第18章

That's the house we built for you, Governor, with the flag-pole, up there on the hill; and there's your ugly old pier; and that's where we live, in the little shack above it, with the tin roof;and that opening to the right is the terminus of the railroad MacWilliams built.Where's MacWilliams? Here, Mac, I want you to know my father.This is MacWilliams, sir, of whom I wrote you.''

There was some delay about the baggage, and in getting the party together in the boats that Langham and the Consul had brought;and after they had stood for some time on the wet dock, hungry and damp, it was rather aggravating to find that the carriages which Langham had ordered to be at one pier had gone to another.So the new arrivals sat rather silently under the shed of the levee on a row of cotton-bales, while Clay and MacWilliams raced off after the carriages.

``I wish we didn't have to keep the hood down,'' young Langham said, anxiously, as they at last proceeded heavily up the muddy streets; ``it makes it so hot, and you can't see anything.Not that it's worth seeing in all this mud and muck, but it's great when the sun shines.We had planned it all so differently.''

He was alone with his family now in one carriage, and the other men and the servants were before them in two others.It seemed an interminable ride to them all--to the strangers, and to the men who were anxious that they should be pleased.They left the city at last, and toiled along the limestone road to the Palms, rocking from side to side and sinking in ruts filled with rushing water.When they opened the flap of the hood the rain beat in on them, and when they closed it they stewed in a damp, warm atmosphere of wet leather and horse-hair.

``This is worse than a Turkish bath,'' said Hope, faintly.

``Don't you live anywhere, Ted?''

``Oh, it's not far now,'' said the younger brother, dismally; but even as he spoke the carriage lurched forward and plunged to one side and came to a halt, and they could hear the streams rushing past the wheels like the water at the bow of a boat.A wet, black face appeared at the opening of the hood, and a man spoke despondently in Spanish.

``He says we're stuck in the mud,'' explained Langham.He looked at them so beseechingly and so pitifully, with the perspiration streaming down his face, and his clothes damp and bedraggled, that Hope leaned back and laughed, and his father patted him on the knee.``It can't be any worse,'' he said, cheerfully; ``it must mend now.It is not your fault, Ted, that we're starving and lost in the mud.''

Langham looked out to find Clay and MacWilliams knee-deep in the running water, with their shoulders against the muddy wheels, and the driver lashing at the horses and dragging at their bridles.

He sprang out to their assistance, and Hope, shaking off her sister's detaining hands, jumped out after him, laughing.She splashed up the hill to the horses' heads, motioning to the driver to release his hold on their bridles.

``That is not the way to treat a horse,'' she said.``Let me have them.Are you men all ready down there?'' she called.

Each of the three men glued a shoulder to a wheel, and clenched his teeth and nodded.``All right, then,'' Hope called back.

She took hold of the huge Mexican bits close to the mouth, where the pressure was not so cruel, and then coaxing and tugging by turns, and slipping as often as the horses themselves, she drew them out of the mud, and with the help of the men back of the carriage pulled it clear until it stood free again at the top of the hill.Then she released her hold on the bridles and looked down, in dismay, at her frock and hands, and then up at the three men.They appeared so utterly miserable and forlorn in their muddy garments, and with their faces washed with the rain and perspiration, that the girl gave way suddenly to an uncontrollable shriek of delight.The men stared blankly at her for a moment, and then inquiringly at one another, and as the humor of the situation struck them they burst into an echoing shout of laughter, which rose above the noise of the wind and rain, and before which the disappointments and trials of the morning were swept away.Before they reached the Palms the sun was out and shining with fierce brilliancy, reflecting its rays on every damp leaf, and drinking up each glistening pool of water.

MacWilliams and Clay left the Langhams alone together, and returned to the office, where they assured each other again and again that there was no doubt, from what each had heard different members of the family say, that they were greatly pleased with all that had been prepared for them.

``They think it's fine!'' said young Langham, who had run down the hill to tell them about it.``I tell you, they are pleased.

I took them all over the house, and they just exclaimed every minute.Of course,'' he said, dispassionately, ``I thought they'd like it, but I had no idea it would please them as much as it has.My Governor is so delighted with the place that he's sitting out there on the veranda now, rocking himself up and down and taking long breaths of sea-air, just as though he owned the whole coast-line.''

Langham dined with his people that night, Clay and MacWilliams having promised to follow him up the hill later.It was a night of much moment to them all, and the two men ate their dinner in silence, each considering what the coming of the strangers might mean to him.

As he was leaving the room MacWilliams stopped and hovered uncertainly in the doorway.

``Are you going to get yourself into a dress-suit to-night?'' he asked.Clay said that he thought he would; he wanted to feel quite clean once more.

``Well, all right, then,'' the other returned, reluctantly.