Then Forbes went his way up the mountains, having accomplished his object much quicker than he had hoped to. Had anyone been watching him, once he reached the summit, they might have questioned his sanity. Deliberately placing his candy box and his luncheon upon a stump, he began pacing off distances: twenty long strides toward the river, then twenty at right-angles, pausing to peer toward the mighty stream flowing six hundred feet below him, for the cliffs were precipitous at that point.
“Good site. Magnificent view. Constant inspiration. Bound to succeed. Purely classical. This will emphasize the illusion. But it must not prove an illusion; no, not for a moment. It will be a beautiful reality—a crystallized dream. We will set up our Lares and Penates in its very center—ahem! I mean—I mean—well I’ll try to persuade her to set hers up beside mine. Wonderful girl! extraordinary, very! Fell in with my idea at once—at least thought the plan—what was it she pronounced it? Ah, I recall, ‘truly altruistic.’ Truly altruistic. Yes, that was it. Excellent choice of words. Invariably apt and to the point. Yes, the building shall face this way. Her window—my Lord!” and the monologue came to an abrupt end as the speaker, turning a vivid scarlet, made a grab for his edibles, and, seating himself upon a warm rock, began to devour his luncheon with the dispatch of the animal Mammy insisted he resembled. The sun was sinking into the West when Forbes came strolling up to Mrs. Carruth’s piazza, where the family had gathered for their afternoon tea which old Charles was serving. It was the delight of Charles’ heart to serve this little repast.
This time it was iced tea and lemonade, with some of Mammy’s flaky jumbles and a box of Constance’s candy. That piazza was an inviting spot. Hammocks, lounging chairs and bamboo settees made it more than luxurious, and the family spent all the time possible in this corner, which seemed to catch every passing breeze from the river.
They rose to welcome their guest and offer him refreshment. It was Eleanor who first reached him, and it was beside Eleanor he ensconced himself upon one of the pillow-laden settees.
“Where on earth have you been, you tramp?” asked Hadyn where he swayed idly back and forth in a hammock, Jean nestling beside him. Jean was never ten feet from Hadyn if she could help it. His arm encircled her, and her head rested against his shoulder as she watched Forbes. Jean was growing into a very beautiful young girl, though still a child at heart. “A thin slip of a girl like a new morn” exactly described her. Though Jean was not thin. She was simply lithe and supple.
“Just on one of my strolls up the mountain. Great old mountain! Fine view up there! Wonderful place for a residence!” replied Forbes, devouring jumbles at an alarming rate and quenching his thirst with glass after glass of lemonade.
“Great if you have an idea of perfecting an aeroplane. Personally, I’d not relish rambling up there twice daily, and at present the trail leaves something to be desired for vehicles which navigate upon this mundane sphere,” laughed Hadyn.
“How do you know that Mr. Forbes hasn’t already invented an air-ship?” asked Constance. “I hear he goes up there very often, and he may have ways and means of which we are ignorant.”
“Only Shank’s mare,” answered Forbes, stretching out a pair of long, dusty legs. “Jove! I am a sight. I didn’t know I was so disreputable. Beg your pardon, Mrs. Carruth, for intruding upon you like this. Truth is, I hurried down that trail like an avalanche, for I’d spent more time at Mammy’s counter than usual. By the way, Miss Constance, Mammy asked me to look up an address for her. Will you please give it to her for me?”
“Certainly.”