University of Virginia Library

Chapter 10

Thurber's pond was of moderate size, probably covering thirty or forty acres. Near the edge it was shallow, but toward the middle the water was of considerable depth. There were two boats moored at the little pier built out at the foot of the picnic grounds, one a sail boat and the other a row boat.

Toward the middle of the afternoon it was proposed to press these boats into the service of some of the older visitors. The children were scattered through the neighboring fields, playing games that interested them. The sail boat proved the more attractive, and was already full before Mabel, Clementina, and their escorts became aware of the plan proposed.

Clementina was very much annoyed.

"It's so provoking," she complained. "I dote on the water. Isn't there room for me?"

But the sail boat was, if anything, too full already, and nobody offered to get out. Allan Thorpe and Mabel were standing by, both a little disappointed. The artist's eye fell upon the row boat.

"Do you row, Mr. Chester?" he asked,

"A little," was the answer.

"Then suppose, since we are unable to go in the sail boat, we give the ladies a row. Would you like it, Miss Frost?"

Thank you," said Mabel. "I should enjoy it very much."

"And you, Miss Raymond?"

"It will be better than moping here."

So the four seated themselves in the boat, and the gentlemen took up the oars. Mr. Chester proved to be very awkward, and Allan Thorpe offered to row alone. The bachelor accepted with alacrity, and seated himself next to Mabel, leaving Miss Raymond at the other end of the boat. This did not suit Clementina, who straightway lost her interest in the excursion. She felt herself ill used at this act of desertion on the part of her escort. Mabel read her discontent, and wanted to suggest to Mr. Chester that she could dispense with his company, but this was difficult to do. His face beamed with satisfaction, and Miss Raymond saw it, and was provoked. She even deigned to be jealous of the school mistress.

"You are not very considerate, Mr. Chester," she said sharply, "in leaving Mr. Thorpe to do all the work."

"He likes it," replied Randolph lazily. "Don't you, Mr. Thorpe?"

"I always enjoy rowing," said Allan, who understood very well that Mr. Chester could not manage both oars.

"I would rather look on," continued Chester contentedly. "How are you getting on with your school, Miss Frost?"

"Very well, thank you."

"I wish I was young enough to enroll myself among your scholars," said the bachelor gallantly.

"You would find me very strict, Mr. Chester."

"I should take care not to give you any trouble."

Miss Raymond did not enjoy this badinage, and mentally pronounced Mabel an artful girl, who had designs upon Mr. Chester's affections. She could not resist the temptation to revenge herself on her escort.

"I suppose you can hardly remember your school days, Mr. Chester?" said she.

"Really, Miss Raymond, I am not quite an antediluvian," exclaimed Randolph Chester, somewhat provoked.

"Excuse me, Mr. Chester. I didn't suppose you were sensitive about your age. I really hope you'll excuse me."

"I do not know that I have any reason to be sensitive as yet," said Mr. Chester stiffly. "It will be time enough for that when I reach fifty."

He was that already; but this was a secret between himself and the old Bible, which neither of his hearers was likely to have a chance of seeing.

Clementina's purpose was achieved. She had made Mr. Chester uncomfortable, and interrupted his tete-a-tete with Mabel. She followed up her advantage by becoming very sociable with Allan Thorpe.

"Are you at work upon another charming picture, Mr. Thorpe?" she asked graciously.

"You are very kind, Miss Raymond; I am painting another picture. I hope it may deserve the adjective you use."

"I like your paintings so much. Have you ever been to Italy?" "No," said Mr. Thorpe regretfully. "I wish I could go."

"You really ought to do so. I adore art myself. I should like nothing better than to see the grand Italian galleries, with some one to point out the best pictures — some one like yourself, who understands the subject."

"Have you ever been abroad, Miss Raymond?" asked Mabel.

"No," said Clementina. "Mamma has such a horror of the sea; she is so liable to be seasick. It is such a pity, when one has the means, that there should be a drawback."

This was another of Clementina's little fictions. In plain truth, want of means was the only objection to a European trip on the part of the Raymonds.

