The Little Brown Jug at Kildare Page 6
CHAPTER VI
MR. GRISWOLD FORSAKES THE ACADEMIC LIFE
Miss Osborne had asked Griswold to await the outcome of the day, and,finding himself thus possessed of a vacation, he indulged hisantiquarian instincts by exploring Columbia. The late afternoon foundhim in the lovely cathedral churchyard, where an aged negro, tending thegraves of an illustrious family, leaned upon his spade and recited theachievements and virtues of the dead. Men who had been law-makers,others who had led valiantly to battle, and ministers of the Prince ofPeace, mingled their dust together; and across the crisp hedges a robinsang above Timrod's grave.
As the shadows lengthened, Griswold walked back to the hotel, where heate supper, then, calling for a horse, he rode through the streets in amood of more complete alienation than he had ever experienced in aforeign country; yet the very scents of the summer night, stealing outfrom old gardens, the voices that reached him from open doorways, spokeof home.
As he reached the outskirts of town and rode on toward the governor'smansion, his mood changed, and he laughed softly, for he rememberedArdmore, and Ardmore was beyond question the most amusing person heknew. It was unfortunate, he generously reflected, that Ardmore, ratherthan himself, had not been plunged into this present undertaking, whichwas much more in Ardmore's line than his own. There would, however, be agreat satisfaction in telling Ardmore of his unexpected visit toColumbia, in exchange for his friend's report of his pursuit of thewinking eye. He only regretted that in the nature of things Columbia isa modern city, a seat of commerce as well as of government, a placewhere bank clearings are seriously computed, and where the jauntyadventurer with sword and ruffles is quite likely to run afoul of thepolice. Yet his own imagination was far more fertile than Ardmore's, andhe would have hailed a troop of mail-clad men as joyfully as his friendhad he met them clanking in the highway. Thus, modern as we thinkourselves, the least venturesome among us dreams that some day some turnof a street corner will bring him face to face with what we please tocall our fate; and this is the manifestation of our last drop ofmedieval blood. The grimmest seeker after reality looks out of thecorner of his eye for the flutter of a white handkerchief from the iviedtower he affects to ignore; and, in spite of himself, he is buoyed bythe hope that some day a horn will sound for him over the nearest hill.
Miss Osborne met him at the veranda steps. Indoors a mandolin and pianostruck up the merry chords of _The Eutaw Girl_.
"My young sisters have company. We'll sit here, if you don't mind."
She led the way to a quiet corner, and after they were seated she wassilent a moment, while the light from the windows showed clearly thather perplexity of the morning was not yet at an end. The music tinkledsoftly, and a breeze swept in upon them with faint odors of the garden.
"I hope you won't mind, Mr. Griswold, if I appear to be ashamed of you.It's not a bit hospitable to keep you outside our threshold; but--youunderstand--I don't have to tell you!"
"I understand perfectly, Miss Osborne!"
"It seems best not to let the others know just why you are here. I toldmy sisters that you were an old friend--of father's--who wished to leavea message for him."
"That will do first rate!" he laughed. "My status is fixed. I know yourfather, but as for ourselves, we are not acquainted."
He felt that she was seriously anxious and troubled, and he wished tohearten her if he could. The soft dusk of the faintly-lighted cornerfolded her in. Behind her the vines of the veranda moved slightly in thebreeze. A thin, wayward shaft of light touched her hair, as thoughsearching out the gold. When we say that people have atmosphere, wereally mean that they possess indefinite qualities that awaken new moodsin us, as by that magic through which an ignorant hand thrumming aharp's strings may evoke some harmony denied to conscious skill. Heheard whispered in his heart a man's first word of the woman he isdestined to love, in which he sets her apart; above and beyond all otherwomenkind--she is different; she is not like other women!
