On Christmas day the inn was all a-bustle with preparation. Colonel Rahl had suddenly announced that he would hold a concert and entertainment there; his own quarters were not large enough to house the throng expected; and as the inn parlors were big and comfortable, the landlord had been given notice to decorate them with greens and candle-lights against the coming of the commander’s guests. The regular lodgers at the tavern were greatly inconvenienced by the affair. The kitchens were mainly given up to the cooking of Rahl’s dinner; and when the patrons of the place did succeed in having a meal prepared, they were forced to eat it in all sorts of out-of-the-way places in order not to be in the way of those hanging the decorations.
So George found himself dining alone in a screened corner near to the fire early that evening. A small dining party was placed, after a little, upon the opposite side of the screen; George paid no attention to them, being busy with his own thoughts.
In a little time the waiters had finished their hammering and hanging; and the first voice that George caught from the party beyond the screen was that of the burly man whom he thought he knew.
“And so,” this person was saying, with a great laugh, “she is coming here to-night, is she?”
A smoother voice replied:
“Yes; she’s stopping with the Hawksworths, I understand. And they’ll be sure to be here. They are great friends of Rahl’s, you see.”
When this last person began to speak, George started in astonishment. It could not be! But as it went on he was convinced and dumbfounded. The voice was that of Major Hyde. And, as though to assure the young New Englander that he was not mistaken, Henderson, the dragoon officer, now spoke.
“’Pon my word,” he laughed. “Rahl is a great fellow. He pulls the string and they all dance like puppets.”
“Your uncle, Mr. Camp, will also be present, I suppose,” said the burly man, apparently to Hyde.
“I think not,” answered the major. “He’s still brooding over the ashes of his manor house, I believe; they can’t induce him to leave.”