His companion’s grunt of incredulity was followed by the exclamation:
“There she comes!”
The two men below had halted, wheeled about, and were watching an approaching carriage. Down the wharf with this equipage came an atmosphere of solidity and opulence, of luxury and perfect taste. On the box, in quiet livery, sat a driver and a footman. The driver, from his bearing and appearance, could easily have passed for the president of a college. As the carriage halted before the gang plank, 17the gentleman with the nose stepped forward and opened the door, while he of the roses stood by with a radiant visage, his hat in one hand, his offering in the other.
First, emerged an elderly gentleman, tall, slender, and acutely respectable. After him, a girl descended, also tall and slender. She was followed by a maid, and a Catholic priest. As the young lady stood for a moment conversing with the two admirers, her glance, in running over the little steamer, encountered Mr. Townsend, and she nodded pleasantly.
“Lovely! Enchanting!” murmured the man from Africa.
“Of course she is! Come down, and I’ll present you.”
“But, first, tell me something about her. What are the interesting facts?”
“Why, there’s nothing to tell–that I can think of.”
“Of course there is! There must be! Women like that don’t bloom in every garden. What a patrician type! And all that black hair! She is unusual.”
“Well, she is unusual, Pats. She is a splendid girl,–an orphan; and she is giving her fortune all away.”