“I mean that one of us is going to keep that feller company in hell. Beyond that you’ll have to guess,” said the Captain, rising. “Only don’t you tie too tight to Means, that’s all. Good night, I’m going to turn in.”
“All right, Cap’n, I’ll promise,” replied Mr. McGowan, smiling appreciatively.
“You’d best go to bed, too, Mack. You’re mighty tired.”
But the minister did not follow his friend’s advice about retiring. He sat at his desk. The angry men of the afternoon slowly faded from his thoughts, and into the center of his consciousness came the vision of the loveliest face he had ever seen. He recalled the words of frank approval with which Miss Fox had met him after the evening service, and the cordial manner she had shown. Not that he was in love with one of the members of his church. That would never do. But there was something 52 different about the Elder’s daughter, something which appealed to his sense of the beautiful. This, he told himself, he could enjoy without overstepping the conventions.
The next day he was to dine at the Fox home.
CHAPTER III
On the following evening, just as early as the rules of propriety would permit, Mr. McGowan turned into the private road that led up to the Fox estate. He walked slowly along the wide avenue beneath the spreading elms and stately chestnuts. He had dined with the Elder many times during the few months he had been in the village, but on those other occasions Elizabeth had been absent. The house had always seemed cold and forbidding both outside and inside. As he came out of the shaded roadway into the sweeping semicircle described before the main entrance to the house, he caught himself wondering if the stiff interior would seem softened by the presence of the girl. He began at once to chide himself for entertaining such a sentimental notion, but before he could finish the rebuke the door swung back, and Elizabeth Fox stood in the opening. She was dressed in a simple blue frock of clinging stuff, which 54 set off the perfect lines of her athletic body. The blue of her eyes took on a deeper hue as though to harmonize with the shade of her gown.
“Good evening, Mr. McGowan. We are so glad you could come. Father will be right down.”