The Project Gutenberg eBook, John Baring's House, by Elsie Singmaster This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: John Baring's House Author: Elsie Singmaster Release Date: January 22, 2018 [eBook #56416] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN BARING'S HOUSE*** E-text prepared by David Edwards, David E. 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See https://books.google.com/books?id=XGAUAAAAYAAJ&hl=en BOOKS BY ELSIE SINGMASTER When Sarah Saved the Day When Sarah Went to School Gettysburg Katy Gaumer Emmeline The Long Journey The Life of Martin Luther John Baring’s House Basil Everman Ellen Levis Bennett Malin The Hidden Road A Boy at Gettysburg Bred in the Bone Keller’s Anna Ruth ‘Sewing Susie’ What Everybody Wanted Virginia’s Bandit You Make Your Own Luck A Little Money Ahead The Young Ravenels Swords of Steel The Magic Mirror The Loving Heart Rifles for Washington ELIZABETH AND HERBERT John Baring’s House By Elsie Singmaster BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY ELSIE SINGMASTER LEWARS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM TO JAMES ARTHUR SINGMASTER, JUNIOR Contents I. A New Home 1 II. “What is the Matter with Us?” 19 III. “I Will Not Believe It!” 38 IV. A Journey in Vain 54 V. An Alarming Message 74 VI. Another Vain Journey 89 VII. “Mammy’s Boy” 106 VIII. Black Smith’s Bargain 123 IX. Herbert puts Two and Two Together 138 JOHN BARING’S HOUSE Chapter I A NEW HOME Sitting on the doorstep, Elizabeth Scott leaned her head against the stone wall of the old house. The June twilight was closing in and a hard day’s work was done. Three meals had been prepared and half of the large garden had been hoed and weeded. Feeling that their gardening knowledge was limited, Elizabeth and her brother made up by an excess of cultivation. A tall, slender boy came round the corner of the house and called “Elizabeth!” There was a dependent quality in his voice; one would have guessed that he was a good deal younger and a good deal less enterprising than the sister whom he addressed. “Yes, Herbert!” Elizabeth looked up smilingly. Her voice was soft like his, but the words were briskly and firmly spoken. Briskness and firmness were two of Elizabeth’s most noticeable qualities. Those who opposed her called her firmness stubbornness. There was another quality expressed in her voice—an intense affection for the brother whom she addressed. “Aren’t you going to bed, Elizabeth?” “Not yet. Come and sit down.” Herbert dropped to the doorstep beside his sister. His motions still showed the effect of a long illness from which he had not entirely recovered. “Are you very tired, Herbert?” “Not very.” For a long time both were quiet. The old house seemed gradually to sink into the woodland which rose behind it against the wall of the higher mountains, the shadows of night crept over the miles of fields and orchards which dropped to the distant plain, the garden between the house and the road was blotted out, and the old oak trees on the other side came closer and closer. In the woods whip-poor-wills called, and once an owl flapped low above the doorstep. At that Herbert started and Elizabeth spoke reassuringly. “Nothing but an owl, dear! He looked like a great moth, didn’t he? Herbert, when we can, we must restore the old driveway. It used to come in from the road in a beautiful curve to the door. Then the garden can be moved, and I believe if we’d cut away that clump of poor trees we could sit here on our own doorstep and see Gettysburg. Think of it, Herbert!” “Yes,” said Herbert. His voice expressed pleasure, but a qualified pleasure. “I can’t make it seem real,” said Elizabeth. “If we can only succeed!” “Of course we shall succeed!” Any one listening to Elizabeth would have said “Of course!” “In the first place, we have this house, blessed, substantial old thing that it is, only occasionally occupied during forty years and yet habitable after a little mending of the roof. John Baring’s character can be seen in the way he built his house. I’m more proud of him every day. Then we have the acres and acres of woodland behind us, and our garden—think of the produce we have to sell to-morrow! And soon we shall have our orchard,—our orchard, Herbert. They say that men within a few miles have sold a single crop for ten thousand dollars. It will mean work and saving and then comfort for all our lives. Why, we are the most fortunate people in the world!” Herbert looked back over his shoulder into the dark hall. At the other end a door opened against the black wall of the woodland. “Doesn’t it make you nervous to think of those men prowling round with their guns and dogs?” “Not