Hilda's Mascot Part 18

When it was finished they went to the library, where later, Sandy, tall, grave and reserved, joined them at Mr. Courtney's request to give them Scotch airs upon the bagpipes.

It seemed to Hilda, seated near Mr. Courtney, that Sandy's music never sounded so mournfully sweet as upon that evening, the last time she was to hear it for many days. For destiny was quietly closing the doors of "My Lady's Manor" upon her, and opening those of a distant farmhouse, the existence of which she had never known.

In the pauses of the music the occupants of the library heard a scampering and a scuffling upon the porch, mingled with sharp, quick barks, and the dragging of something to and fro.

Mr. Courtney arose and was about to pa.s.s from the room to see what occasioned the sounds, when through the open door rushed the terrier, bearing in his mouth two letters which he dropped upon the floor and then ran out.

"Can't find no mo' ol' shoes so must go and tear up the coat that Ma.r.s.e Archie sot so much store by," said Chloe, as she captured both coat and the terrier as he was again scampering into the library. "I done heerd that scampering and knowed that tarrier was up to sumpin', and he's done tore out the linin' of that good coat and the cover off a letter."

"Did he get the letters out of the coat?" asked Mr. Courtney, as Hilda picked them from the floor.

"I 'spect so, sir. There weren't no letters on the piazzy 'till the tarrier done tore the coat."

"This one is signed 'Janette Ashley'," said Hilda, becoming very pale, "and is addressed to 'My Dear Sister Sarah.' I remember that Aunt Ashley's first name was Janette," she added, turning to Mrs. Merryman and putting the letter in her hand.

"It was, Hilda, and her sister's name was Sarah Warfield. Shall I read it aloud?"

The girl nodded; she could not trust her voice to speak.

"These must be the letters of which Diana Strong spoke the evening of my reception," remarked Mrs. Merryman when she finished reading. "The dates prove that they were written the week of Mrs. Ashley's death."

"My husband wrote this one," said Mrs. Courtney, to whom Mrs. Merryman had pa.s.sed the letters. "I recognize the writing; besides, I remember hearing him say at the time that he had written a letter for Mrs. Ashley to her sister in Ohio. He wrote it at the cottage and I remember his saying that Mrs. Ashley asked Diana to give him her pen from the writing desk. He said it was the handsomest he had ever seen, a gold pen, the handle also gold, and set with lines of rubies. He commented upon the beauty of it, and Mrs. Ashley said her father gave it to her upon her fifteenth birthday, and she had never used any other since."

"But where have the letters been all this time?" said Mrs. Merryman.

"Without doubt in the pocket of the coat of which the terrier has torn the lining," said Mr. Courtney, whose handsome face had grown pale and sad since the reading of the letters.

"Poor Mrs. Warfield never received them and we have censured her for not replying," continued Mrs. Merryman.

"But one would suppose that not receiving any letter from her sister, she would write to know the reason for her silence," suggested Mr.

Courtney.

"She may have done so, but I never heard of it. Diana said that she asked the postmaster to forward a newspaper containing a notice of Mrs.

Ashley's death."

"What should be done with the letters?" asked Mrs. Courtney. "Ought they not be forwarded to Mrs. Warfield?"

Hilda sat pale and silent, glancing anxiously from one to another, and for a time no one spoke.

"It appears to be the just, therefore the right thing, to do," commented Mrs. Merryman.

"As my husband wrote one of the letters, if you all agree to it, I will take them home and ask him to forward them to Mrs. Warfield. Wouldn't that be best, my love?" asked Mrs. Courtney, turning to Hilda.

"Oh, she may think I ought to go to her! How can I leave you all?"

exclaimed the girl.

Tears filled the eyes of the elder ladies, and Mr. Courtney arose and left the room.

"But we would not be acting justly to the living or the dead by withholding them," interposed Mrs. Courtney.

"No, it would not be right, they must be sent," sobbed Hilda.

"The question with me is, how letters written so long ago came to be in Archie's coat," said Mrs. Merryman. "I know that he is, in his sad, preoccupied way, searching for something in his pitiable wanderings, and has his pockets at times filled with trifles, but these letters, while somewhat stained and yellow, are not the least worn, so could not have been carried long in his pocket."

"It will always be a mystery, I think, unless he is willing to tell us where he found them."

