第27章

"HaveyouboughtaDelkoff？"LordDunholminquired。

"IfIcouldhaveaffordedit，Ishouldhaveboughtone。"

"Ithinkthatwehavecomeherewiththeintentionofbuyingthree。WedidnotknowwerequiredthemuntilMissVanderpoelrecitedhalfapageofthecataloguetous。"

"Threewillmeana`rakeoff’offifteendollarstoG。

Selden，"saidMountDunstan。Itwas，hesaw，necessarythatheshouldexplainthemeaningofa"rakeoff，"andhedidsotohiscompanion’sentertainment。

Theafternoonwasasatisfactoryone。TheywereallkindtoG。Selden，andheonhispartwasanaidtothem。Inhisinnocencehesteeredthreeofthem，atleast，throughnarrowplacesintoanopenseaofeasyintercourse。Thiswasagoodbeginning。Thejuniorassistantwasrecoveringrapidly，andlookedremarkablywell。Thedoctorhadtoldhimthathemighttrytousehisleg。TheinsidecabinofthecheapLinerand"littleoldNewYork"wereloomingupbeforehim。Butwhatluckhehadhad，andwhataholiday！Ithadbeenenoughtosetafellowupfortenyears’work。Itwouldsetuptheboysmerelytobetoldaboutit。Hedidn’tknowwhatHEhadeverdonetodeservesuchluckashadhappenedtohim。FortherestofhislifehewouldhewavingtheUnionJackalongsideoftheStarsandStripes。

Mr。Penzanceitwaswhosuggestedthatheshouldtrythestrengthofthelegnow。

"Yes，"MountDunstansaid。"Letmehelpyou。"

Asherosetogotohim，Westholtgood—naturedlygotupalso。Theytooktheirplacesateithersideofhisinvalidchairandassistedhimtoriseandstandonhisfeet。

"It’sallright，gentlemen。It’sallright，"hecalledoutwithadelightedflush，whenhefoundhimselfupright。"I

believeIcouldstandalone。Thankyou。Thankyou。"

Hewasable，leaningonMountDunstan’sarm，totakeafewsteps。Evidently，inashorttime，hewouldfindhimselfnolongerdisabled。

Mr。Penzancehadinvitedhimtospendaweekatthevicarage。Hewastodothisassoonashecouldcomfortablydrivefromtheoneplacetotheother。AfterreceivingtheinvitationhehadsentsecretlytoLondonforoneoftheDelkoffshehadbroughtwithhimfromAmericaasaspecimen。

Hecherishedinprivateaplanofgentlyentertaininghishostbyteachinghimtousethemachine。ThevicarwouldthusbepreparedforthatfutureinwhichsurelyaDelkoffmustinsomewayfallintohishands。Indeed，Fortunehavingatlengthcastaneyeonhimself，mightchancetofavourhimfurther，andintimehemightbeabletosenda"high—

classmachine"asagratefulgifttothevicarage。PerhapsMr。Penzancewouldacceptitbecausehewouldunderstandwhatitmeantoffeelingandappreciation。

DuringtheafternoonLordDunholmmanagedtotalkagooddealwithMountDunstan。Therewasnoairofintentioninhismanner，neverthelessintentionwasconcealedbeneathitscourteousamiability。Hewantedtogetattheman。Beforetheypartedhefelthehad，perhaps，learnedthingsopeningupnewpointsofview……

Inthesmoking—roomatDunholmthatnightheandhissontalkedoftheirchanceencounter。ItseemedpossiblethatmistakeshadbeenmadeaboutMountDunstan。Onedidnotformadefiniteideaofaman’scharacterinthecourseofanafternoon，buthehimselfhadbeenimpressedbyaconvictionthattherehadbeenmistakes。

"Weareratherastiff—neckedlot——inthecountry——whenweallowourselvestobetakenpossessionofbyanidea，"

Westholtcommented。

"Iamnotatallproudofthewayinwhichwehavetakenthingsforgranted，"washisfather’ssummingup。"Itis，perhaps，worthobserving，"takinghiscigarfromhismouthandsmilingattheendofit，asheremovedtheash，"that，butforMissVanderpoelandG。Selden，wemightneverhavehadanopportunityoffacingthefactthatwemaynothavebeengivingfairplay。Andonehaspridedone’sselfonone’sfairplay。"

CHAPTERXXX

ARETURN

Atthecloseofalong，warmafternoonBettyVanderpoelcameoutuponthesquarestoneterraceoverlookingthegardens，andthatpartoftheparkwhich，enclosingthem，causedthem，astheymeltedintoitsgreenness，tolosealllimitationsandappeartobeonlyamorebloomingbitofthelandscape。

