第22章

AFTERaweekMrs。Laphamreturned，leavingIrenealoneattheoldhomesteadinVermont。"She’scomfortablethere——ascomfortableasshecanbeanywheres，Iguess，"shesaidtoherhusbandastheydrovetogetherfromthestation，wherehehadmetherinobediencetohertelegraphicsummons。

"Shekeepsherselfbusyhelpingaboutthehouse；

andshegoesroundamongstthehandsintheirhouses。

There’ssickness，andyouknowhowhelpfulsheiswherethere’ssickness。Shedon’tcomplainany。Idon’tknowasI’veheardawordoutofhermouthsincewelefthome；

butI’mafraidit’llwearonher，Silas。"

"Youdon’tlookoverandabovewellyourself，Persis，"

saidherhusbandkindly。

"Oh，don’ttalkaboutme。WhatIwanttoknowiswhetheryoucan’tgetthetimetorunoffwithhersomewhere。

IwrotetoyouaboutDubuque。She’llworkherselfdown，I’mafraid；andTHENIdon’tknowasshe’llbeoverit。

Butifshecouldgooff，andbeamused——seenewpeople————"

"IcouldMAKEthetime，"saidLapham，"ifIhadto。

But，asithappens，I’vegottogooutWestonbusiness，——I’lltellyouaboutit，——andI’lltakeIrenealong。"

"Good！"saidhiswife。"That’saboutthebestthingI’veheardyet。Whereyougoing？"

"OutDubuqueway。"

"AnythingthematterwithBill’sfolks？"

"No。It’sbusiness。"

"How’sPen？"

"Iguesssheain’tmuchbetterthanIrene。"

"Hebeenaboutany？"

"Yes。ButIcan’tseeasithelpsmattersmuch。"

"Tchk！"Mrs。Laphamfellbackagainstthecarriagecushions。

"Ideclare，toseeherwillingtotakethemanthatweallthoughtwantedhersister！Ican’tmakeitseemright。"

"It’sright，"saidLaphamstoutly；"butIguesssheain’twilling；Iwishshewas。Buttheredon’tseemtobeanywayoutofthething，anywhere。It’saperfectsnarl。

ButIdon’twantyoushouldbeanywaysha’shwithPen。"

Mrs。Laphamanswerednothing；butwhenshemetPenelopeshegavethegirl’swanfaceasharplook，andbegantowhimperonherneck。

Penelope’stearswereallspent。"Well，mother，"shesaid，"youcomebackalmostascheerfulasyouwentaway。

Ineedn’taskif’Rene’singoodspirits。Weallseemtobeoverflowingwiththem。Isupposethisisonewayofcongratulatingme。Mrs。Coreyhasn’tbeenroundtodoityet。"

"Areyou——areyouengagedtohim，Pen？"gaspedhermother。

"Judgingbymyfeelings，Ishouldsaynot。Ifeelasifitwasalastwillandtestament。Butyou’dbetteraskhimwhenhecomes。"

"Ican’tbeartolookathim。"

"Iguesshe’susedtothat。Hedon’tseemtoexpecttobelookedat。Well！we’realljustwherewestarted。

Iwonderhowlongitwillkeepup。"

Mrs。Laphamreportedtoherhusbandwhenhecamehomeatnight——hehadlefthisbusinesstogoandmeether，andthen，afteradesolatedinneratthehouse，hadreturnedtotheofficeagain——thatPenelopewasfullyasbadasIrene。"Andshedon’tknowhowtoworkitoff。

Irenekeepsdoing；butPenjustsitsinherroomandmopes。

Shedon’tevenread。Iwentupthisafternoontoscoldheraboutthestatethehousewasin——youcanseethatIrene’sawaybytheperfectmess；butwhenIsawherthroughthecrackofthedoorIhadn’ttheheart。

Shesattherewithherhandsinherlap，juststaring。

And，mygoodness！sheJUMPEDsowhenshesawme；

andthenshefellback，andbegantolaugh，andsaidshe，’Ithoughtitwasmyghost，mother！’IfeltasifIshouldgiveway。"

Laphamlistenedjadedly，andansweredfarfromthepoint。

"IguessI’vegottostartoutthereprettysoon，Persis。"

"Howsoon？"

"Well，to—morrowmorning。"

Mrs。Laphamsatsilent。Then，"Allright，"shesaid。

"I’llgetyouready。"

"IshallrunuptoLaphamforIrene，andthenI’llpushonthroughCanada。Icangetthereaboutasquick。"

"Isitanythingyoucantellmeabout，Silas？"

