University of Virginia Library

15. CHAPTER XV.
ALFRED BARTON BETWEEN TWO FIRES.

For some days after Dr. Deane's visit, Old-man Barton
was a continual source of astonishment to his son Alfred
and his daughter Ann. The signs of gradual decay which
one of them, at least, had watched with the keenest interest,
had suddenly disappeared; he was brighter, sharper,
more talkative than at any time within the previous five
years. The almost worn-out machinery of his life seemed
to have been mysteriously repaired, whether by Dr. Deane's
tinkering, or by one of those freaks of Nature which sometimes
bring new teeth and hair to an aged head, neither
the son nor the daughter could guess. To the former this
awakened activity of the old man's brain was not a little
annoying. He had been obliged to renew his note for the
money borrowed to replace that which had been transferred
to Sandy Flash, and in the mean time was concocting an
ingenious device by which the loss should not entirely fall
on his own half-share of the farm-profits. He could not
have endured his father's tyranny without the delight of
the cautious and wary revenges of this kind which he
sometimes allowed himself to take.

Another circumstance, which gave him great uneasiness,
was this: the old man endeavored in various ways, both
direct and indirect, to obtain knowledge of the small investments
which he had made from time to time. The most
of these had been, through the agency of the old lawyer at
Chester, consolidated into a first-class mortgage; but it was
Alfred's interest to keep his father in ignorance of the

other sums, not because of their importance, but because of
their insignificance. He knew that the old man's declaration
was true,—“The more you have, the more you 'll get!”

The following Sunday, as he was shaving himself at the
back kitchen-window, — Ann being up-stairs, at her threadbare
toilet, — Old Barton, who had been silent during
breakfast, suddenly addressed him:

“Well, boy, how stands the matter now?”

The son knew very well what was meant, but he thought
it best to ask, with an air of indifference, —

“What matter, Daddy?”

“What matter, eh? The colt's lame leg, or the farrow
o' the big sow? Gad, boy! don't you ever think about the
gal, except when I put it into your head?”

“Oh, that!” exclaimed Alfred, with a smirk of well-assumed
satisfaction — “that, indeed! Well, I think I may
say, Daddy, that all 's right in that quarter.”

“Spoken to her yet?”

“N—no, not right out, that is; but since other folks have
found out what I 'm after, I guess it 's plain enough to her.
And a good sign is, that she plays a little shy.”

“Should n't wonder,” growled the old man. “Seems to
me you play a little shy, too. Have to take it in my own
hands, if it ever comes to anything.”

“Oh, it is n't at all necessary; I can do my own courting,”
Alfred replied, as he wiped his razor and laid it away.

“Do it, then, boy, in short order! You 're too old to
stand in need o' much billin' and cooin' — but the gal 's
rayther young, and may expect it — and I s'pose it 's the
way. But I 'd sooner you 'd step up to the Doctor, bein'
as I can only take him when he comes here to me loaded
and primed. He 's mighty cute and sharp, but if you 've
got any gumption, we 'll be even with him.”

Alfred turned around quickly and looked at his father.

“Ay, boy, I 've had one bout with him, last Sunday, and
there 's more to come.”

“What was it?”

“Set yourself down on that cheer, and keep your head
straight a bit, so that what goes into one ear, don't fly out
at the t'other.”

While Alfred, with a singular expression of curiosity and
distrust, obeyed this command, the old man deliberated, for
the last time, on the peculiar tactics to be adopted, so that
his son should be made an ally, as against Dr. Deane, and
yet be prevented from becoming a second foe, as against
his own property. For it was very evident that while it
was the father's interest to exaggerate the son's presumed
wealth, it was the latter's interest to underrate it. Thus a
third element came into play, making this a triangular
game of avarice. If Alfred could have understood his true
position, he would have been more courageous; but his
father had him at a decided advantage.

“Hark ye, boy!” said he, “I 've waited e'en about long
enough, and it 's time this thing was either a hit or a flash
in the pan. The Doctor 's ready for 't; for all his cunnin'
he could n't help lettin' me see that; but he tries to cover
both pockets with one hand while he stretches out the
t'other. The gal's money 's safe, ten thousand of it, and
we 've agreed that it 'll be share and share; only, your'n
bein' more than her'n, why, of course he must make up
the difference.”

The son was far from being as shrewd as the father, or
he would have instantly chosen the proper tack; but he was
like a vessel caught in stays, and experienced considerable
internal pitching and jostling. In one sense it was a relief
that the old man supposed him to be worth much more
than was actually the case, but long experience hinted that
a favorable assumption of this kind often led to a damaging
result. So with a wink and grin, the miserable hypocrisy
of which was evident to his own mind, he said:

“Of course he must make up the difference, and more
too! I know what 's fair and square.”