UponthegardenBetty’seyesdwelt，asshestoodstillforsomeminutestakingintheireffectthoughtfully。

Kedgershadcertainlyaccomplishedmuch。Hisclose—

trimmedlawnsdidhimcredit，hisflowerbedswereflushedandazured，purpledandsnowedwithbloom。Sweettallspires，hungwithblueorwhiteorrosyflowerbells，liftedtheirheadsabovethecolouroflowergrowths。Onlytheferventaffection，thefastingandprayerofaKedgerscouldhavedonesuchwonderswithnewthingsandold。Theoldoneshehadcherishedandalluredintoarenewalofexistence——

thenewoneshehadsocoaxedoutoftheirearthenpotsintothesoil，luxuriouslypreparedfortheirreception，andhadafterwardssonourishedandbedewedwithsoftwaterings，sosupported，watchedoverandadoredthattheyhadbeenalmostunconsciousoftheirtransplanting。Withoutassistantshecouldhavedonenothing，buthehadbeengivenasufficientnumberofundergardeners，andhadevenmanagedtoinspirethemwithsomethingofhisownambitionandsolicitude。TheresultwasbeforeBetty’seyesinanaspectwhich，tosuchasknewthegardenswell，——theDunholms，forinstance，——wasastonishinginitssuccess。

"I’vehadprivileges，miss，andsohavetheflowers，"

Kedgershadsaidwarmly，whenMissVanderpoelhadreportedtohim，forhisencouragement，DunholmCastle’spraise。

"Notoneof’emhaseverhadtowaitforhisfoodanddrink，nortocomplainofhisbednotbeingwhathewasaccustomedto。They’venothadtowaitforrain，forwe’vegivenitto’emfromwateringcans，and，thankgoodness，theseason’sbeenkindto’em。"

Betty，descendingtheterracesteps，wandereddownthepathsbetweentheflowerbeds，glancingaboutherasshewent。Theairofneglectanddesolationhadbeensweptaway。ButtleandTimSoameshadbeengivenasmanyprivilegesasKedgers。Thechiefpointsimpresseduponthemhadbeenthattheworkmustbedone，notonlythoroughly，butquickly。Asmanyadditionalworkmenastheyrequired，asmuchsolidmaterialastheyneeded，buttheremustbeadespatchwhichatfirstitstaggeredthemtocontemplate。Theyhadnotknownsuchmethodsbefore。Theyhadbeenaccustomedtoworkundermoneylimitationthroughouttheirlives，and，whenworkmustbedonewithinsufficientaid，itmustbedoneslowly。Economyhadbeenthechieffactorinallcalculations，speedhadnotenteredintothem，soleisurelinesshadbecomeafixedhabit。ButitseemedAmericantosweepleisurelinessawayintospacewithafreegesture。

"ItmustbedoneQUICKLY，"MissVanderpoelhadsaid。

"Iftenmencannotdoitquicklyenough，youmusthavetwenty——orasmanymoreasareneeded。Itistimewhichmustbesavedjustnow。"

Timemorethanmoney，itappeared。Buttle’sexperiencehadbeenthatyoumighttaketime，ifyoudidnotchargeforit。Whentimebegantomeanmoney，thatwasadifferentmatter。Ifyoudidworkbythejob，youmightdriveinafewnails，loiter，andreturnwithouthaste；ifyouworkedbythehour，yourabsencewouldbeinquiredinto。Inthepresentcasenoonecouldloiter。Thatwasrealisedearly。

Thetallgirl，withthedeepstraightlookatyou，madeyourealisethatwithoutspokenwords。Sheexpectedenergysomethinglikeherown。Shewasanewforceandspurredthem。

Nomanknewhowitwasdone，but，whensheappearedamongthem——evenintheafternoon——"lookin’thatwomany，"holdingupherthindressoverlacepetticoats，thelikeofwhichhadnotbeenseenbefore，shelookedonwithjustthesamestraight，expectingeyes。Theydidnotseemtodoubtintheleastthatshewouldfindthatgreatadvancehadbeenmade。

Soadvancehadbeenmade，andworkaccomplished。AsBettywalkedfromoneplacetoanothershesawthesignsofitwithgratification。Theplacewasnottheoneshehadcometoafewmonthsago。Hothouses，outbuildings，stableswereinrepair。Workwasstillbeingdoneindifferentplaces。

Inth

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节