"It is nearly nine," she said, her voice thrilling through him. "Myfather should have been here an hour ago. We have heard nothing fromhim. The newspapers have telephoned repeatedly to know his whereabouts.I have put them off by intimating that he is away on important publicbusiness, and that his purpose might be defeated if his exactwhereabouts were known. I tried to intimate, without saying as much,that he was busy with the Appleweight case. One of the papers that hasvery bitterly antagonized father ever since his election has threatenedto expose what the editor calls father's relations with Appleweight. Ican not believe that there is anything wrong about that; of course thereis not!"
She was controlling herself with an effort, and she broke off herdeclaration of confidence in her absent father sharply but with a sob inher voice.
"I have no doubt in the world that the explanation you gave thenewspapers is the truth of the matter. Your father must be absent agreat deal--it is part of a governor's business to keep in motion. Butwe may as well face the fact that his absence just now is mostembarrassing. This Appleweight matter has reached a crisis, and afailure to handle it properly may injure your father's future as apublic man. If you will pardon me, I would suggest that there must besome one whom you can take into your confidence--some friend, some onein your father's administration that you can rely on?"
"Yes; father has many friends; but I can not consider acknowledging toany one that father has disappeared when such a matter as thisAppleweight case is an issue through the state. No; I have thought ofevery one this afternoon. It would be a painful thing for his bestfriends to know what is--what seems to be the truth." Her voice wavereda little, but she was brave, and he was aware that she straightenedherself in her chair, and, when wayward gleams of light fell upon herface, that her lips were set resolutely.
"You saw the attorney-general this morning," she went on. "As yousuggested, he would naturally be the one to whom I should turn, but Ican not do it. I--there is a reason"--and she faltered a moment--"thereare reasons why I can not appeal to Mr. Bosworth at this time."
She shrugged her shoulders as though throwing off a disagreeable topic,and he saw that there was nothing more to be said on this point. Hisheart-beats quickened as he realized that she was appealing to him;that, though he was only the most casual acquaintance, she trusted him.It was a dictum of his, learned in his study and practise of the law,that issues must be met as they offer--not as the practitioner wouldprefer to have them, but as they occur; and here was a condition ofaffairs that must be met promptly if the unaccountable absence of thegovernor was to be robbed of its embarrassing significance.
As he pondered for a moment, a messenger rode into the grounds, and MissOsborne slipped away and met the boy at the steps. She came back andopened a telegram, reading the message at one of the windows. Anindignant exclamation escaped her, and she crumpled the paper in herhand.
"The impudence of it!" she exclaimed. He had risen, and she now turnedto him with anger and scorn deepening her beautiful color. Her breathcame quickly; her head was lifted imperiously; her lips quiveredslightly as she spoke.
"This is from Governor Dangerfield. Can you imagine a man of anycharacter or decency sending such a message to the governor of anotherstate?"
She watched him as he read:
RALEIGH, N. C. The Honorable Charles Osborne, Governor of South Carolina, Columbia, S. C.:
Have written by to-night's mail in Appleweight matter. Your vacillating course not understood.
WILLIAM DANGERFIELD, Governor of North Carolina.
"What do you think of that?" she demanded.
"I think it's impertinent, to say the least," he replied guardedly.
"Impertinent? It's the most contemptible, outrageous thing I ever heardof in my life! Governor Dangerfield has dilly-dallied with that case fortwo years. His administration has been marked from the beginning by theworst kind of incompetence. Why, this man Appleweight and his gang ofoutlaws only come into South Carolina now and then to hide and steal,but
they commit most of their crimes in North Carolina, and they alwayshave. Talk about a vacillating course! Father has never taken steps toarrest those men out of sheer regard for Governor Dangerfield; hethought North Carolina had some pride, and that her governor wouldprefer to take care of his own criminals. What do you supposeAppleweight is indicted for in this state? For stealing one ham--onesingle ham from a farmer in Mingo County, and he's killed half a dozenmen in North Carolina."
She paced the corner of the veranda angrily, while Griswold groped for asolution of the problem. The telegram from Raleigh was certainly lackingin diplomatic suavity. It was patent that if the governor of NorthCarolina was not tremendously aroused, he was playing a great game ofbluff; and on either hypothesis a prompt response must be made to histelegram.