at all. They’ll have to be warned away. I suppose they’re so used to roaming about that they think the place is theirs. I’m not so much afraid of them as I am of their big dogs running over the garden.” “What is that noise, Elizabeth?” Elizabeth listened intently. Herbert often heard alarming noises. There was a soft rustle of leaves near at hand. “A deer, I guess,” she answered cheerfully, “or some other wild thing—nothing to hurt us, I’m sure. I cannot see why our people ever went away from here. Grandfather Baring was a man of standing—why, this must have been the finest place for miles around! Wait till we have a new portico and a little paint on the woodwork and some shrubbery! I should think mother would have been continually homesick.” “Did she ever say she was?” [Pg 1] [Pg 2] [Pg 3] [Pg 4] [Pg 5] “No. When I asked her she used to tell me what she remembered hearing people say about the battle. She was not a talkative person. But all these years the taxes have been paid and there wasn’t even always a renter.” “Do you think she believed we should ever come back? Do you—” Herbert interrupted himself. “There is some one looking at us now!” “Where?” “There’s a man at the edge of the woods with a big dog and a gun!” Elizabeth turned her head. The moon had risen and its rays shone on a long object of bright steel. This object was not pointed in the direction of the two on the doorstep; it slanted backward from the shoulder which supported it, but it was none the less menacing. Elizabeth sprang up, a short, somewhat stocky, swiftly moving figure. “Well, neighbor!” she said loudly. “How are you this evening?” The man drew back into the shadows, but he was not to be allowed to slink away. Elizabeth went closer to him. “Aren’t you a neighbor?” she persisted. “Not close,” was the sullen answer. “Have you lived about here a long time?” “’Bout’s long as I’ve lived anywhere.” It was impossible to tell whether this was a humorous way of saying that he had lived here always, or whether it was meant to indicate that he was a wanderer. “We are going to stay here,” went on Elizabeth. “After a while when our orchard is set out, we shall need a good deal of help. Could you give us a hand sometimes?” “No.” “Do you know any one who could?” “No.” “We really belong here,” explained Elizabeth pleasantly. The stranger seemed startled. “What do you mean by that?” “This was our grandfather’s place. We were born in the West, but our people are gone, and so we have come back. We’re going to raise apples. The fields in front of the house are to be turned into an orchard.” It seemed that the stranger could take in but one thought at a time. “Your gran’paw lived here?” “Yes.” “What mought ’a’ been his name?” “John Baring was his name. Did you ever hear of him?” “I heard of him.” The answer, begun near at hand, receded into the shadows, as man and dog disappeared. Elizabeth returned to the doorstep. “I told him our pedigree and our intentions. If he had stayed a little longer, I should have told him to keep out of our woodland. Now, my dear, it’s time for bed.” Herbert rose stiffly. “Everything is ready, isn’t it, Elizabeth?” “Yes, everything; the onions and the radishes and the lettuce and the peas.” “Doesn’t it make you a little uncomfortable to think of going about peddling things from door to door to strange people?” “Not a bit! It’s just as honorable to sell onions as diamonds or books. I’m so proud of my garden sass, I’d drive to the gate of the White House and offer it there. And I don’t mean my patrons to be strangers, I mean them to be friends. It’s quite time that we made acquaintances.” Herbert sighed as he went into the house. Elizabeth stood for a while looking at the illuminated landscape and thinking, not of the morrow or of the menacing gun, but of a deeper source of anxiety. Would Herbert never get well and grow up to be a man? She did not mind hard work, but she wished now to share responsibility. He was anxious to do his part, but he was like a child, requiring direction and encouragement. It was well that the wagon was already packed with the produce which Elizabeth meant to offer, because in the morning she had but one thought—she would see the battle-field of Gettysburg. Her curiosity had been only half gratified by her mother’s answers to her questions and her meager accounts in her school histories had told her little more. She meant to [Pg 6] [Pg 7] [Pg 8] [Pg 9] [Pg 10] try to find books which described the battle, so that looking from her doorstep she should be able to picture to herself in detail the conflict which, she believed, had saved her country. She was intensely patriotic; long ago she had