"Yes，"saidLapham。"Butit’salongstory，andI

guessyou’vegotyourhandsprettyfullasitis。

I’vebeenthrowinggoodmoneyafterbad，——theusualway，——

andnowI’vegottoseeifIcansavethepieces。"

AfteramomentMrs。Laphamasked，"Isit——Rogers？"

"It’sRogers。"

"Ididn’twantyoushouldgetinanydeeperwithhim。"

"No。Youdidn’twantIshouldpresshimeither；andI

hadtodooneortheother。AndsoIgotindeeper。"

"Silas，"saidhiswife，"I’mafraidImadeyou！"

"It’sallright，Persis，asfarforthasthatgoes。

Iwasgladtomakeitupwithhim——Ijumpedatthechance。

IguessRogerssawthathehadasoftthinginme，andhe’sworkeditforallitwasworth。Butit’llallcomeoutrightintheend。"

Laphamsaidthisasifhedidnotcaretotalkanymoreaboutit。Headdedcasually，"PrettyneareverybodybutthefellowsthatoweMEseemtoexpectmetodoacashbusiness，allofasudden。"

"Doyoumeanthatyou’vegotpaymentstomake，andthatpeoplearenotpayingYOU？"

Laphamwincedalittle。"Somethinglikethat，"hesaid，andhelightedacigar。"ButwhenItellyouit’sallright，Imeanit，Persis。Iain’tgoingtoletthegrassgrowundermyfeet，though，——especiallywhileRogersdigsthegroundawayfromtheroots。"

"Whatareyougoingtodo？"

"Ifithastocometothat，I’mgoingtosqueezehim。"

Lapham’scountenancelightedupwithgreaterjoythanhadyetvisiteditsincethedaytheyhaddrivenouttoBrookline。

"MiltonK。Rogersisarascal，ifyouwanttoknow；

orelseallthesignsfail。ButIguesshe’llfindhe’sgothiscome—uppance。"Laphamshuthislipssothattheshort，reddish—greybeardstuckstraightoutonthem。

"What’shedone？"

"What’shedone？Well，now，I’lltellyouwhathe’sdone，Persis，sinceyouthinkRogersissuchasaint，andthatI

usedhimsobadlyingettinghimoutofthebusiness。

He’sbeendabblingineverysortoffoolthingyoucanlayyourtongueto，——wild—catstocks，patent—rights，landspeculations，oilclaims，——tillhe’srunthroughabouteverything。

ButhedidhaveabigmillingpropertyoutonthelineoftheP。Y。&X。，——saw—millsandgrist—millsandlands，——andforthelasteightyearshe’sbeendoingaland—officebusinesswith’em——businessthatwouldhavemadeanybodyelserich。Butyoucan’tmakeMiltonK。Rogersrich，anymorethanyoucanfatahide—boundcolt。Itain’tinhim。He’drunthroughVanderbilt，JayGould，andTomScottrolledintooneinlessthansixmonths，givehimachance，andcomeoutandwanttoborrowmoneyofyou。Well，hewon’tborrowanymoremoneyofME；

andifhethinksIdon’tknowasmuchaboutthatmillingpropertyashedoeshe’smistaken。I’vetakenhismills，butIguessI’vegottheinsidetrack；Bill’skeptmeposted；

andnowI’mgoingouttheretoseehowIcanunload；

andIshan’tmindagreatdealifRogersisundertheloadwhenit’soffonce。"

"Idon’tunderstandyou，Silas。"

"Why，it’sjustthis。TheGreatLacustrine&PolarRailroadhasleasedtheP。Y。&X。forninety—nineyears，——boughtit，practically，——andit’sgoingtobuildcar—worksrightbythosemills，anditmaywantthem。

AndMiltonK。Rogersknewitwhenheturned’eminonme。"

"Well，iftheroadwantsthem，don’tthatmakethemillsvaluable？Youcangetwhatyouaskforthem！"

"CanI？"TheP。Y。&X。istheonlyroadthatrunswithinfiftymilesofthemills，andyoucan’tgetafootoflumbernorapoundofflourtomarketanyotherway。

AslongashehadalittlelocalroadliketheP。Y。&

X。todealwith，Rogerscouldmanage；butwhenitcometoabigthroughlineliketheG。L。&P。，hecouldn’tstandanychanceatall。Ifsucharoadasthattookafancytohismills，doyouthinkitwouldpaywhatheasked？No，sir！Hewouldtakewhattheroadoffered，orelsetheroadwouldtellhimtocarryhisflourandlumbertomarkethimself。"

"AnddoyousupposeheknewtheG。L。&P。wantedthemillswhenheturnedtheminonyou？"askedMrs。Laphamaghast，andfallinghelplesslyintoh