Chapter V: Part 5

A few steps brought them to the point at which they must turn aside to reach either entrance. Before them rose the old boarded-up, dismal doorway, weather-beaten, stained, repellent as bitterness. There was another fateful pause. Cynthia felt the quiver that ran through the frames of the old men as for the first time in long years they stood side by side before the doorway about which as children they had played, and through which as boys they had rushed together. In Cynthia's drooping head plans were rapidly forming themselves, but she had time to be thankful that she did not know which was Reuben and which was Stephen--it saved her the anxiety of decision; instinctively she turned to the right, a small brown hand clutching impartially either rough and shabby sleeve.

The man on her right swerved in an impulse of desertion, but her grasp did not relax.

"Is the judgment of Solomon to be pronounced!" she said to herself, half hysterically, for her nerves were a little shaken.

"Oh, I hope I sha'n't faint!" she exclaimed aloud.

Beneath Reuben's rustic exterior beat the American heart that cannot desert an elegant female in distress. He followed the inclination of the other two to Stephen's door, and in another never-to-be-forgotten moment he stepped inside his brother's house.

Stephen's deceased wife's niece was so overcome by the spectacle that she retained barely enough presence of mind to drag forward a wooden chair upon which Cynthia sank in a condition evidently bordering upon syncope. It was a critical moment; she must not give the intruder an opportunity to escape. She knew the intruder by that impulse of desertion, and she clung the tighter to his arm when she murmured pitifully, "If you could get me some water, Mr. Granger."

Stephen hastened towards the kitchen pump--the sight of Reuben in his side of the house, after thirty years, set old chords vibrating with a suddenness that threatened to snap some disused string, and his perceptions were not as clear as usual. He seized the dipper, filled it, and looked about him.

"Where's the tumbler, Jenny?" he called impatiently.

"It's right there," answered the girl, with the explicitness of agitation.

"Whar?" he demanded with asperity.

"Settin' on the side--right back of the molasses jug."

"Molasses jug!" he exclaimed. "Nice place for the molasses jug!"

"We was goin' to have baked beans for supper," said the trembling Jenny, feeling that it was best to be tentative about even a trifling matter within the area of this convulsion, "and you always want it handy."

It was a simple statement, but it laid a finger upon the past and upon the future. Cynthia, through her half-closed eyes, saw one old man with disturbed features, standing with his hand upon her chair, while another old man shuffled toward her with a glass of water, which spilled a little in his shaking hand as he came across the humble kitchen. Most inadequate dramatic elements, yet they held the tragedy of nearly a lifetime, and the comedy, though more evident, was cast by it in the shade, and she neither laughed nor cried.

Within a few moments more she was on her homeward way, a trifling break in the harness tied up with twine, and Johnny Allen in the seat beside her as guard of honor.

The next evening the people, driving home from the Centre, were saved from some active demonstration only by the repression of the New England temperament. Some of them even, after driving past, invented an errand to drive back again, so as to make sure. For the Granger twins sat side by side in front of the disused doorway, and their straw hats were turned sociably towards one another, now and then, as they exchanged a syllable or two, and there was a mild luminousness of pleasure in the recesses of their pale-blue eyes. The evening darkened fast into night. The plaintive half-chirp, half-whistle of a tree-toad fell in monotonous repetition upon the ear.

"Hear them little fellers!" said Stephen, ruminantly. "I reckon they think it's goin' to rain."

"Yare," said Reuben. "And," he went on, pushing back his straw hat and looking up into the sky, "I wouldn't wonder if they was right."

"Mostly are," said Stephen.

_Miss Trumbull's New Story_

* * * * *

Mistress Content Cradock

AN HISTORICAL TALE OF NEW ENGLAND LIFE IN THE TIME OF GOVERNOR WINTHROP AND ROGER WILLIAMS

By ANNIE ELIOT TRUMBULL

_Author of "A Cape Cod Week," "Rod's Salvation," "A Christmas Accident," etc._

_1 vol. 12mo., cloth. Illustrated. Price, $1.00._

* * * * *

A charming colonial romance.--_The
Congregationalist._

It is in a word a fascinating, strong, well-told
story.--_The Church Review._

It is a delightful way to study history--one of
the best of ways--to read a book written by one
whose historical information is accurate.--_Boston
Advertiser._

The thread of romance and love is rendered most
attractive by the author's well-known bright and
attractive style, her delicately fashioned
descriptions, and her entertaining dialogue.--_N.
Y. Times._

Winsome and captivating, Content pleases us of
to-day as she did the lover who patiently waited
to obtain the gift of her not too easily engaged
heart, and the quiet story of her fortunes is well
worth following.--_Literature._

* * * * *

_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid, on receipt of price, by the Publishers,_

A. S. BARNES & CO.
156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

Rod's Salvation.