“Shut your mouth, boy, till I give you leave to open it.
Do you hear? — the gal's ten thousand dollars must be put
ag'inst the ten thousand you 've saved off the profits o' the
farm; then, the rest you 've made bein' properly accounted
for, he must come down with the same amount. Then, you
must find out to a hair what he 's worth of his own — not
that it concerns you, but I must know. What you 've got
to do is about as much as you 've wits for. Now, open
your mouth!”

“Ten thousand!” exclaimed Alfred, beginning to comprehend
the matter more clearly; “why, it 's hardly quite
ten thousand altogether, let alone anything over!”

“No lies, no lies! I 've got it all in my head, if you
have n't. Twenty years on shares — first year, one hundred
and thirty-seven dollars — that was the year the big
flood swep' off half the corn on the bottom; second year,
two hundred and fifteen, with interest on the first, say six
on a hundred, allowin' the thirty-seven for your squanderin's,
two hundred and twenty-one; third year, three hundred
and five, with interest, seventeen, makes three hundred
and twenty-two, and twenty, your half of the bay
horse sold to Sam Falconer, forty-two; fourth year” —

“Never mind, Daddy!” Alfred interrupted; “I 've got
it all down in my books; you need n't go over it.”

The old man struck his hickory staff violently upon the
floor. “I will go over it!” he croaked, hoarsely. “I mean
to show you, boy, to your own eyes and your own ears, that
you 're now worth thirteen thousand two hundred and
forty-nine dollars and fifteen cents! And ten thousand of
it balances the gal's ten thousand, leavin' three thousand
two hundred and forty-nine and fifteen cents, for the
Doctor to make up to you! And you 'll show him your
papers, for you 're no son of mine if you 've put out your
money without securin' it. I don't mind your goin' your
own road with what you 've arned, though, for your proper
good, you need n't ha' been so close; but now you 've

got to show what 's in your hand, if you mean to git it
double!”

Alfred Barton was overwhelmed by the terrors of this
unexpected dilemma. His superficial powers of dissimulation
forsook him; he could only suggest, in a weak voice:

“Suppose my papers don't show that much?”

“You 've made that, or nigh onto it, and your papers
must show it! If money can't stick to your fingers, do you
s'pose I 'm goin' to put more into 'em? Fix it any way
you like with the Doctor, so you square accounts. Then,
afterwards, let him come to me — ay, let him come!”

Here the old man chuckled until he brought on a fit of
coughing, which drove the dark purple blood into his head.
His son hastened to restore him with a glass of brandy.

“There, that 'll do,” he said, presently; “now you know
what 's what. Go up to the Doctor's this afternoon, and
have it out before you come home. I can't dance at your
weddin', but I would n't mind help nuss another grand-child
or two — eh, boy?”

“Damme, and so you shall, Dad!” the son exclaimed,
relapsing into his customary swagger, as the readiest
means of flattering the old man's more amiable mood. It
was an easier matter to encounter Dr. Deane — to procrastinate
and prolong the settlement of terms, or shift the
responsibility of the final result from his own shoulders.
Of course the present command must be obeyed, and it
was by no means an agreeable one; but Alfred Barton had
courage enough for any emergency not yet arrived. So he
began to talk and joke very comfortably about his possible
marriage, until Ann, descending to the kitchen in her solemn
black gown, interrupted the conference.

That afternoon, as Alfred took his way by the foot-path
to the village, he seated himself in the shade, on one end
of the log which spanned the creek, in order to examine
his position, before venturing on a further step. We will
not probe the depths of his meditations; probably they

were not very deep, even when most serious; but we may
readily conjecture those considerations which were chiefly
obvious to his mind. The affair, which he had so long delayed,
through a powerful and perhaps a natural dread, was
now brought to a crisis. He could not retreat without extreme
risk to his prospects of inheritance; since his father
and Dr. Deane had come to an actual conference, he was
forced to assume the part which was appropriate to him.
Sentiment, he was aware, would not be exacted, but a certain
amount of masculine anticipation belonged to his character
of lover; should he assume this, also, or meet Dr.
Deane on a hard business ground?