"When you are married, Miss Raymond, you will not be dependent on your mother as a companion;, then you can gratify your taste."

"So I can," said Clementina with naive simplicity, as if the idea had just occurred to her. "If I can't go in any other way, I shall be willing to pay the expenses of the tour myself. So you're really at work upon a new picture, Mr. Thorpe?"

"I have not made much progress yet, but I have made a beginning."

"I should like to see it. I couldn't, of course, hope to offer any suggestion, but I can tell whether I like it."

"Thank you. When it is more advanced I shall be glad to ask your opinion of it."

"Do you ever give lessons in painting, Mr, Thorpe?"

"I did at one time, but I found that it interfered with my work."

"Then I cannot hope to secure you as a teacher. It would be so nice to go out in the fields, and take lessons from so competent an instructor."

"You flatter me, Miss Raymond."

"You only say so because of your modesty, Mr. Thorpe. I have a high opinion of your talent, and I shall take every opportunity of mentioning you in my set."

"Thank you."

Allan Thorpe was clear sighted enough to estimate Miss Raymond's sudden interest in him at its right value. He also had a suspicion that her set was not one likely to care much for arts or artists. But it

amused him to watch Clementina's jealousy, and to penetrate her motives in turning her attention to him.

"If I can help her to secure a husband," he thought, "she is quite welcome to make use of me."

It did not seem, however, that she had accomplished much. Mr. Chester was chatting contentedly with Mabel, glad that Clementina was otherwise occupied than in teasing him.

"Then you are not sure that you will remain in Granville after the summer, Miss Frost? " he inquired.

"My plans are quite undecided," answered Mabel.

"I suppose you will continue to teach?"

"Even that is not certain. Perhaps I might obtain a situation as companion to an elderly lady. Do you know of any likely to want my services, Mr. Chester?"

Mr. Chester would have liked to suggest that the position of companion to a gentleman was open to her acceptance; but the occasion was too public.

"I may hear of such a position, Miss Frost," he said; "and if you will leave me your address, in case you do not remain in Granville, I will ,certainly let you know."

"Thank you, Mr. Chester."

At this point there was a startling interruption. Miss Raymond had been sitting for five minutes silent and incensed. Her little flirtation with Mr. Thorpe had not ruffled Mr. Chester's serenity nor interrupted his devotion to the school mistress. She rose from her seat, lost her balance, and fell against the side of the boat, upsetting it, and precipitating the four who occupied it into the water.

Fortunately they were not far from shore. Still, the water was six feet deep, and of course there was danger. Mr. Chester could swim a little, and, without a thought of his companions, he struck out for the shore. Allan Thorpe could swim also. Fortunately he was cool in the moment of peril. His first thought was for Mabel.

"Cling to me, Mabel," he said, forgetting ceremony at this moment. "I will help you."

Clementina, wild with terror, had grasped him by the coat, and this hampered his movements; but with a great effort, he succeeded in conveying both girls to more shallow water. Had the distance been greater, it is doubtful if he would have succeeded.

"You are out of danger," he said. "The water is not deep here. We can walk ashore."

Randolph Chester, still a little pale, was dripping on the bank when Allan and the two girls joined him.

"I am so glad you are safe, ladies," he said a little sheepishly, for he was conscious that he had not played a heroic part.

"Small thanks to you, Mr. Chester!" retorted Clementina sharply. "We might have drowned, so far as you were concerned."

"I cannot swim much," said Mr. Chester uneasily. "I never regretted it so much as now."

"You could swim well enough to save yourself. Mr. Thorpe, you are my preserver!" exclaimed Clementina gushingly.

"Do not magnify my service, Miss Raymond. We were very near shoal water."

"But you saved my life," persisted Clementina. "I shall never forget it."

Mabel said nothing, but she impulsively extended, her hand. Allan Thorpe was better pleased than with Miss Raymond's demonstrative expressions of gratitude.