hung from one of the upper windows of the old house a little flag. The brother and sister spoke but seldom as they drove down the hills. The morning was clear and bright, they were young, and a great adventure awaited them. It seemed to Elizabeth that each old farmhouse must have some patriotic significance, that each old tree could tell tales of valor. “I wish I knew what had happened on this road!” said she. Herbert shivered. “Do you suppose there was fighting here?” “It’s very likely,” said Elizabeth. “There’s got to be fighting,” she went on a little impatiently. “Everything we have has been fought and suffered for, Herbert. Why, look!” She pulled the old horse up and climbing out of the wagon went to the side of the road. “Here is a marker with an inscription on it!” Even Herbert showed interest. “Do you think Joe’ll stand?” he asked. “Either that or he’ll lie down,” answered Elizabeth gayly. “He won’t run, that’s certain.” Together the two read the inscription: First Shot at Gettysburg July 1, 1863, 7.30 A.M. By Captain Jones, Lieut. Riddler and Serg. Shafer Fired by Captain Jones with Serg. Shafer’s Carbine Co. E. 8th Illinois Cavalry Erected 1886 Then they climbed silently back into the wagon. A few miles farther on more elaborate monuments greeted their eager eyes, a Union general on horseback and a Union officer, booted and spurred, standing with field-glasses in hand, looking earnestly and inquiringly toward the west from which Elizabeth and Herbert had come. “The Confederates must have come by our house!” said Herbert. At the brow of the next hill they saw Gettysburg, spread before them. Beyond another rise they could see white marble shafts. To the right a tall building lifted its cupola above the trees of a thick grove. “This must be the Seminary,” said Elizabeth. “You remember there was a Seminary Ridge!” Old Joe traveled slowly down the leafy avenue and at the first house stopped of his own accord. He had been a huckster’s horse, a fact which accounted for various peculiarities. Elizabeth went into the yard and offered her wares to a lady on the porch. She had looked at Herbert hopefully, but he made no sign of intending to act as agent. “Good-morning. Do you need any vegetables?” “Why, yes,” answered the lady. “I shall be glad to have vegetables. Now that we have a curb market in the town, no one stops here.” “We have onions and peas and lettuce and radishes.” The lady came out to inspect the wares. “They’re fine! I’ll have some of each.” When the bargain was complete, Elizabeth, in friendly fashion, told who she was. The crisp bill in her hand was an earnest of future success. “Our grandfather was John Baring who lived in one of the old houses between here and Chambersburg. It stands a little back from the road on the first steep hill above Cashtown. Perhaps you’ve seen it?” The lady did not say. She looked curiously at Elizabeth. [Pg 11] [Pg 12] [Pg 13] [Pg 14] “We mean to live there and raise apples. We came early in the spring and planted our garden and it has grown splendidly. You are our first customer. When would you like another supply? The day after to-morrow?” The lady hesitated. Her expression had changed. Then she began to speak rapidly. “There is a curb market, you know. I don’t know whether you will find much business. Many people have their own gardens.” She seemed to realize the contradiction between her first enthusiasm and this deterring advice, for she no longer looked at Elizabeth. “Perhaps you had better try to sell your produce at Chambersburg.” Elizabeth was mystified and a little hurt. “Thank you,” said she as she climbed back into the wagon. She stopped at the next house and the next. At both, before she offered her wares she told her name and her grandfather’s name. She sold nothing, however, in spite of her friendliness. It could not be possible that her friendliness repelled these people! From the porch of one large house a kindly old gentleman walked to meet her, book in hand. “No, thank you,” he said before she had time to speak. “We have a garden. But you have fine-looking vegetables and I wish you luck.” He even waved his hand as they drove away. Elizabeth liked him because of his smile and she wished that she might stop and talk to him; he would probably know all about the battle. As for the old gentleman, he liked Elizabeth and spoke of her to his family. “A capable-looking soul, not pretty, exactly, but with unexpectedly blue eyes. She looked like an interesting girl.” “Now, Sherlock Holmes,” said the old gentleman’s daughter. “How did you make that out? You are always finding interesting persons.” “From the way she looked at the book which I had in my