第28章

"Whattimeisit？"Idemanded。

"Abouthalf—pastfive，sir，orthereabouts，"wastheanswer，inatoneofmingledwearinessandresentment。PlainlyMr。Johnsonhadbeenupallnightandconsideredhimselfimposedupon。

Iwasthankfulthatmylapsefromdutyhadbeenofnolongerduration。Ithadbeenmuchtoolongasitwas。

"HowisMr。Colton？"Iasked。

"Better，sir，Ibelieve。Heisrestingmorequietatpresent。"

"WhereisCahoon？"

"HereIbe，"thisfromPhineasinthenextroom。"Haveagoodsnooze，didyou，Ros？"

"Toogood。"Iwalkedinandfoundhimstillsittingbythetelegraphinstrument。"Hasanythinghappened？"Iasked。

"Narything。Allquietasthetombsincethatlastmessage，theoneyouheard。Prettynighfellasleepmyself，Idid。GuessI

shouldhave，onlyMissColtonshecameinandkeptmecomp’nyforaspell。"

"MissColton——hasshebeenhere？Whydidn’tyoucallme，Ros？"

"Iwasgoin’to，butshewouldn’tletme。Saidyouwasallworeout，poorfeller，andthatyouwan’ttobedisturbedunless’twasnecessary。She’sanawfulniceyoungwoman，ain’tshe。Nothin’

stuckupabouther，atall。Sethereandtalkedwithmejustassociableandfolksyasifshewan’twuthacent。Askedmorequestionsthanafew，shedid。"

"Didshe？"Iwasnotpayingmuchattentiontohisremarks。Mymindwasbusywithmoreimportantthings。IwaswonderingwhatDaviswasdoingjustthen。Phinwenton。

"Yup。Ihappenedtorememberthatyouwan’tatthebankto—dayandIaskedherifsheknewthereasonwhy。’Howdidyouknowhewasn’tthere？’saysshe。’AlvinBakertoldmefust，’Isays，’andSamWheelertoldhim。Everybodyknewitandwaswonderin’aboutit。Theycal’latedRoswassick，’Itoldher，’butthatcouldn’tbeorhewouldn’tberoundheresettin’upallnight。’WhatWAS

thereasonyouwan’tthere，Ros？"

Ithoughtitstrangethathe，andeveryoneelseintown，didnotknowthereasonbeforethis。WasitpossiblethatCaptainDeanaloneknewofmy"treason"toDenboro，andthathewaskeepingthediscoverytohimself？Whyshouldhekeepittohimself？Hehadthreatenedtodrivemeoutoftown。

"Ihadotherbusinessto—day，Phin，"Ianswered，shortly。

"Yup。SoIgatheredfromwhatCap’nJedsaid。Hewasinthedepotthisnoonsendin’atelegramandIaskedhimaboutyou。’IsRossick？’Isays。’Huh！’sayshe——youknowhowhegrunts，Ros；foralltheworldlikeahog——’Huh！’sayshe，’sick！No，butI

cal’latehe’llbeprettysickaforelong。’Whatdidhemeanbythat，doyous’pose？"

Iknew，butIdidnotexplain。Imadenoreply。

"Twasaqueersortoftalk，seemedtome，"continuedPhin。"I

askedhimagainwhyyouwan’tatthebank，andhesaidyouhadotherbusiness，justsameasyousaidnow。Hewasuglyasacowwithasorehornoversomethin’andIjudged’twasbesttokeepstill。Thattelegramhesentwasasurprisin’thing，too。’Twasto——butthere！hemademepromiseIwouldn’ttellandsoImustn’t。

Iain’ttoldasoul——exceptone——andthenitslippedoutaforeI

thought。However，thatonewon’tmakenodifference。Sheain’tinterestedin——intheonethetelegramwassentto，’tain’tlikely。"

"WhereisMissColtonnow？"Iasked。

"Withhermaandpa，Ipresumelikely。Herandmesetandwhisperedtogetherforalongspell。Landsakes！shewouldn’tletmespeaklouder’nawhisperforfearofwakin’youup。Abody’dthinkyouwasayoung—oneinarms，thecareshetookofyou。"

AgainIdidnotanswer，andagainthegarrulousstationmastercontinuedwithoutwaitingforareply。

"Isaystoher，saysI，’It’sapityGeorgeTaylorain’ttohome，’

Isays。’Ishouldn’twonderifhecouldhelpyouwiththisLouisvillestockyou’resoworriedabout。Georgewasconsider’bleinterestedinthatstockhimselfaspellago。IsentmuchasadozentelegramsfromhimaboutthatverystocktosomebrokerfolksuptoBoston，andtheywasmightyanxioustelegrams，too。Itellyou！’Isays。"