"I must answer this at once. He must not think we are so stupid inColumbia that we don't know when we're insulted. We can go through theside door to father's study and write the message there," and she ledthe way.
"It might be best to wait and see what his letter is like," suggestedGriswold, with a vague wish to prolong this discussion, that he mightenjoy the soft glow of the student lamp on her cheek.
"I don't care what his letter says; it can't be worse than his telegram.We'll answer them both at once."
She found a blank and wrote rapidly, without asking suggestions, withthis result:
The Honorable William Dangerfield, Raleigh, N. C.:
Your extremely diverting telegram in Appleweight case received and filed.
CHARLES OSBORNE, Governor of South Carolina.
She met Griswold's obvious disappointment with prompt explanation.
"You see, the governor of South Carolina can not stoop to an exchange ofbillingsgate with an underbred person like that--a big, solemn,conceited creature in long frock-coat and a shoestring necktie, whoboasts of belonging to the common 'peo-pull.' He doesn't have to tellanybody that, when it's plain as daylight. The way to answer him is notto answer at all."
"The way to answer him is to make North Carolina put Appleweight injail, for crimes committed in that state, and then, if need be, we cansatisfy the cry for vengeance in South Carolina by flashing ourrequisition. There is a rule in such cases that the state having theheaviest indictments shall have precedence; and you say that in thisstate it's only a matter of a ham. I am not acquainted with the SouthCarolina ham," he went on, smiling, "but in Virginia the right kind of aham is sacred property, and to steal one is a capital offense."
"I should like to steal one such as I had last winter in Richmond," andMiss Osborne forgot her anger; her eyes narrowed dreamily at anagreeable memory.
"Was it at Judge Randolph Wilson's?" asked Griswold instantly.
"Why, yes, it was at Judge Wilson's, Mr. Griswold. How did you know?"
"I didn't know; I guessed; for I have sat at that table myself. Thejudge says grace twice when there's to be ham--once before soup, thenagain before ham."
"Then thanksgiving after the ham would be perfectly proper!"
Miss Osborne was studying Griswold carefully, then she laughed, and herattitude toward him, that had been tempered by a certain officialreserve, became at once cordial.
"Are you the Professor Griswold who is so crazy about pirates? I'veheard the Wilsons speak of you, but you don't look like that."
"Don't I look like a pirate? Thank you! I had an appointment at JudgeWilson's office this morning to talk over a case in which I'minterested."
"I remember now what he said about you. He said you really were a finelawyer, but that you liked to read about pirates."
"That may have been what he said to you; but he has told me that theassociation of piracy and law was most unfortunate, as it would suggestunpleasant comments to those who don't admire the legal profession."
"And you are one of those tide-water Griswolds, then, if you know theRandolph Wilsons. They are very strong for the tide-water families; tohear them talk you'd think the people back in the Virginia hills weren'treally respectable."
"It's undeniably the right view of the matter," laughed Griswold, "butnow that I live in Charlottesville I don't insist on it. It wouldn't bedecent in me. And I have lots of cousins in Lexington and through theValley. The broad view is that every inch of the Old Dominion is holyground."
"It is an interesting commonwealth, Mr. Griswold; but I do not considerit holy ground. South Carolina has a monopoly of that;" and then thesmile left her face and she returned to the telegram. "Our immediatebusiness, however, is not with Virginia, or with South Carolina, butwith the miserable commonwealth that lies between."
"And that commonwealth," said Griswold, wishing to prolong the respitefrom official cares, "that state known in law and history as NorthCarolina, I have heard called, by a delightful North Carolina lady I metonce at Charlottesville, a valley of humility between two mountains ofconceit. That seems to hit both of us!"
"North Carolina isn't a state at all," Miss Osborne declared spitefully;"it's only a strip of land where uninteresting people live. And now,what do you say to this telegram?"
