LOVE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
The fair girl was as unaffected and as ingenuous as nature itself. She was heartily glad to see Gerald, she knew of no reason why she should not give free expression to her joy, and the flush of delighted surprise that overspread her lovely face, the welcoming light which shone in her beautiful eyes, sent a thrill of ecstasy through Gerald’s heart, while they at the same time caused a frown of annoyance and hate to settle upon John Hubbard’s brow.
Mr. Brewster was also an interested observer of Allison’s greeting of his young clerk, and he congratulated himself that they were so soon going to Newport, where the gaieties of the season, the mingling with companions in her own sphere of life, would crowd this “handsome young beggar” out of her mind.
“I am so glad that you could manage to come, after all,” Allison said, with earnest sincerity. “I was so disappointed when I received your note saying you had to go out of town. And now I want you to act as captain of the swanboat on the lake; you understand it perfectly, and I shall feel safer with you at the helm than with any one else.”
But before Gerald could reply, John Hubbard stepped forward and inquired, in a sharp, curt tone:
“How is this, young man? You surely have not had time to attend to the business upon which you were sent, and it was far too important to be entrusted to a common messenger.”
Gerald flushed hotly, more at the man’s tone and insolent bearing than at his words, but he had learned to hold himself well in hand.
“I was about to explain to Mr. Brewster,” he quietly remarked, as he turned to that gentleman without replying to the expert’s inquiry. “The package is perfectly safe, sir,” he continued, addressing his employer; “I delivered it into Mr. Bartlett’s own hands, according to your instructions. I had just reached the ferry when I met him coming off the boat, and so was not obliged to cross to Jersey City. Here is a message, acknowledging the safe delivery of the papers.”
As he concluded, he passed to Mr. Brewster a slip of paper, which was evidently a leaf that had been torn from a note-book, and upon which there had been penciled a few lines.
“It is all right, Gerald,” Mr. Brewster responded, as he read them, “and you were fortunate to meet Mr. Bartlett. If you had gone to Jersey City, you would have missed him and might have had to wait many hours before you could have obeyed the charge to deliver the papers into his own hands. And now I think, as Al—Miss Brewster suggests, you will be just the one to manage the boat for the company,” the banker concluded, in a tone that brought a quick flush to the young man’s cheek; for it seemed to imply that he was not regarded as an invited guest, but, rather, as a part of the machinery necessary to contribute to the pleasure of the company in general.