It is a matter of doubt whether any vulgar man suspects
the full extent of his vulgarity; but there are few who are
not conscious, now and then, of a very uncomfortable difference
between themselves and the refined natures with
whom they come in contact. Alfred Barton had never
been so troubled by this consciousness as when in the presence
of Martha Deane. He was afraid of her; he foresaw
that she, as his wife, would place him in a more painful
subjection than that which his father now enforced. He
was weary of bondage, and longed to draw a free, unworried
breath. With all his swagger, his life had not always
been easy or agreeable. A year or two more might see
him, in fact and in truth, his own master. He was fifty
years old; his habits of life were fixed; he would have
shrunk from the semi-servitude of marriage, though with a
woman after his own heart, and there was nothing in this
(except the money) to attract him.

“I see no way!” he suddenly exclaimed, after a fit of
long and unsatisfactory musing.

“Nor I neither, unless you make room for me!” answered
a shrill voice at his side.

He started as if shot, becoming aware of Miss Betsy
Lavender, who had just emerged from the thicket.

“Skeered ye, have I?” said she. “Why, how you do

color up, to be sure! I never was that red, even in my
blushin' days; but never mind, what 's said to nobody is
nobody's business.”

He laughed a forced laugh. “I was thinking, Miss
Betsy,” he said, “how to get the grain threshed and sent
to the mills before prices come down. Which way are you
going?”

She had been observing him through half-closed eyes,
with her head a little thrown back. First slightly nodding
to herself, as if assenting to some mental remark, she
asked, —

“Which way are you goin'? For my part I rather think
we 're changin' places, — me to see Miss Ann, and you to
see Miss Martha.”

“You 're wrong!” he exclaimed. “I was only going to
make a little neighborly call on the Doctor.”

“On the Doctor! Ah-ha! it 's come to that, has it?
Well, I won't be in the way.”

“Confound the witch!” he muttered to himself, as she
sprang upon the log and hurried over.

Mr. Alfred Barton was not acquainted with the Greek
drama, or he would have had a very real sense of what is
meant by Fate. As it was, he submitted to circumstances,
climbed the hill, and never halted until he found himself
in Dr. Deane's sitting-room.

Of course, the Doctor was alone and unoccupied; it
always happens so. Moreover he knew, and Alfred Barton
knew that he knew, the subject to be discussed; but
it was not the custom of the neighborhood to approach an
important interest except in a very gradual and roundabout
manner. Therefore the Doctor said, after the first greeting,
—

“Thee 'll be getting thy crops to market soon, I imagine?”

“I 'd like to,” Barton replied, “but there 's not force
enough on our place, and the threshers are wanted everywhere

at once. What would you do, — hurry off the grain
now, or wait to see how it may stand in the spring?”

Dr. Deane meditated a moment, and then answered with
great deliberation: “I never like to advise, where the
chances are about even. It depends, thee knows, on the
prospect of next year's crops. But, which ever way thee
decides, it will make less difference to thee than to them
that depend altogether upon their yearly earnings.”

Barton understood this stealthy approach to the important
subject, and met it in the same way. “I don't know,”
he said; “it 's slow saving on half-profits. I have to look
mighty close, to make anything decent.”

“Well,” said the Doctor, “what is n't laid up by thee,
is laid up for thee, I should judge.”

“I should hope so, Doctor; but I guess you know the
old man as well as I do. If anybody could tell what 's in
his mind, it 's Lawyer Stacy, and he 's as close as a steel-trap.
I 've hardly had a fair chance, and it ought to be
made up to me.”

“It will be, no doubt.” And then the Doctor, resting
his chin upon his cane, relapsed into a grave, silent, expectant
mood, which his guest well understood.

“Doctor,” he said at last, with an awkward attempt at a
gay, confidential manner, “you know what I come for to-day.
Perhaps I 'm rather an old boy to be here on such
an errand; I 've been a bit afraid lest you might think me
so; and for that reason I hav n't spoken to Martha at all,
(though I think she 's smart enough to guess how my mind
turns,) and won't speak, till I first have your leave.
I 'm not so young as to be light-headed in such matters;
and, most likely, I 'm not everything that Martha would
like; but — but — there 's other things to be considered —
not that I mind 'em much, only the old man, you know,
is very particular about 'em, and so I 've come up to see
if we can't agree without much trouble.”

Dr. Deane took a small pinch of Rappee, and then

touched his nose lightly with his lavendered handkerchief.
He drew up his hanging under-lip until it nearly covered
the upper, and lifted his nostrils with an air at once of
reticence and wisdom. “I don't deny,” he said slowly,
“that I 've suspected something of what is in thy mind,
and I will further say that thee 's done right in coming
first to me. Martha being an only d—child, I have her
welfare much at heart, and if I had known anything seriously
to thy discredit, I would not have permitted thy attentions.
So far as that goes, thee may feel easy. I did
hope, however, that thee would have some assurance of
what thy father intends to do for thee — and perhaps thee
has, — Elisha being established in his own independence,
and Ann not requiring a great deal, thee would inherit
considerable, besides the farm. And it seems to me that
I might justly, in Martha's interest, ask for some such
assurance.”