BY

ANNIE ELIOT TRUMBULL.

Illustrated by Charles Copeland. 12mo, cloth, 285 pages. $1.00.

* * * * *

The volume entitled "Rod's Salvation," contains
four short stories, some of which are long enough
to be fairly called novelets.... "Rod's Salvation"
is a good picture of 'longshore life, telling of
the devotion of a sister to a scapegrace brother
and well worthy a reading.--_Springfield
Republican._

Miss Trumbull is blessed by a most delightful and
unpretentious gift of story-telling. Her work
suggests a twilight musician; she has a certain
dainty humor in her touch.--_The Citizen._

"Rod's Salvation" appears to us the most
interesting sketch of the four in the present
volume. It proves a thorough comprehension of the
noblest characteristics of the inhabitants of the
typical New England fishing village. The author
shows us diamonds in the rough, and with a most
happy talent, suddenly reveals to us the gleaming
beauties beneath their rude exterior. "Rod's
Salvation" is an inspiring story, the pathos of
which is accentuated by the delicate satire,
exquisite humor, and touches of kindly human
nature which lead one up to the unexpected
climax.--_The Church Review._

A Cape Cod Week.

BY ANNIE ELIOT TRUMBULL.

12mo, cloth, 170 pages. $1.00.

* * * * *

The keenness, quickness, and acuteness of the New
England mind were, perhaps, never better
illustrated than in her stories. Her conversations
are at times almost supernaturally bright; such
talk as one hears from witty, brilliant, and
cultivated American women--talk notable for
insight, subtle discriminations, unexpected and
surprised terms and persuasive humor.

"A Cape Cod Week" contains an account of the
adventures and achievements of three young women
who sought the seclusion, silence, and scenery of
Cape Cod, and who enlivened that remote and
restful country by flashes of talk often
brilliant, almost always entertaining. Miss
Trumbull's work is delightful reading: the
sameness of the commonplace and the obvious is so
entirely absent from it.--_The Outlook._

Annie Eliot Trumbull delights in fine descriptions
of nature as it exists. The book is capital
reading and its merits can be appreciated the
whole year round.--_New York Times._

A delightful, gossipy little sketch of a week's
holiday on Cape Cod. It is full of bright things,
imaginative to a degree, and yet based on facts as
we have all seen them on the sands of the Cape.
The book is beautifully printed and
bound.--_Boston Globe._

The "Annie Eliot" Stories

FIVE NEW BOOKS

BY ANNIE ELIOT TRUMBULL

MISTRESS CONTENT CRADOCK. Illustrated by Chas.
Copeland. 12mo, cloth, 306 pages. $1.00.

A CHRISTMAS ACCIDENT AND OTHER STORIES. 12mo,
cloth, 234 pages. $1.00.

A CAPE COD WEEK, 12mo, cloth, 170 pages. $1.00.

ROD'S SALVATION. Illustrated by Charles Copeland.
12mo, cloth, 285 pages. $1.00.

AN HOUR'S PROMISE. _New Edition_. 12mo, cloth.
$1.00.

* * * * *

The reader will enjoy the wit, the delicate
satire, the happy bits of nature description.--_S.
S. Times._

They are New England stories and exhibit a
delicate comprehension of many types of New
England character. They are delightfully readable,
and the books ought to be favorites.--_The
Congregationalist._

Miss Trumbull's claim to the attention of her
readers is undisputed. Her short stories possess a
freshness, a poignancy and underlying quick-witted
penetration into human feelings, motives and
experiences that give them a peculiar charm. Her
choice of themes is such as appeals to a wide
circle and her handling of the persons of her
imagination is exquisite.--_Hartford Post._

* * * * *

_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid, on receipt of price, by the Publishers,_

A. S. BARNES & CO.
156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

Page 108. "did'nt" changed to "didn't" (We didn't really think then)

Page 108, "appened" changed to "happened" (what happened thirty-five)

Page 135, "hey" changed to "they" (that they stayed)

Page 149, "aquired" changed to "acquired" (They had acquired a)

Page 156, "colyum" changed to "column" (so nice in the column)

Page 238, "CRADDOCK" changed to "CRADOCK" (CRADOCK. Illustrated)

Page 235, "Literature" was obscurred (worth following.--_Literature._)