hand.” Elizabeth made no more sales. In the end she disposed of the remainder of her goods at a store and turned Joe’s head homeward. Herbert was depressed by their bad luck. “Perhaps it is all a mistake!” Elizabeth slapped the lines on Joe’s back. Unconsciously she had taken them from Herbert and as unconsciously he had handed them to her. It was too late now to return them, but the next responsibility, however great or small, Herbert must shoulder. “Of course it isn’t a mistake! They were just supplied, that is all. We’ll go on a day when there is no curb market.” In encouraging Herbert, she forgot her own disturbance of mind. “We have ten dollars, at any rate, and that is as good as found.” The June afternoon had grown cool; as the two drove across the grass to the doorway of the stone house the shadows of the mountain lay darkly about them. The house looked larger; it might have appeared, to one who did not love it, sinister. In the stone above the door the name John Baring was deeply carved; it seemed to Elizabeth suddenly to have no relation to her; it looked strange as even familiar words may look at times. But she spoke in her usual soft, brisk tone. “To-morrow we’ll try Chambersburg. It is so much larger and there will not be so many gardens. Stable your war- horse, Herbert, and I’ll make waffles for supper.” Elizabeth went into her room, originally a sitting-room behind the larger parlor with windows opening toward the woods. On the floor lay a piece of paper which had not been there when she went away. She picked it up and carried it to the window. “What in the world!” she cried. With difficulty she deciphered the awkward writing. This ant no place to rase apels. Nor yit for those what are kin to John Baring. As if to add the last touch of melodrama to his warning, the author had executed a sketch of what was intended to be a skull and cross-bones. Elizabeth looked at the paper and turned it over. After a while she heard the sound of Herbert’s footsteps and knew that in a second she would hear the familiar “Elizabeth!” This was not a responsibility to be shared with frightened Herbert. She laid the paper under the scarf on her bureau and crossed the hall to the kitchen, and there, as she moved about gathering her materials for supper, she had astonished and bitter thoughts. “I didn’t make friends with the neighbors at first because I thought they might feel under obligations to help us! I thought that was the Eastern way!” She looked out into the darkening woods. “This is a polite neighborhood into which we have moved!” said she. [Pg 15] [Pg 16] [Pg 17] [Pg 18] Chapter II “WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH US?” Chambersburg is a much larger town than Gettysburg, and to Elizabeth, who had bought her supplies there when she and Herbert had arrived in the early spring, it seemed now to promise more patrons. She would still be interested in Gettysburg and wished to learn all she could about the battle, but her relations with the town would henceforth be those of a tourist. When morning dawned, she began to wonder whether Gettysburg’s rudeness was not a product of her own imagination. “No town is going to hang out banners because Elizabeth Scott has arrived to sell onions!” said she to herself. Of the paper found upon the floor she said nothing to Herbert. The whole incident seemed fantastic. It was silly to have been disturbed for an instant. The sign of the skull and cross-bones as an impelling threat had no longer any power, at least it should have none over Elizabeth Scott. It was doubtless the man with the gun who had thus favored her. Besides, she declined to be frightened by any man who spelled apples, “apels.” The distance to Chambersburg is longer than the distance to Gettysburg and the hills are steep. But the morning sunlight slanted through the trees, the birds sang, laurel bloomed everywhere, and there was a succession of sweet odors, many of which Elizabeth could not identify. The woods were for the most part still virgin and into their depths an occasional road or path invited. In an open place they passed a park with pavilions and swings, where a queer old ruin which seemed the work of a fire stood against a hillside. It was not the ruin of a house or barn; it was difficult to tell what it was. “I’m going to find out,” said Elizabeth. “I’m going to learn all about this mountain. Perhaps this place was burned when Chambersburg was burned. That was a year after the battle of Gettysburg—that is, I think it was. It’s hard to realize that there was fighting here or anything else but peace and happiness. As I remember, people had to flee from the fire for their lives. I suppose it’s hard to forgive things like that.” She drove through the eastern part of the town and into the busy square, then she turned to the right. After she had driven several blocks, she began to offer her wares. As at Gettysburg, the beginning was propitious. The first purchaser asked whether they were newcomers, and Elizabeth told happily their history. “We lived in the West, but after our mother died, we decided to come back to our grandfather’s place and raise apples. My brother and I are alone.” “Where is your grandfather’s place?” asked the lady kindly. “On the road to Gettysburg.” “What was your grandfather’s name? I know many families on that road.” “His name was John Baring. The house which he built in 1860 is still standing and in good condition and we live there. We—” The stranger seemed to be indifferent to what Elizabeth had to say further. “What name did you say?” she asked sharply. “John Baring.” The lady’s lips parted and a brilliant red appeared upon her cheeks. “You would much better have stayed in the West!” said she sharply. “You made a great mistake to come back.” Elizabeth stared. She had brought the woman’s order in from the wagon in a basket. Now, without taking out the articles, she lifted the basket and started toward the street. “I didn’t mean that I wouldn’t buy your things this time, especially as I have ordered them!” came a loud protest. Elizabeth made no answer. She went out of the gate and closed it carefully behind her. “Let us drive on quickly, Herbert!” “What is the matter?” “There is a crazy woman in there.” “What did she say?” Elizabeth’s hot anger gave place to a keener feeling of alarm. “Nothing worth repeating.” “Shall we stop at other places?” “Certainly.” Elizabeth now treated her customers with peremptory shortness and the method seemed to pay. [Pg 19] [Pg 20] [Pg 21] [Pg 22] [Pg 23] “If you buy, buy quickly, but it really doesn’t make any difference to me whether you buy or not.” Thus said Elizabeth’s bright blue eyes. It seemed that a new Elizabeth had come out from the rude woman’s gate. But Herbert could not long be kept in ignorance. They turned and drove back, offering the remainder of their wares on the other side of the street. When they reached the house opposite that of the first purchaser, Elizabeth had approached the porch steps before she saw that the woman had crossed the street and sat with her neighbor. The neighbor rose as Elizabeth drew near. “You ought not to come here,” she declared. “If people knew who you were no one would buy from you.” The voice was not angry; it was earnest and kindly. “Don’t you understand that?” “Do you need any vegetables?” asked Elizabeth with burning cheeks. Whatever this strange mystery was, she was determined not to have it explained on the public street. “No, I don’t need any vegetables.” Elizabeth turned and went out. Herbert looked shrunken. “Did the woman across the street speak to you like that?” “Something like that.” “What do they mean?” “I have no idea.” “Is it our name that angers them?” “I don’t know, Herbert.” “Can you account for it in any way?” “No.” “Did mother ever say that anything dreadful had happened in our family?” “Never.” “She was a sad sort of woman. Could anything have worried her?” “I never suspected anything.” When the words were out, Elizabeth remembered long periods of depression. “She never warned us not to come here?” “She never thought of our coming.” “What shall we do now, Elizabeth?” “I am considering that.” It was not until they had left Chambersburg far behind and had reached again the little park, that Elizabeth spoke. She lifted her head suddenly. “Elizabeth, have you a plan?” It was a question often asked by her brother. “Yes, I have a plan. To-morrow I am going to Gettysburg and I am going to call upon the old gentleman and ask him what is the matter with us.” “The old gentleman with the book?” “Yes.” “Why are you going to ask him?” “Because he is old and kind and because he probably knows all about the neighborhood. We seem to have some kind of a bar sinister on our escutcheon.” Herbert looked sidewise at Elizabeth. Thank fortune she could still joke! “If we committed murder or theft or any other base crime, I want to know it.” “Elizabeth!” protested Herbert. Then he asked a little faintly, “Don’t you want me to go with you?” Elizabeth’s eyes hardened. She had thought, of course, that Herbert would go with her. “No; it isn’t necessary. There is a great deal to be done at home and Joe will travel better with a light load.” Rising early, she called Herbert. The sun was up; it gilded the boles of the trees and turned the spider’s webs to silver. If the old house had been