“If you are going to give up like that it will make no difference what you do. I thought you were more of a man than that.”
She turned and ran up the path. At the top of the pile of stones she stopped, her slim outline silhouetted in clear-cut lines against a patch of moonlight, and her loosened hair giving the suggestion of a halo as the mellow light played through. She lifted her hand as she declared, “And you are more of a man. I do not believe that whatever Father thinks he has found out can harm you in the least. That is what we really quarreled about to-day. Does that tell you how much I care? ‘Now is the time when you need to summon 212 every ounce of self-control you possess. When other men are seeking to land the knock-out blow you should keep your head the coolest, for unless you do you cannot make your best calculations.’ You see, I have not forgotten, and neither must you. And in everything, Mack,” she finished, hurriedly.
The rear gate clicked, and she sent him a light trill.
The minister went to his study as soon as he reached home. For hours he sat, his mind a blank. He was roused at last by the opening of his study door. He looked up into the face of his old friend. The blue eyes, usually clear and steady, had a faded look as though the fire in them had suddenly gone out.
CHAPTER XI
“I’ve been shut up with the most onreasonable feller I ever see in all my life,” said the Captain to the unasked question in the minister’s eyes. “I cal’late I’ll keep my thoughts to myself to-night, Mack, and sleep on them. The way I feel wouldn’t be conducive to prayer-meeting language. Good night, son.”
It was scarcely daylight when Miss Pipkin began work in the kitchen on the following morning. Shortly afterward the Captain descended.
“Morning, Clemmie.” He held the kitchen door ajar, and his voice wavered as he spoke.