"A very remarkable one! Who is he?" asked Doctor Jarvis. "The nephew of my overseer, Reuben Gray. That is absolutely all I know about it." "The nephew of Gray? Can it be so? Why, Gray is but an ignorant boor, while this youth has the manners and education of a gentleman--a polished gentleman!" exclaimed the doctor, in astonishment. "It is true, and I can make nothing of it," said Judge Merlin, shaking his head. "How very strange," mused the doctor, as he mounted his horse, bowed and rode away. CHAPTER XLIV. CLAUDIA'S PERPLEXITIES. Oh, face most fair, shall thy beauty compare With affection's glowing light? Oh, riches and pride, how fade ye beside Love's wealth, serene and bright. --_Martin F. Tupper_. Judge Merlin went into his well-ordered library, rang the bell, and sent a servant to call his daughter. The messenger found Claudia walking impatiently up and down the drawing-room floor and turning herself at each wall with an angry jerk. Claudia had not yet been admitted to see Ishmael. She had just been refused again by old Katie, who acted upon the doctor's authority, and Claudia was unreasonably furious with everybody. Claudia instantly obeyed the summons. She entered the library with hasty steps, closed the door with a bang, and stood before her father with flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes, and heaving bosom. "Hey, dey! what's the matter?" asked the judge, taking his pipe from his mouth and staring at his daughter. "You sent for me, papa! I hope it is to take me in to see that poor, half-crushed boy! What does old Katie mean by forever denying me entrance? It is not every day that a poor lad risks his life and gets himself crushed nearly to death in my service, that I should be made to appear to neglect him in this way! What must the boy think of me? What does old Katie mean, I ask?" "If your nature requires a vehement expression, of course I am not the one to repress it! Still, in my opinion, vehemency is unworthy of a rational being, at all times, and especially when, as now, there is not the slightest occasion for it. You have not willfully neglected the young man; it is not of the least consequence whether he thinks you have, or not; and, finally, Katie means to obey the doctor's orders, which are to keep every living soul out of the sick-room to secure the patient needful repose. I believe I have answered you, Miss Merlin," replied the judge, smiling and coolly replacing his pipe in his mouth. "Papa, what a disagreeable wet blanket you are, to be sure!" "It is my nature to be so, my dear; and I am just what you need to dampen the fire of your temperament." "Are those the orders of the doctor?" "What, wet blankets for you?" "No; but that everybody must be excluded from Ishmael's room?" "Yes; his most peremptory orders, including even me for the present." "Then I suppose they must be submitted to?" "For the present, certainly." Claudia shrugged her shoulders with an impatient gesture, and then said: