit。"

Hisvoicetrembled。Motherputoutahandandtookmine。

"Roscoe，"shesaid，"Roscoe。"

"SoIcametothankhim，"wentonourvisitor。"Thisisn’tthefirsttimehehasdonesomethingofthesort。Itseemsalmostasifhe——Butnevermindthat。I’mnotgoingtobefoolish。YoursonandI，Mrs。Paine，havebeenfightingeachothermostofthesummer。That’sallright。Itwasasquarefightand，untilthisnewestfreakofhis——andhehasgotmeguessingastowhatitmeans——IadmitIthoughthewasquiteaslikelytolickmeasIwastolickhim。I’vewatchedhimprettycloselyandIamaprettyfairjudgeofaman，Iflattermyself。Didhetellyouthat，awhileago，Iofferedhimaplaceinmyoffice？"

"Inyouroffice？Youofferedhimthat？No，hedidnottellme。

Roscoe！"reproachfully。

"Ididnottellyou，Mother，becauseitwasnotworthwhile。OfcourseIcouldnotaccepttheoffer。"

Shehesitatedand，beforeshespoke，Coltonbrokein。

"Whynot？Thatwaswhatyouweregoingtosay，Mrs。Paine，Itakeit。Thatiswhat_I_said——whynot？AndIsayitagain。Paine，thatofferisstillopen。"

Ishookmyhead。"ItoldyouthenthatIcouldnotaccept，"I

said。"Itisimpossible。"

"Whyisitimpossible？SofarasIamconcernedIbelieveyouwouldbeamightygoodinvestment。"

"Impossible，"Isaidagain。

"Nothingisimpossible。Wewon’twastewords。IamgoingtobeplainandIthinkMrs。Painewillexcuseme。Youthinkyoushouldnotleaveyourmother，perhaps。Iunderstandthatreason。Itwouldbeagoodone，exceptthat——well，thatitisn’tgoodanylonger。Yourmotherismuchbetterthanshewas。Quimby——herdoctorandmine——saysso。Ishallseethatsheiswelllookedafter。Ifsheneedsanursesheshallhaveone，thebestwecanget。Oh，bestillandletmefinish！Youcantalkafterward。

You’renotgoingsofaraway。NewYorkisn’ttheendoftheearth；

itisonlythecenter，oritthinksitis。You’llbeinclosetouchwithDenboroallthetimeandyoucancomeherewheneveryouwantto。Nowwillyoutakemyoffer？"

"No。"

"Youngman，ifIdidn’tknowtherewerebrainsinsidethatheadofyoursIshouldthinkitwas，astheboyssay，solidivory。

Confoundyou！Here，Mrs。Paine，"turningtoMother，"youtakehiminhand。Tellhimhemustcomewithme。"

"Mother——"Iprotested。Hecutmyprotestshort。

"Tellhim，"heordered。

Motherlookedatme。"Ithink，perhaps，youshouldaccept，Roscoe，"shesaid，slowly。

"Accept！Mother！"

"Yes。I——Ithinkyoushould。Iamsureeveryoneelsewouldthinkso。IshouldnotwishyoutodosoifMr。Coltonwasmerelytryingtobekind，tohelpyoufrommotivesofgratitude，orcharity——"

"Don’tusethatword，please，"snapped"BigJim。""WhenIlosemymindImaytaketocharity，butnotbefore。Charity！GoodLord！"

"Butitisnotcharity。Iambetter，Roscoe；Irealizeiteveryday；andwithDorindaIshallgetonperfectlywell。Ihavebeenthinkingofsomethinglikethisforalongtime。Youoweittoyourself，Roscoe。Thechanceisonethatmanymenwouldbevery，verygladtohavecometheirway。Ishallnoturgeyou，Boy。Youmustdecideforyourself，andIknowyouwill；but，Roscoe，Ishallbequitecontented——yes，gladandproud，ifyousayyestoMr。

Colton。"

Thegentlemannamednoddedemphaticapproval。"That’sthetalk！"

heexclaimed。"Mrs。Paine，Icongratulateyouonyourcommon—

sense。"

