THE AMERICANS
MR. JOSIAH DICKS and his daughter arrived on the following day, just as we were about to sit down to luncheon. They drove in a fly from Chelmsford and brought with them a goodly array of trunks and valises, though they presently explained that this represented but a fraction of their luggage.
He was a tall, thin, cadaverous-looking man, and had the yellow, parchment-like complexion with which I had credited Professor Faulkner; but his restless movements and keen, alert glances showed him to be very much alive. His forehead was bald, save for a wisp of hair which stood up on it in such a manner as to give him somewhat the appearance of a cockatoo. His daughter was a tall, slight, smart-looking girl. Her face was rather pasty in its colouring; but the sharp, piquant features were not devoid of charm. She wore a most remarkable hat, with so many wings sticking out of it that one shuddered to think how many small birds had been slaughtered for the gratification of her vanity. I could not admire it, yet it was of a style that suited her. She was a striking figure as she entered the house wearing a long, drab travelling coat with gilt buttons, and a magnificent boa of Russian sable, with a muff of the same fur, depending from her neck by a gold chain.
"So this is 'Gay Bowers!'" she said in a high, thin voice with the unmistakable enunciation of an American as she looked about her, frankly observant, "and really it is as pretty as its name. I call this old hall perfectly lovely."
"It's real antique, this," said her father, speaking with a still more striking accent, "that staircase now—"
But here my aunt's advance cut short his words.
"Mr. Dicks, I believe?" she said.
"Right you are, ma'am," he replied; "you see Josiah Dicks of Indianapolis, and this is my daughter, Pollie—or, as she prefers to be called, Paulina. We've come, as I wrote you we should, and I hope you can take us in."
"I have some vacant rooms which I shall be happy to show you," said Aunt Patty, "but we were just going to lunch; will you not sit down with us, and we can discuss business matters later."
"I guess that will suit us excellently, eh! What say you, Pollie?" was his response. "The fact is, we left our hotel soon after ten, and the fresh country air on the way hither has given a decided edge to our appetites."