CHAPTER XX--What Did It Mean?
Meanwhile a singular experience befell Dr. Spellman and his wife. Aftertheir departure from the bungalow, they glided smoothly in the canoetoward the eastern end of Gosling Lake, keeping a little way off shorewhere though the water was crystalline the depth was too great to allowthem to see the pebbly bottom. The woman sat forward, gazing withtranquil enjoyment upon the soothing picture before them. The husband,facing in the same direction, was in the stern of the craft, so that thebalance was nicely adjusted. Swinging the paddle well forward, he tookthe water with a long easy stroke, finishing with an inward turn of thewrist that kept the canoe on a straight course.
They had set out to call upon Uncle Elk the hermit. While etiquette, ashas been said, demanded that it should be the other way, especiallysince the physician had already left his card at the log cabin, thematter was too trifling to be regarded. The stories which the couple hadheard of the strange old man stirred their curiosity, and it was inaccord with the sympathetic nature of the woman that she believed shemight do a little to cheer the exile in his loneliness.
The short voyage soon ended. Dr. Spellman guided his boat to the edge ofthe wood where Uncle Elk made a practice of landing, and from which awell marked path wound its way among the trees to the dwelling that wasinvisible from the lake. The canoe of the Instructor in Woodcraft wasdrawn up the bank and turned over bottom up.
"That looks as if we shall find him at home," remarked the wife, as shestepped lightly ashore and was followed by her husband, who pulled thecraft far enough to hold it secure during their absence.
"It may be he is off on a tramp with no telling when he will return. Heseems to be as fond of the Boy Scouts as they are of him, and it islikely he has gone to the clubhouse to spend the day with them."
The man took the lead and walked up the path used on his previous call,with his wife a few paces behind him. On the edge of the clearing, theystood for a minute or two contemplating the pleasing picture. No signsof life were visible, but from where they stood they could see theleathern string dangling outside the door, as if inviting every one whochose to enter.
Dr. Spellman gently twitched the string and the door swung inward. As hestepped across the threshold, his wife followed and the two lookedaround them. The room was precisely as when the physician called beforeand has already been described, but the owner of the premises was not insight. No fire smouldered on the hearth and the stillness of the tombbrooded over everything. It was natural that so excellent a housekeeperas Mrs. Spellman should exclaim:
"All is as neat as a pin; Uncle Elk needs no one to teach him how tokeep a model home."
They walked forward and stood in front of the shelves with theirremarkable array of books. The woman, who was known for her excellentliterary taste, commented upon the high character of the volumes, butneither laid hands on them. She seated herself in the rocking chairwhile her husband stood near.
"The question is whether we shall wait here until he comes back," saidthe latter.
"How can we know when he will return?"
"We don't; it may be within an hour or not until night. It isn't worthwhile to stay; I can leave my card as before."
He drew the pasteboard from his pocket and wrote a few pleasant words,reminding Uncle Elk of his obligations to his callers, and urging him tovisit the house at the other side of the lake as soon as possible andspend the day and evening with them.
While the husband sat at the table in the middle of the room, writinghis hurried message, his wife faced the curtain which shut off the otherhalf of the cabin and behind which neither of the callers thought ofintruding or peeping. Suddenly a queer thrill passed through her, forshe was sure she saw the curtains move,--so slightly indeed that had shenot been looking directly at it she would not have detected the stir.She said nothing and of course her husband had no suspicion.
The wife gazed intently at the spot where she had noticed the slightagitation and listened keenly, but heard nothing nor did she detect anydisturbance. She quietly rose to her feet.
"We may as well go; the day is too lovely to stay within doors."
"Which probably explains why Uncle Elk is not at home. Do you know, mydear, I half envy him his life. He is out of the hurly-burly ofpolitics, strife, and the endless vexations that we who live in citiescannot escape."
"And yet you would not be willing to pay the price that he does."
"No," was the thoughtful reply of the husband, as he led the way acrossthe threshold, carefully closed the door, and passed down the path totheir canoe. "There is such a thing as paying too much for what we get."
When the craft had been paddled some distance, the wife turned her head.
"Wilson, do you know where Uncle Elk is?"
"I haven't the remotest idea."
"I can tell you: he is in his cabin and was there all the time we wereinside."
"What do you mean?" asked the husband, so astonished that he ceasedpaddling and stared at her.
"While you sat at the table writing your note to him, he moved thecurtain; I saw it."
She related what she had witnessed when not dreaming of anything of thekind.
"The agitation may have been caused by a draft of air."
"I thought that, but the windows were closed in the room where we sat."
"There are windows in the other room."
"But, if either was open, there was nothing to make a draft. There is nomistake about it;--Uncle Elk was within a few feet of us all the time."
The wife was so positive that her husband was brought to her way ofthinking.
"Strange as it seems, you are right. There can be no doubt now that hedoesn't wish to meet us. He must have known of our camp on the otherside of the lake and ought to have paid his respects to us. More thanthat, he ignored my invitation, though the time is so brief since it wasmade that that of itself is not conclusive. Well, all we can do is toaccept the facts and leave him to himself."
"He has been represented as the soul of hospitality. Why should he berepelled by us? Why did he not pull in his latchstring?"
"He was not expecting us or he might have done so."
The doctor resumed his deliberate paddling and a minute later his wifeasked:
"Have you any suspicion of the reason for his acting as he did?"
"It is a mystery to me. He and I have never met, and I cannot fancy anycause for his antipathy. Whatever the reason, it surely is unjustifiableand I am sorry we did not have the chance to demand an explanation. Ithink I shall tell what has happened to Scout Master Hall, and get himto make some guarded inquiries. I cannot rest content until thismisunderstanding is cleared up."
