“That is exactly what I have done, Mrs. Atchison. Your brother is no great distance from here, and we have exchanged telegrams to-day; but when I told you a moment ago that I did not know his whereabouts exactly I spoke the truth. Your brother’s appearance on the scene at the beginning was most providential. The stage was set, the curtain waited”—Jerry extended her arms to indicate a breadth of situation—“but there was no valiant hero. I needed a leading man, and Mr. Ardmore walked in like a fairy prince ready to take the part. And what I shall say to you further, as my chaperon, will not, I hope, cause you to think ill of me.”
“I love you more and more! You may tell me anything you like without fear of being misunderstood; but tell me nothing that you prefer to keep to yourself.”
“If you were not Mr. Ardmore’s sister I should not tell you this; and I shall never tell another soul. I was coming home from a visit in Baltimore, and the train stopped somewhere to let another train pass. The two trains stood side by side for a little while, and in the window of the sleeper opposite me I saw a young man who seemed very sad. I thought perhaps he had buried all his friends, for he had the appearance of one lately bereaved. It has always seemed to me that we should do what we can to cheer the afflicted, and this gentleman was staring out of his window very sadly, as though he needed a friend, and as he caught my eye it seemed to me that there was an appeal in it that it would have been unwomanly for me to ignore. So, just as my train started, at the very last moment that we looked at each other, I winked at that gentleman with, I think, my right eye.”
Miss Geraldine Dangerfield touched the offending member delicately with her handkerchief.
Mrs. Atchison bent forward and took both the girl’s hands.
“And that was Tommy—my brother Tommy!”
“That gentleman has proved to be Mr. Thomas Ardmore. I had not the slightest idea that I should ever in the world see him again. My only hope was that he would go on his way cheered and refreshed by my sign of good-will, though he was either so depressed or so surprised that he made no response. I never expected to see him again in this world; and when I had almost forgotten all about him he coolly sent in his card to me at the executive mansion in Raleigh. And I was very harsh with him when I learned who he was; for you know the Ardmore estate owns a lot of North Carolina bonds that are due on the first of June, and Mr. Billings had been chasing papa all over the country to know whether they will be paid; and I supposed that of course your brother was looking for papa too, to annoy him about some mere detail of that bond business, for the state treasurer, who does not love papa, has gone away fishing, and Mr. Billings is perfectly wild.”
“Delicious!” exclaimed Mrs. Atchison. “Perfectly delicious! And I am sure that when Tommy explained his real sentiments toward Mr. Billings you and he became friends at once.”
“Not at once, for I came very near having him thrown out of the house; and I laughed at him about a jug that was given to him on the train at Kildare with a message in it for papa. You know when you are governor people always give you presents—that is, your friendly constituents do. The others give you only unkind words. The temperance people send you jugs of buttermilk on board your train as you pass through the commonwealth, and others send you applejack. Your brother gave back the buttermilk and kept the jug of applejack, which had a warning to father in its corn-cob stopper. I thought it was very funny, and I laughed at your brother so that he was scared and ran out of the house. Then afterwards I looked out of the window of papa’s office, and saw Mr. Ardmore sitting on a bench in the state-house yard looking ever so sad and dejected, and I sent the private secretary out to get him; and now we are, I think, the best of friends, and Mr. Ardmore is, as I have already told you, the governor of North Carolina to all intents and purposes.”
“May I call you Jerry? Thank you, dear. Let me tell you that I am thirty-two, and you are——?”