"Excellent. It's bound to irritate, and it leaves him in the dark as toour--I mean Governor Osborne's--intentions. And those intentions--"
During this by-play he had reached a decision as to what should be done,and he was prepared to answer when she asked, with an employment of thepronoun that pleasantly emphasized their relationship:
"What _are_ our intentions?"
"We are going to catch Appleweight, that's the first thing--and until weget him we're going to keep our own counsel. Let me have a telegraphblank and I will try my hand at being governor." He sat down in thegovernor's chair, asked the name of the county seat of Mingo and wrotewithout erasure or hesitation this message:
To the Sheriff of Mingo County, Turner Court House, S. C.:
Make every possible effort to capture Appleweight and any of his gang who are abroad in your county. Swear in all the deputies you need, and if friendliness of citizens to outlaws makes this impossible wire me immediately, and I will send militia. Any delay on your part will be visited with severest penalties. Answer immediately by telegraph.
CHARLES OSBORNE, Governor of South Carolina.
"That's quite within the law," said Griswold, handing Barbara themessage; "and we might as well put the thing through at a gallop. I'llget the telegraph company to hold open the line to Turner Court Houseuntil the sheriff answers."
As Barbara read the message he saw her pleasure in the quick compressionof her lips, the glow in her cheeks, and then the bright glint of herbronze-brown eyes as she finished.
"That's exactly right. I didn't know just how to manage such a thing,but I see that that is the proper method."
"Yes; the sheriff must have his full opportunity to act."
"And what then, if the sheriff refuses to do anything?"
"Then--then"--and Griswold's jaw set firmly, and he straightened himselfslightly before he added in a quiet tone--"then I'm going down there totake charge of the thing myself."
"Oh, that is too much! I _didn't_ ask that; and I must refuse to let youtake any such responsibility on yourself, to say nothing of the personaldanger. I merely wanted your advice--as a lawyer, for the reason that Idared not risk father's name even among his best friends here. And yourcoming to the office this morning seemed so--so providential--"
He sought at once to minimize the value of his services, for he was nota man to place a woman under obligations, and, moreover, an opportunitylike this, to uphold the dignity, and perhaps to exercise the power of astate, laid strong hold upon him. He knew little enough about theAppleweight case, but he felt from his slight knowledge that he was wellwithin his rights in putting spurs to the sheriff of Mingo County. Ifthe sheriff failed to respond in proper spirit and it became necessaryto use the militia, he was conscious that serious complications mightarise. He had not only a respect for law, but an ideal of civic courageand integrity, and the governor
's inexplicable absence aroused hishonest wrath. The idea that a mere girl should be forced to sustain theofficial honor and dignity of a cowardly father further angered him. Andthen he looked into her eyes and saw how grave they were, and howearnest and with what courage she met the situation; and the charm ofher slender figure, that glint of gold in her hair, her slim, supplehands folded on the table--these things wrought in him a happiness thathe had never known before, so that he laughed as he took the telegramfrom her.
"There must be no mistake, no failure," she said quietly.
"We are not going to fail; we are going to carry this through! Withinthree days we'll have Appleweight in a North Carolina jail or a flyingfugitive in Governor Dangerfield's territory. And now these telegramsmust be sent. It might be better for you to go to the telegraph officewith me. You must remember that I am a pilgrim and a stranger and theymight question my filing official messages."
"That is perfectly true. I will go into town with you."
"And if there's an official coach that everybody knows as yours, itwould allay suspicions to have it," and while he was still speaking shevanished to order the carriage.
In five minutes it was at the side door, and Griswold and Barbara,fortified by the presence of Phoebe, left the governor's study.
"If they don't know me, everybody in South Carolina knows Phoebe," saidBarbara.
"A capital idea. I can see by her eye that she's built for conspiracy."
Griswold's horse was to be returned to town by a boy; and when this hadbeen arranged the three entered the carriage.
"The telegraph office, Tom; and hurry."