The Squire's Daughter Part 54

"Am I? Oh, well, you know, he is my cousin, and a good fellow, and if I can speak a good--I mean, if I can appreciate--that is, if I can cultivate a right feeling toward him, and--and--all that, you know, don't you think I ought to do so?"

"Oh, no doubt," Ruth said, laughing. "It's generally well to be on good terms with one's relations--at least so I've been told," and she went to the door and looked out into the darkness.

Ruth came back again after a few moments, and turned the lamp a little higher.

"Ralph is much longer than I expected he would be," she remarked, without looking at William.

"Perhaps Mr. Telfer was out," he suggested.

"I don't think that. You see he went by appointment. I expect it has taken them longer to square their accounts than they thought."

"I hope Ralph will come well out of it," he said musingly. "He's had a rough time of it so far."

"I am sometimes afraid he will grow bitter and give up. He has talked again and again of trying his fortune abroad."

"But if he went abroad, what would become of you?" William asked, with a sudden touch of anxiety in his voice.

"He would send for me when he got settled."

William gave a little gasp.

"Would you like to go abroad?" he questioned.

"I would much prefer to stay here if I could; but you see we cannot always have what we would like best."

"No, that is true," he said slowly and meditatively. "The things we would like best are often not for us. I don't know why it should be so.

Some people seem to get all they desire. There is my Cousin Sam, for instance."

"He is one of the lucky ones, you say?"

"It seems so from my point of view. Did he tell you when he first saw you?"

"No."

"He would not like to remind you. It was the day of the sale at Hillside. He was greatly--that is, of course he could not help noticing you. Since then he has seen you lots of times. A fortunate fellow is Sam."

"Perhaps he does not think so."

"Oh, I fancy he does. I don't see how he can help it. He lives in a beautiful old house. It's years since I saw it, but it remains in my memory a pleasant picture. His wife will have a rare time of it."

"How do you know he does not intend to follow your example and remain a bachelor?"

"How? Sam knows better than that. Do you think I would remain a bachelor if--if--but there! You remember what you said just now about the things we want most?"

"I did not know----" Then a step sounded on the gravel outside. "Oh, here comes Ralph." And Ruth sprang to her feet and rushed to the door.

A moment later the two men were shaking hands.

"I hope I have not kept you waiting long," Ralph said. "The truth is, Telfer and I have been settling up."

"So your sister told me."

"And I'm bound to say he's treated me most handsomely. Technically, he might have got the better of me on a dozen points; but no! he's been most fair. It's a real pleasure to come across a man who doesn't want to Jew you."

"Oh, bless you, there's lots of honest people in the world!" William said, with a smile.

"Yes, I suppose there are; the misfortune is one so often tumbles across the other sort."

"Perhaps you will have better luck in the future," William replied.

"I only want fair play," Ralph answered; "I ask for nothing more than that."

"And have you hit upon anything for the future?"

"Not yet. But I don't want to be in a hurry. I've ready money enough to last me a year or two. I really didn't think I had done so well, for I'm a duffer at figures. If I only had about four times as much I'd buy Hillside."

"And turn farmer?"

"No, farming is not my forte." And he turned and looked towards the door of the pantry behind which Ruth was engaged getting supper ready.

"Let's go into my room," he continued, in a half-whisper. "I've something I want to say to you."

William followed him without a word.

"I don't want to awaken any vain hopes in Ruth's mind," Ralph went on.

"The thing is too remote to be talked about almost. But you have wondered why I should want Hillside Farm when I've no love for farming?"

"I have supposed it was for your sister's sake."

"No, it's not that exactly. It's my love of adventure, or you might call it my love of speculation."

"I don't quite understand."

"Of course you don't. So I'll explain. You are the best friend I ever had, and I can trust you. Besides, if I ever did anything I should want your help. You are a business man, I'm a dreamer. You are good at accounts, I'm a fool at them."

William's eyes opened wider and wider, but he did not interrupt.

"Now, there's just the possibility of a fortune in Hillside," Ralph went on. "Not on the surface, mind you. The crops raised there will never be a fortune for anybody; but my father believed there was a rich tin lode running through it."

"Why didn't he test it?"

"He had no opportunity."

"Why not? The farm was his as long as the 'lives' remained alive."

"But all the mineral rights were reserved by the ground landlord. So that if my father had discovered a gold mine he would have got nothing out of it."

"So he kept silent?"