Hehadcaughtmyattentionatlast。

"Didyoutellherthat？"Idemanded。

"SureIdid！Inevermeantto，nuther。Ain’ttoldanothersoul。

Yousee，George，heaskedmenotto。Butshe’sgotawaywithherthatwouldmakeOldNickconfesshissins，ifshesetouttolarn’em。IwassortofashamedafterItoldherandIexplainedtoherthatIhadn’toughttodoneit。’ButIguessit’sallrightnow，anyway，’Isays。’IftherewasanytroublealongofGeorgeandthatstockIcal’lateit’sallover。Heacteddreadfulworriedforaspell，butfortheweekaforehewasmarriedheseemedchipperasever。Biggestchangeinhimyoueversee，’saysI。’Somytellin’

youisallright，Iguess，’Isays。’I’msureit’sallright，’

saysshe，andherfacekindoflightedup，asyoumightsay。WhenshelookedatmethatwayI’dhavegivenhermyhouseandlot，ifshe’dwanted’em，thoughyouneedn’ttellmyoldwomanthatIsaidso。He！he！’Ofcourseit’sallright，’shesays。’Butyouhadbetternottellanyoneelse。We’llhaveitforoursecret，won’twe，Mr。Cahoon？’shesays，smilin’。’Sartinwewill，’saysI。

And——well，bythunder！"asifthethoughtoccurredtohimforthefirsttime。"Isaidthat，andnowI’vebeenandblattedoutthewholebusinesstoyou！IamtheDARNDESTfool！"

Ididnotcontradicthim。Iwastooangryanddisturbedeventospeaktohimforthemoment。And，beforeIcouldspeak，wewereinterrupted。Theyoungladyherselfappearedinthedoorway。SHE

hadnotslept，thatwasplain。Herfacewaspaleandthereweredarkshadowsbeneathhereyes。AsIlookedatherIwasmoreashamedofmyownunpremeditatednapthanever。Yetshewas，asthedoctorhadsaid，calmanduncomplaining。Sheevensmiledasshegreetedus。

"Goodmorning，"shesaid。"Yourbreakfastisready，Mr。Cahoon。I

knowyoufeelthatyoumustbegettingbacktoyourworkatthestation。"

Phineaspulledoutanenormousnickelwatchandglancedatit。

"Landsakes！mostsix，ain’tit，"heexclaimed。"Iguessyou’reright。I’llhavetobetrottin’along。Butyouneedn’tfussfornobreakfastforme。I’musedtomissin’ameal’svittlesnowandagainandIetenoughlastnighttolastmeonespell。"

Hewashurryingfromtheroom，butshewouldnotlethimgo。

"Therehasbeenno’fuss’whatever，Mr。Cahoon，"shesaid。

"Breakfastisready，hereinthelibrary。Andyoursisready，too，Mr。Paine。Ihopeyourfewminutes’sleephasrestedyou。Iamsorryyouwokesosoon。ItoldJohnsontobecarefulandnotdisturbyou。"

"Ideservetobeshotforsleepingatall，"Ideclared，inselfreproach。"Ididnotmeanto。Ilaydownforamomentand——well，IsupposeIwasrathertired。"

"Iknow。Lastnight’sexperiencewasenoughtotireanyone。"

"Nonsense！Itwasnoworseformethanforyou，"Isaid。

"Yes，itwas。Youhadthecareandtheresponsibility。I，yousee，knewthatIwaswellguarded。Besides，Isleptforhoursthismorning。Come，bothofyou。Breakfastisready。"

Phineaswasalreadyseatedatthetable，glancingoverhisshoulderatthebutler，whoselookofdignifieddisgustatbeingobligedtowaituponacountrymaninhisshirtsleeveswouldhavebeenfunny，ifIhadbeeninamoodforfun。Idon’tknowwhichwasthemoreuncomfortable，Cahoonorthebutler。

"Won’tyoujoinus，MissColton？"Iasked。

"Why——why，yes，perhapsIwill，ifyoudon’tmind。IamnothungrybutIwilltakeacupofcoffee，Johnson。"

Phineasdidalmostallthetalkingwhileheremainedwithus，whichwasnotlong。Heswallowedhisbreakfastinatremendoushurry，aproceedingwhichstillfurtherdiscomposedthestatelyJohnson，andthenroseandputonhiscoat。

"Ihatetoleaveyoushorthandedandonaleeshore，Miss，"heexplained，apologetically；"butIknowyouunderstandhow’tiswithme。Myjob’sallI’vegotandI’llhavetohangontoit。Theuptrain’sdueinfortyminutesandI’vegottobeonhandatthedeepo。However，I’vegotthatDavis

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