a beautiful belle, one might have said that the morning was her hour. The sunlight fell upon the fine, severe old façade, showing all its sturdy strength of design and workmanship and making glitter each tiny point of quartz in the stone. But Elizabeth did not think of its beauty. She prepared Herbert’s breakfast and also his lunch, then she climbed once more into the wagon. She did not remember until she reached the old gentleman’s house that she did not know his name. Fortunately he was on the porch and rose to greet her. He was, as his daughter had said, always finding interesting persons, and he was [Pg 24] [Pg 25] [Pg 26] [Pg 27] also frequently disappointed in them. Few young people, he mourned, were willing to put their minds upon anything for any length of time, even upon the history of their own country and neighborhood. “Good-morning,” he said, recalling at once the blue eyes which he had admired. “Well, did you sell all your wares?” “Yes,” answered Elizabeth. She proceeded at once to the business in hand. “My name is Elizabeth Scott. I have come to live in this neighborhood and I wished to ask some questions about its history.” The old gentleman beamed. “Sit down, sit down! My name is Thomas, and I am a crank about the history of this neighborhood.” “I heard some one speak on the street about Colonel Thomas—is that you?” The old gentleman nodded. “Pennsylvania is the most interesting State in the Union and this is its most interesting county. You will probably be sorry that you ever made my acquaintance, because, once started, I never stop.” Elizabeth smiled wistfully. “Oh, no!” But Colonel Thomas, upon whose lips volumes of information trembled, did not get far into the history of the county. He saw suddenly tears in Elizabeth’s blue eyes. “What is the matter?” he asked. “My brother and I have come here to earn our living. We were born in Illinois and there father died when we were children. Our mother lived until a year ago, then she died suddenly. I had expected to teach school, but my brother’s health failed and the doctors thought that an entire change of climate might cure him. Mother still owned her father’s property in this county, so we came here, expecting to plant an orchard. My brother is much better, even in these few months. We have a fine garden and we have tried to sell our things, but wherever I have gone people have insulted me and advised me to leave. I thought that perhaps you could tell me what is the matter with us.” The old colonel raised both his hands. “On my life, young lady! I never heard of such a state of affairs. This is a pleasant, hospitable neighborhood. I was born here and have lived here all my life and I know it. What did you say your name is?” “My name is Elizabeth Scott. But it isn’t my name that excites them apparently; it’s the name of my grandfather.” “What was his name?” It seemed to Elizabeth before she answered that the expression of the kindly countenance had changed. A disturbing suspicion seemed to have entered Colonel Thomas’s mind. “John Baring,” said she. “John Baring!” repeated Colonel Thomas. “Oh, my dear young lady! John Baring!” “What did he do?” asked Elizabeth steadily. “You’ve never heard anything about him?” “Nothing. My mother was a quiet woman who spoke little about anything, but I am sure that she respected him and loved him. What did he do?” “Oh, young lady, you have asked me a hard question. I have a friendly feeling for you, I—” “That is the reason I came to you,” explained Elizabeth. “You looked at me in a friendly way.” “You seem like a young person of excellent common sense and composure. Do you wish me to tell you the whole truth?” “By all means!” “Will you come into the house? We might be interrupted here.” “Yes,” consented Elizabeth. Colonel Thomas led the way to a library whose walls were lined to the ceiling with books. If she had been less worried, Elizabeth would have exclaimed with delight. As it was, she gave a long sigh. Colonel Thomas took from a shelf a thick book. Elizabeth could see on its back the title “Recollections of a Confederate General.” Her heart stood still. Was their disgrace printed? What kind of disgrace could it be? “Sit down.” Elizabeth obeyed. “I should decline to tell you if it weren’t inevitable that you should know.” Even yet Colonel Thomas hesitated. “I’d rather know it quickly, sir.” Colonel Thomas began to speak as rapidly as Elizabeth could wish. [Pg 28] [Pg 29] [Pg 30] [Pg 31] [Pg 32] “There was a certain fact long gossiped about in this county. It was said that John Baring had given the Confederates valuable aid when they came here and that he had even guided them a part of the way. Before