"Ithink，likeyou，thatyouwillhavemadeagoodinvestment，Mr。

Colton，"wasMother’sanswer。

Irosetomyfeet。Thismustbeendednow，foralltime。

"Ithankyou，Mr。Colton，"Isaid，thoughnotassteadilyasI

couldhavewished。"IamgreatlyobligedtoyouandIrealizethatyouoffermeanexceptionalopportunity，orwhatwouldbeoneforanotherman。ButIcannotaccept。"

"Lookhere，Paine！I’llspeakplainerstill。IunderstandthatthatShoreLanetradeofourshasbecomecommonproperty，or，atanyrate，itwillbecommonpropertysoon。IfIseethesituationclearly，Denboroislikelytobearatherunpleasantplaceforyou。

ThatfellowDeanhasalotofinfluencehere——heavenknowswhy！——

andhehatesmeworsethanOldNickhatesholywater。Oh，Iknowyou’renotafraidofhim！Butwhatistheuseoftakingtheroughroadwhenthesmoothoneisrightbeforeyourfeet？Sayyes，andlet’sendit。"

"No，"saidI，stubbornly。"No，Mr。Colton。"

"Youmeanit？Verywell，IleaveyouinyourMother’shands。Shewillprobablybringyoutoyoursensesbeforelong。Mrs。Paine，youcanhandlehim，Ihavenodoubt。Iamgladtohavemetyou，and，withyourpermission，Ishallcallonyouagain。SowillMabel。Asforyou，youngman，Ithankyouforlastnight’swork。

Youwill，perhaps，acceptthanksifyourefuseeverythingelse。

Goodmorning。"

Herose，bowed，andwalkedtothedoor。Asheopenedithestaggered，perceptibly。Ithought，foraninstant，thathewasgoingtofall，andIsprangtohisassistance。

"It’sallright，"hesaid，gruffly。"Thisdigestionofminesetsmyheadspinningsometimes。ThatdoctorsaysIshallupsetcompletelyunlessIrest。ItoldhimhewasafoolandIintendtoproveit。Letmebe。Icanwalk，Ishouldhope。WhenIcan’tI’llcalltheambulance——orthehearse。I’llfindthewayout，myself。Good—by。"

Thedoorclosedbehindhim。

"Roscoe，"saidMother，quickly，"comehere。"

Iturnedtowardher。Shewaslookingatmewithastrangeexpression。

"Whatisit，Mother？"Iasked，anxiously。

"Roscoe，"shewhispered，"Iknowhim。Ihavemethimbefore。"

"Knowhim！YouhavemetMr。Colton——before？Where？"

"Atourhomeintheolddays。Hecamethereoncewith——withyourfather。Hewasourguestatdinner。"

Icouldscarcelybelieveit。Then，asthethoughtofwhatthismightmeanflashedtomymind，Iaskedanxiously：

"Didheknowyou，doyouthink？"

"No，Iamsurehedidnot。WemetbutonceandIhave，"withalittlesigh，"changedsincethen。ButIrecognizedhim。ThenameofColtonwasfamiliartomewhenyoufirstmentionedit，sometimeago，butIdidnotrememberwhereIhadheardit。Ofcourse，IdidnotconnectthisMr。Coltonwith——thatone。"

Ifrowned。Thiscomplicatedmattersstillmore，andfurthercomplicationsweresuperfluous。

"And，knowingthis，knowingthathemightrecognizeyouatanytime，youurgedmetoaccepthisoffer，"Isaid，reproachfully。

"Mother！"

"Yes。"

"Mother，howcanyou？WouldyouhavemegotoNewYorkandenterabankinghousewhere，anyhourofanyday，ImightberecognizedbysomeofthemenIonceknew？WhereImightexpectatanymomenttobecalledbymyrealname？Howcanyou？"

Shegazedatmeearnestly。"Whynottellhim，Roscoe？"sheasked。

Istaredather，aghast。"Tellhim！"Irepeated。"TellhimwhoI

am？Tellhimourstory，thestorythat——Mother，areyoucrazy？"

"No。IbelieveIamsane，atleast。Ihavebeenthinkingagreatdealoflate。AsIhavebeengrowingstrongerIhavebeenthinkingmoreandmoreandIamnotsurethatyouandIhavebeenrightinhidingherea

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