"You are sure?"
"As sure as that I'm alive."
"Well, I take the morning train for New York."
"Lee," said Mr. Dinwiddie impressively, "take the advice of an old man,
who has seen a good deal of men and women in his day, and stay where
you are until you hear from Mary. Some sort of crisis has arisen, no
use blinking the fact, but if you burst in on her now, while she is
Madame Zattiany, encased in a new set of triple-plated armor, you may
ruin all your chances of happiness. Whatever it is let her work it
out--and off--by herself. I made her promise she would not leave the
country without seeing you again--for I didn't know what might be in
the wind--and when she had given her word she added that she had not
the least intention of not seeing you again, and that it was quite
possible she would return to the camp. If you go down you'll spoil
everything."
"I suppose I can trust you, Din, but I've seen plainly that you don't
want me to marry her."
"That is true enough. I want nothing less--for your sake; and
Hohenhauer would be a far more suitable match for her. But I don't
believe you even question my faith----"
"No. I don't. You're a brick, Din. But I'm unspeakably
worried--almost terrified. I have never felt that I really knew her.
She may have only imagined--but that is impossible! How in God's name
am I to sit round here for three days and twiddle my thumbs?"
"Don't. Take one of the men and go off on a three days' tramp. Climb
Mount Moose. That will give you no chance to think. All your thinking
will be in your muscles."
"And suppose she should return--or telegraph me to go to her?"
"If she returns and finds you gone it'll serve her right. And she
won't telegraph before Thursday--if she's going to Washington. Now
take my advice and don't be a fool."
Clavering shrugged his shoulders, but he set his lips. "Very well. I
won't follow her. Nor will I forgive her in a hurry, either."
"That's healthy. Give her a piece of your mind, have a good row, and
then make it up. But let me tell you, my dear boy, that she was
horrified at the thought of that man coming up here, and she only
refrained from telling you of the summons, so to speak, because she
wanted to spare you any anxiety. There's no doubt in my mind that
she's as much in love with you as you are with her. . . . You have
none, I suppose?"
"None. Particularly lately. I hadn't told you, but I had intended, in
a day or two, to ask you if you would let me have the camp for a few
weeks. We intended to marry in Huntersville the day the rest of you
went out."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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