that his neighbors had never dreamed that he was anything but loyal.” “Was it just neighborhood gossip?” asked Elizabeth. Her cheeks were pale, but her eyes held the old gentleman’s bravely. “Was it confirmed in any way?” Colonel Thomas opened his large book. “Unfortunately a few months ago this book was published, ‘The Recollections and Letters of General Adams,’ a reliable witness. He describes the approach of Lee’s troops to Gettysburg and says this”—Colonel Thomas found the place and read—“‘From John Baring we secured information about roads leading to Gettysburg.’” “May I see it?” asked Elizabeth. Colonel Thomas laid the book on Elizabeth’s knee. She read in silence, with bent head. “You see how the neighbors felt about him. He could not have done much harm, of course, because there were few roads and these were easy to find, and they could have got the information in other ways. He went away with the Confederate army and never came back. He was never seen here again, but it is not impossible that he lived for many years.” Elizabeth sat motionless. “I remember now that his wife died after some years and his daughter married a stranger and went away.” Still Elizabeth did not move. “It seemed kinder to tell you and prepare you to protect yourself against rudeness. Unfortunately, some local editor read this book and copied this letter and it has revived an old story which had better been forgotten. I fought against the Confederates, but I am willing to forgive. Perhaps there is some other place where you could make a home.” “Thank you,” said Elizabeth. “You have done me a very great favor.” She rose and handed Colonel Thomas his book. Colonel Thomas grew more and more disturbed. “Won’t you partake of some refreshment?” he offered in his old-fashioned way. “I will call my daughter.” “No, I thank you. I have a long journey and I must start.” She looked up at the old gentleman for a single brave instant; then her eyes dropped. “We can’t be blamed for the sins and mistakes of our ancestors,” said he unhappily. “No,” agreed Elizabeth. “That is true.” But she could not fail to see that, consciously or unconsciously, he glanced toward two old swords crossed above his mantelpiece. “Good-bye,” said she. But her farewell was not final. She had driven only a short distance when she turned old Joe round, facing him the way he had come. Her cheeks burned. Now she looked upon the marauders on her land in a new light. “They probably think they can do as they please because we are despised!” Colonel Thomas welcomed her. “I’ll always be glad to see you.” “I’ve come back to ask another question, which has to do with the present instead of the past. We have a good deal of woodland back of the house and men prowl about there constantly with guns and dogs.” “I know them!” said Colonel Thomas excitedly. “They have a settlement up in the woods.” “I spoke to one of them and told him that we had come to stay, and the next evening I found a scrawled note directing us to leave. It was even decorated with skull and cross-bones!” “There’s only one of ’em can write and he learned in the penitentiary, that’s Sheldon, a tall man with a drooping mustache. Was it he?” “He’s the one I talked to.” “They’re a set of miserable rascals!” Colonel Thomas rose and began to walk up and down. “They’ve an interesting origin, but that’s all about ’em that is interesting. They’re descendants of the first squatters. The Colonial Government had a great deal of trouble with them, and since then they’ve been against everything, against the Government, against education, against religion, against law. During the war they were against the North, and the draft couldn’t reach into the mountains far enough to catch ’em. There’s this Sheldon who served a term for arson—I sent him up myself when I was judge—and a heavy, short, black-bearded man named Black Smith—don’t think it’s ‘blacksmith’; there’s nothing so industrious about ’em! They all have pleasant descriptive titles, like ‘Black’ and ‘Bud’ and ‘Bully.’ But there’s one institution they fear and that’s the constabulary.” “Who are they?” “They are the State police. If you are annoyed, let me know and there’ll be a settlement. The law will stand behind you there.” [Pg 33] [Pg 34] [Pg 35] [Pg 36] [Pg 37] Elizabeth rose once more. “Thank you.” Colonel Thomas assured her again vehemently that he and the law and the constabulary would stand by her. “You wouldn’t hesitate to ask me?” It was evidently a relief to the old gentleman to be able to offer to do something for her. “No,” promised Elizabeth, “I shouldn’t hesitate.” Colonel Thomas watched her until she turned at the top of the hill. “Now she has a row to hoe!” said he aloud. Chapter III “I WILL NOT BELIEVE IT!” Elizabeth had a great deal of time to think on the way home. Old Joe, who in three days had traveled about fifty miles, could not be encouraged beyond a slow walk. But she did not think very connectedly. Mind and soul were weary; her troubles presented themselves rather as a dull, undefined pain than as a sharp anxiety. Things could wait, she said to herself. It would be necessary, of course, for her to tell Herbert, and she trembled for the effect upon him. She had feared for weeks that his very nature had been affected by his illness and that he would remain a sort of dependent child instead of becoming a man. But what she had heard to-day threw another light on his condition. Could it be that it was an inherited weakness, the result of the shame which their mother must have felt? Their mother had been a woman of strong will, but might it not have been that her grief and anxiety had affected Herbert? She must have felt her father’s act to be a disgrace—it could not be otherwise. It was from that poor mother that Elizabeth had learned to love her country! But not even the word of a Colonel Thomas and the printed statement of a book could in an hour or two alter the conscious and unconscious convictions of Elizabeth’s life. The belief that one has been “well-born” is not easily yielded, even though one may have hitherto felt no conscious satisfaction. When, at last, she turned a weary Joe in upon the grassy drive, her lips were set. “I don’t believe it,” said she stubbornly. Herbert came to meet her and to take the horse. He glanced back over his shoulder into the woods. All day poor Herbert had been looking over his shoulder. “Well, Elizabeth?” he asked nervously. “What did you find out?” “We will talk after we have had supper,” said Elizabeth cheerfully. “You remember mother used to say that ‘empty stomachs make cowards.’” “All right,” agreed Herbert. Sometimes through the meal he looked at Elizabeth uneasily, but most of the time he seemed to be occupied with a trouble of his own. He had had that day a peculiar kind of anonymous communication meant for him and he was meditating upon it. When the supper dishes were put away, the two sat down on the doorstep. The lovely weather continued, the rising moon shone once more over the beautiful plain, the whip-poor-wills called mysteriously. “This is the home of my soul, the earthly home at least,” said Elizabeth to herself. Then she laid her hand on Herbert’s knee. “My dear, things are a little worse than I imagined. I visited the old gentleman and he tells me that our grandfather was supposed to have helped the Confederates when they came into this county; he advised them, and is said also to have guided them. This was common report about here for many years. He disappeared with them and never returned. I suppose this must have been pretty well forgotten in all this time, especially as all the family had gone away, but a little while ago a book was published, ‘The Recollections and Letters of General Adams.’ This Confederate general said that John Baring had given them information about roads. That is why they hate us!” “It isn’t our fault!” “No.” “What shall we do, Elizabeth?” “We shan’t do anything right away. We’re here and we can live even if people won’t buy our things. Our trees are engaged and we’ll set them out. We—” “Oh, let us go away!” cried Herbert. “We should never be happy, we should never see anything but scowling faces.” “We shouldn’t make ourselves happy by going away,” said Elizabeth. “The day would come when we’d regret it. And at any rate we shan’t go unless things get worse. I shan’t be driven away whether the story is true or untrue.” “Do you think that there’s a chance that it might not be true?” faltered Herbert. “I don’t believe it yet,” said Elizabeth stoutly. “Why not, Elizabeth?” “I don’t know exactly. I just don’t believe it. I should have difficulty believing such a thing about any living man whom I had respected, and I’ll believe it still less about a man who is dead. Moreover, we owe it to ourselves to follow it to its remotest conclusion, Herbert. The possession of ancestors who are a credit is no small possession. But it’s like good health, we don’t value it till it’s gone.” “Do you think we could make investigations and prove it untrue?” “It might be possible.” Elizabeth was pleased. Herbert did not often make original suggestions. “I’ll do all the work on the place,” offered Herbert, looking uneasily over his shoulder. “That is, if you have to go away anywhere. We haven’t papers or records of any kind, have we?” [Pg 38] [Pg 39] [Pg 40] [Pg 41] [Pg 42] [Pg 43]