If Alfred Barton's secret thought had been expressed in
words, it would have been: “Curse the old fool — he
knows what the old man is, as well as I do!” But he
twisted a respectful hypocrisy out of his whisker, and
said, —

“Ye-e-es, that seems only fair. How am I to get at it,
though? I dare n't touch the subject with a ten-foot pole,
and yet it stands both to law and reason that I should come
in for a handsome slice o' the property. You might take
it for granted, Doctor?”

“So I might, if thy father would take for granted what I
might be able to do. I can see, however, that it 's hardly
thy place to ask him; that might be left to me.”

This was an idea which had not occurred to Alfred Barton.
A thrill of greedy curiosity shot through his heart;
he saw that, with Dr. Deane's help, he might be able to
ascertain the amount of the inheritance which must so
soon fall to him. This feeling, fed by the impatience of
his long subjection, took complete possession of him, and

he resolved to further his father's desires, without regard
to present results.

“Yes, that might be left to me,” the Doctor repeated,
“after the other matter is settled. Thee knows what I
mean. Martha will have ten thousand dollars in her own
right, at twenty-five, — and sooner, if she marries with my
approbation. Now, thee or thy father must bring an equal
sum; that is understood between us — and I think thy
father mentioned that thee could do it without calling upon
him. Is that the case?”

“Not quite — but, yes, very nearly. That is, the old
man 's been so close with me, that I 'm a little close with
him, Doctor, you see! He does n't know exactly how
much I have got, and as he threatens to leave me according
to what I 've saved, why, I rather let him have his own
way about the matter.”

A keen, shrewd smile flitted over the Doctor's face.

“But if it is n't quite altogether ten thousand, Doctor,”
Barton continued, “I don't say but what it could be easily
made up to that figure. You and I could arrange all that
between our two selves, without consulting the old man,
— and, indeed, it 's not his business, in any way, — and so,
you might go straight to the other matter at once.”

“H'm,” mused the Doctor, with his chin again upon his
stick, “I should perhaps be working in thy interest, as
much as in mine. Then thee can afford to come up fair
and square to the mark. Of course, thee has all the papers
to show for thy own property?”

“I guess there 'll be no trouble about that,” Barton answered,
carelessly. “I lend on none but the best security.
'T will take a little time — must go to Chester — so we
need n't wait for that; 't will be all right!”

“Oh, no doubt; but has n't thee overlooked one
thing?”

“What?”

“That Martha should first know thy mind towards her.”

It was true; he had overlooked that important fact, and
the suggestion came to him very like an attack of cramp.
He laughed, however, took out a red silk handkerchief, and
tried to wipe a little eagerness into his face.

“No, Doctor!” he exclaimed, “not forgot, only keeping
the best for the last. I was n't sure but you might want to
speak to her yourself, first; but she knows, does n't she?”

“Not to my direct knowledge; and I would n't like to
venture to speak in her name.”

“Then, I 'll — that is, you think I 'd better have a talk
with her. A little tough, at my time of life, ha! ha! —
but faint heart never won fair lady; and I had n't thought
of going that far to-day, though of course, I 'm anxious, —
been in my thoughts so long,— and perhaps — perhaps”—

“I 'll tell thee,” said the Doctor, seeming not to notice
Barton's visible embarrassment, which he found very natural;
“do thee come up again next First-day afternoon,
prepared to speak thy mind. I will give Martha a hint
of thy purpose beforehand, but only a hint, mind thee;
the girl has a smart head of her own, and thee 'll come on
faster with her if thee pleads thy own cause with thy own
mouth.”

“Yes, I 'll come then!” cried Barton, so relieved at his
present escape that his relief took the expression of joy.
Dr. Deane was a fair judge of character; he knew all of
Alfred Barton's prominent traits, and imagined that he
was now reading him like an open book; but it was like
reading one of those Latin sentences which, to the ear,
are made up of English words. The signs were all correct,
only they belonged to another language.

The heavy wooer shortly took his departure. While on
the return path, he caught sight of Miss Betsy Lavender's
beaver, bobbing along behind the pickets of the hill-fence,
and, rather than encounter its wearer in his present mood,
he stole into the shelter of one of the cross-hedges, and
made his way into the timbered bottom below.