The couple returned to their home after fishing awhile, and did notleave again during the day. Neither would confess the fact to the other,but they missed their child so keenly that they would have paddled tothe other side of the lake and brought her home, had they not feltashamed of such weakness. The doctor read, slept, smoked and yawned andwas sure he had never started in on so long an afternoon.
It was not to pass, however, without incident. He stretched in hishammock, one leg hanging out so that the tip of his tan shoe touched theground and gave him enough leverage to sway gently back and forth, whilehe smoked his perfecto and longed for the morning when "Stubby" would bewith them again. The wife was seated in the small dwelling, busy withcrochet work, and thinking pretty much as did her husband, when bothwere startled by the greeting in a gruff voice that evidently was meantto be conciliatory:
"Good arternoon, lady and gentleman."
With a faint gasp, the wife looked up, while the doctor swung both feetso as to rest them on the ground, sat upright, checked the swaying ofthe hammock and picked up his hat which had fallen to the ground.
"Hello! where did _you_ come from?"
Two frowsy, villainous looking tramps had come out of the woods, walkingso softly in their dilapidated gum shoes that they were not heard untilthey spoke. These gentry
as a rule do not abound in Maine, but nosection of our country is absolutely free of them. The two were burlyvagrants with matted hair, spiky beards, and hickory shirts, much inneed of washing and without collars. One supported his patched trousersby means of a single soiled suspender which, crossing the shoulder, wasskewered in front by a wooden peg. His companion obtained the sameresult by means of a leathern belt buckled around his waist. They wereinnocent of stockings and wore straw hats, one of which lacked a crown,and the other was minus one half of its original brim. Both doffed theirhead gear and assumed the cringing attitude of all members of thebegging fraternity.
Dr. Spellman was anything but pleased with his callers. He had hoped hewas rid of the tribe, but here were a couple of them and he faced thesituation.
"We ambled all the way, sir, from Bath since morning," was the reply ofthe one who stood nearest the doctor.
"No you didn't; the distance is too far and none of your kind could bepersuaded to step aside into a place with such a name as Bath."
One of the scraggly rogues turned to his companion.
"Say, Saxy, was the last town, where we spent a week at the leadinghotel, Bath or Christmas Cove?"
"Naw; it was Boothby Harbor,--what guff are ye giving us?"
"It is a small matter," said the doctor; "what is your purpose incalling here?"
"Jes' to show our respects, boss; we haven't our cards wid us, but mename is Buzy Biggs and my valet here is Saxy Hutt, late from Washington,where he's been serving as aide to the President."
"Whither are you bound?"
"We haven't made up our minds whether to accept a invite to lectureafore the Boston Lyceum or to go on to New York and give the folks atalk on the Whichness of the Which. But that ain't nyther here nurthere. We have been walking since daylight and hain't had a mouthful ofgrub since yesterday afternoon."
"We cannot let any one go away from our door hungry," broke in Mrs.Spellman, laying aside her fancy work and flitting into the kitchendepartment.
"I don't see how you're going to help it," called her husband, "when youundertake to give a couple of tramps all they can eat. They are likedogs--always hungry."
"Ain't ye a little rough, boss, on a gentleman?" asked Biggs, with anominous glint in his piglike eyes.
"Produce the gentleman and I'll reply."
The physician's dislike of the nuisances was so strong that he could notpretend to hide it. Sharp words might have been followed by somethingregrettable, had not the wife come out at this moment bearing a coupleof enormous ham sandwiches. The men again doffed their fragmentary hats,bowed and mumbled their thanks.
"_There's_ the gentleman," said Biggs, nodding toward the smiling womanand addressing her husband, "which you was saying you would like to see.These be fine sandwiches and will sarve us very well for starters."
"That's what they are meant to do," said the doctor; "you may start atonce and need not show yourselves here again."
"Oh, I don't know," said Biggs, speaking with his mouth stuffed full ofmeat and bread; "I reckon you don't own the lake and this part of theState."
"I own enough to warn you to keep your distance; we choose our friends."
"Mebbe we may take a notion to drop in on ye bime by; with thanks, mum,we now sagaciate."
Dr. Spellman was a man of quick temper, and felt so incensed by thesmirking glance of the scamp at his wife, that he bounded from hishammock and into the house for his revolver. Suspecting his purpose, hiswife interposed:
"What are you going to do, Wilson?"
"Shoot that scoundrel! Let me get my pistol."
"You shall do nothing of the kind; the man hasn't done me any harm andis leaving. He doesn't deserve another thought."
"He deserves what he will get if he ever dares to show himself hereagain."
The doctor had the good habit of yielding to the domination of his muchbetter tempered partner. He turned round without his weapon and resumedhis seat in the hammock which he nervously rocked, thereby helping tosoothe his anger. His wife sat on a camp stool and did not speak butlooked at him with a smile whose significance was that of many words.
"Don't," he protested; "pitch in and scold all you wish, but don't lookat me like that--hello! hark!"
From across the lake came the faint, dull report of a revolver. Thedoctor raised his hand and whispered:
"Listen!"
In a few seconds, a second report traveled over the water to their ears.If that was all, it would mean nothing, but with the same interval, thethird sound reached the startled couple.
"It is a call for help!" exclaimed the doctor bounding to his feet; "Iam wanted at once by the Boy Scouts."
The wife turned white and gasped: "Something has happened to Ruth!"
"We can't know until we reach camp; come on!"
He dashed into the house, caught up his case of instruments andrevolver, but left his rifle. Quick as he was, she was at the shoreahead of him and had grasped the canoe to shove it into the water. Atthe moment the craft was floating clear and the doctor caught up thepaddle, they heard again the triple reports of the revolver,--one afterthe other and with but an interval of a second or two between the shots.
And then Dr. Spellman paddled as he had never paddled before, for nomore powerful motive could have stirred all the strength and energy ofhis nature.