第27章 Unexpectedly Thrown Together.(1)

"I suppose you are satisfied by this time,Stanton,"began Van Berg,as they drove away,"that I was very safe in offering you that picture on the conditions named,and that you have not the ghost of a chance of obtaining it.""Nonsense,"replied Stanton."The picture is practically won already.

I admit that Miss Burton is an exception to all her species;and,now that I have seen her,I prove how little I am under the influence of prejudice by acknowledging the fact,and by giving her credit for her courage and agreeable manners.But how absurd to imagine that this plain little stranger can ever be to me more than she is to-day--a summer acquaintance at a summer resort!She will soon drop from our memories and leave no more trace than these rustling leaves overhead after they have fulfilled their brief purpose.""Here's a symptom already,"cried Van Berg."My matter-of-fact friend is already in the subtle current,and unconsciously drops into sentiment,and expresses himself in poetic trope.I foresee that the 'rustling leaves'will end in a rustling wedding-robe and gorgeous apparel;for when you cage the 'brown thrush'you will have the bad taste to insist on a change of plumage.""I begin to understand you at last,"retorted Stanton."You have been smitten yourself,and this is your strategy to conceal the fact.

The trouble is that you have overdone the matter,and revealed your transfixed heart long before I should have suspected the wound.

Had you not better commence on the picture soon,for this matter may disable you for a season?""I won't swear that I will not become your rival,for our little heroine interests me hugely.There is something back of her smiling face.Her manner seems like crystal in its frankness,and yet Ithink few in the house will ever become better acquainted with her than they are to-day.""I shall take more than a languid interest in watching you progress with this smiling sphinx,"said Stanton,"and in the mean time shall gloat over my picture.""Well,Barney,"said Van Berg,as they drove up to the stables on their return,"you did have a streak of good luck this afternoon.

I hope you are grateful to the lady who secured it for you.""Faix,sur,an'I niver seed the likes o'her afore.The smilin'look she gave me jist warmed the very core o'me heart,and her swate eyes seemed to say,'Nary a bit o'ill-luck would ye have again,Barney,had I me way.'What's more,she's a goin'to intercade for the nurse-maid.They nadn't tell me that all the heretics will stay in purgatory.""Look here,Stanton,were I a theologian I'd make a note of that.

Miss Burton has discovered a logic that routs superstition."Van Berg quite longed for the supper hour,that he might resume conversation with the interesting stranger,and he was promptly in his place at the table.But she did not appear.The lady with whom she had been conversing,remarked:

"She was taken suddenly ill,just as you and your friend drove away this afternoon.Learning from Mr.Burleigh that she is here alone and without friends,I knocked at her door before I came down,and asked if I could do anything for her.She said that she would be better in the morning,and that all she needed was perfect quiet.It's strange how suddenly she was taken ill!She seemed perfectly well one moment,and then she fled to her room as if the ghost were in pursuit.I suppose it was reaction from excitement;or she may have some form of heart disease.""Are heart difficulties so serious as that with ladies?"asked Van Berg with a smile.

"I never had acute symptoms of any kind,"the lady replied."Indeed I think I am a trifle cold and matter-of-fact in my disposition,but I began to thaw so perceptibly under Miss Burton's influence that I became quite interested in her.I think I deserve some credit for saving the child also,for it was I who kept her talking in the doorway.Most people are a weariness to me,and I was surprised to find so marked an exception."It must not be supposed that Van Berg's interest in the new arrival had led him to forget the motive which had brought him to the Lake House.This would not be in accordance with his character,and as far as possible,he had been closely observant of Miss Mayhew during the scenes of the afternoon.He had been rewarded by discovering,for the first time,that she was at least capable of a good and generous impulse,for her face had been expressive of genuine admiration and gladness when she saw Miss Burton with the rescued child in her arms after the carriage swept by.In this expression he obtained a clearer hint than he had ever before received of the beauty that might be her constant possession could the mean and marring traits of her character be exchanged for qualities in harmony with her perfect features.But while this gleam,this flash of ideal beauty increased his desire for success in his experiment,the young lady's bearing towards him was as discouraging as ever.If he had not been at Miss Burton's side,he believed that she would have come forward and offered her congratulations as had several other ladies.It would seem that her vanity had been so severely wounded she would never forgive him,and he determined he would no longer make a martyr of himself by playing the agreeable to all in the hotel in the hope that,by pouring so much oil on the waters,even her asperity might be removed.He half believed that she recognized his effort to form her acquaintance,and found a malicious pleasure in thwarting him.

Therefore,he decided to take his sketch-book and go off upon the hills in the morning,thus enjoying a little respite from his apparently philanthropic labors.