"He was at our house over night," said Mrs. Merryman reflectively. "I wonder, if asked, whether he could tell where he got them. Will you ask him, Hilda?"

She obeyed immediately, but as they supposed, he could not give the least information.

"Diana incidentally mentioned that she gave the letters to Perry to mail. It may be that he is the one to blame for their not being received by Mrs. Warfield. I will ask him as soon as I get home," continued Mrs.

Merryman.

"But what could be his object, and where has he kept them all these years without your knowledge?"

"I have not the least idea. He has a small trunk, but it is never locked, nor has he ever given the least evidence that he is keeping anything hidden."

Hilda arose and left the library, and as she stepped into the hall she heard footsteps of someone pa.s.sing to and fro upon the long piazza. It was Mr. Courtney, and as she appeared in the door-way he halted and held out his hand to her. She glided swiftly to him and he clasped her hand and placed it within his arm, and silently they walked back and forth.

The ladies prepared for their return home, and Mrs. Merryman went to apprise Hilda, who withdrew her hand to follow. For one brief moment Mr.

Courtney clasped her in his arms, for one brief moment she sobbed upon his breast, then she rejoined the others. They bade the master of "My Lady's Manor" good-night at his gate and left him to his sad forebodings.

When Mrs. Merryman reached home she questioned Perry, whereupon he made a full confession, glad to be relieved of the secret which had so long oppressed him.

Diana Strong, during Mrs. Ashley's illness, had given him two letters to mail at the Dorton postoffice. He had opened them out of mere curiosity, as he earnestly alleged, and they had been a millstone about his neck.

Terror of the law had made him afraid to have them found in his possession, and what conscience he had, refused to let him destroy them.

He had taken them to the woods and placed them in the hollow of a tree too far up for them to be seen from the ground, and hearing Mr. Merryman say that the tree was to be felled, he was compelled to remove the letters.

The visit of Archie to the Merryman home had left an avenue of escape, and he watched his opportunity when the wanderer was about to depart to slip them in the pocket of his coat; and the old man went to "My Lady's Manor," unconscious that he was bearing a message that would take Hilda from the home where he had placed her.

Perry was anxious to do all he could to atone, and as a commencement was willing to leave a game of ball to carry a note from Mrs. Merryman to "Friedenheim," that Rev. Carl might know the whole story before writing that evening to Mrs. Warfield, enclosing the letters.

Mrs. Warfield was one who never dallied over a known duty. Her answer came by return mail, and had Hilda been dest.i.tute of a home, or situated less happily than she was, the letter would have given her unmingled satisfaction. As it was, it brought to her heart and to that of another a chill of bitter disappointment.

Mrs. Warfield wrote that she had received the paper containing the notice of Mrs. Ashley's death while ill from the effect of the railway accident, and the nervous terror resulting from it had kept her from traveling since. She explained that Mrs. Lacy having gone to France to reside, she had no one to communicate with, and had written to the postmaster at Dorton asking the name of any friend of Mrs. Ashley whom she could address. He replied, but had taken so little interest in the matter that he sent the name of Mrs. Reginald Farnsworth, of San Francisco.

Mrs. Warfield wrote immediately, and after several weeks she received a letter saying that Mrs. Farnsworth was traveling in Europe, but the letter had been forwarded by the postmaster in response to Mrs.

Warfield's request.

She never received a reply, and still hoped the time would come when she could visit Dorton and learn for herself what she had used all means in her power to know through others. She added that she was rejoiced to know that Mrs. Ashley had intrusted Hilda to her care, and so far as lay in her power the trust should be faithfully cherished.

The letter concluded by saying that her eldest son would visit Philadelphia the following week, and would take great pleasure in going to Dorton to accompany Hilda to the home that would welcome her gladly.

The evening of the day that this letter was received found Mr. Valentine Courtney in consultation with his sister, and the next morning that lady visited Mrs. Merryman, going early that she might see Hilda before she set out for school.

Mrs. Courtney having-as she reminded Mrs. Merryman-no daughter of her own, asked as a favor that she be allowed to exercise her taste in providing an outfit for Hilda which might not be convenient to obtain in her new home.

Mrs. Merryman, taking the offer in the spirit it was made, gave glad consent, and it was decided that Hilda should accompany Mrs. Courtney to Baltimore that morning upon a shopping expedition.