"Now, young ladies," said the artist, "though I am no physician, you must allow me to prescribe an immediate return home. Otherwise you'll run a great risk of catching cold. Mr. Chester, if you will take charge of Miss Raymond, I will accompany Miss Frost. For your own sake, you will find it best to go at once."

Miss Raymond was rather sulky, but, though irritated with her escort, policy prevailed, and she forced herself into a good humor. She had made up her mind to marry Mr. Chester, and he required delicate

management. So she accepted the lame apology he offered for leaving her to her fate, and by the time they reached the hotel they were outwardly on good terms.

On the day after the picnic, Allan Thorpe wrote the following letter to his friend and fellow artist John Fleming, who was spending the summer at Bethlehem

DEAR JACK — You wonder why I prefer to spend the summer at Granville, and refuse to join you at Bethlehem. Your surprise is natural. I admit that between Granville and Bethlehem there is no comparison. The latter is certainly far more attractive to an artist who has only his art in view. But, Jack, there is another reason. You were always my father confessor — at least you have been since the happy day when our friendship begin — and I am willing to confess to you that I have lost my heart. There is a charming school mistress in Granville, to whom I have transferred it wholly and unconditionally.

Not an ordinary school mistress, mind you; Miss Frost is not only charming in person, but thoroughly accomplished. I know you will be incredulous; but when I explain the mystery which environs her you will lose your skepticism. Let me tell you, then, in confidence, that last winter, at an artists' reception in New York, I was introduced to a girl whose name I knew as that of an acknowledged queen of society. A little conversation convinced me that she was more than that; that she had a genuine and discriminating love of art; that she despised the frivolous nothings which are dignified as conversations by the butterflies of fashion, and that she regarded life as something more than a succession of parties and receptions. I was strongly attracted; but I learned that she was the possessor of a large fortune, and this precluded the thought of any intimate friendship with her on the part of a penniless artist.

Well, Jack, on the second day after my arrival in Granville, I met this same girl again. Imagine my astonishment at discovering that she was teaching the grammar school in the village, on the splendid stipend of seven dollars a week. Of course she has lost her fortune — how, I have been unable to learn. She is reticent on this subject; but the loss does not seem to affect her spirits. She is devoting herself earnestly to the work she has chosen, and is succeeding admirably. I declare to you that I yield Miss Frost higher respect now that she is a plain country school teacher than when she was a social leader. That she should give up, uncomplainingly, the gay delights her fortune has procured for her and devote herself to a useful but contracted and perhaps monotonous routine of work, indicates; a nobility of nature of which previously I had no assurance.

You will ask to what all this tends. It means, Jack, that I have made up my mind to win her if possible. Between the struggling artist and the wealthy heiress there was a distance too great to be spanned even by love, but now that her estate is on a level with my own I need not hesitate. The same spirit that has enabled her to meet and conquer adversity will sustain her in the self denial and self sacrifice to which she may be called as the wife of a poor man. I have resolved to put my fortune to the test before the close of her school term calls her from Granville. I have some reason to believe that she esteems me, at least. If I am not too precipitate, I hope that esteem may pave the way for a deeper and warmer sentiment. I hope the time may come when I can ask you to congratulate me, as I am sure you will do most heartily, my dear Jack. Ever yours, ALLAN THORPE.

P.S. — Lest you should waste your valuable time in exploring back numbers of the newspapers for some mention of Miss Frost in their society gossip, I may as well tell you that this is not her real name. In giving up her fashionable career she has, for a time at least, left behind the name which was associated with it, and taken a new one with the new vocation she has adopted. This might lead to embarrassment; but that will be obviated if she will only consent to accept my name, which has never had any fashionable associations.

P.S. — There is another girl spending the summer here, a Miss Clementina Raymond, of Brooklyn, who assumes airs and graces, enough for two. Perhaps it is well that you are not here for you might be smitten, and she is after higher game. She has "set her cap" for Mr. Randolph Chester, a wealthy bachelor of fifty or more, also a summer resident; but I suspect that he prefers Miss Frost. I do not give myself any trouble on that score. Miss Frost may reject me, but she certainly will not accept Mr. Chester.