Far away there was a faint glimmer among the trees, now shining clear, now almost lost in mist, and he knew it to be a lighted window at Blake Hall.The thought of Maria's lace stockings came to him all at once, and he was seized with a rage that was ludicrously large for so small a cause.Confused questions whirled in his brain, struggling for recognition: "I am here and she is there, and what is the meaning of it all? I know in spite of everything I might have loved her, and yet I know still better that it is not love, but hate I now feel.What is the difference, after all? And why this eternal bother of possibilities?" He turned presently and spoke:
"And you got this without her suspecting it?""She was sleeping like a child, and Lila was in the little bed in her chamber.Often she is restless, disturbed by her dreams, but to-night she lies very quiet, and she smiled once as if she were so happy.""And to-morrow she will wear the ring with its setting of purple glass.""She will never know--see, it fits perfectly.I have fastened it carefully.After all, what does it matter to her--the ring is still the same, and the value of it was for her in the association." Again he looked out of the window, and the distant glimmer gathered radiance and shone brightly among the trees."Iam here and she is there, and what is the meaning of it all?"CHAPTER IV.A Gallant Deed that Leads to Evil Two days later Christopher met Fletcher in the little room behind the store and paid down the three hundred dollars in the presence of Sam Murray.Several loungers, who had been seasoning their drinks with leisurely stories, hastily drained their glasses and withdrew at Fletcher's entrance, and when the three men came together to settle the affair of the mortgage they were alone in the presence of the tobacco-stained walls, the square pine table with its dirty glasses, and the bills of notice posted beside the door.Among them Christopher had seen the public advertisement of his farm--a rambling statement in large letters, signifying that the place would be sold for debt on Monday, the twenty-fifth of September, at twelve o'clock."I want the money right flat down.
Are you sure you've got it?" were Fletcher's first words after his start of angry surprise.For answer Christopher drew the roll of bills from his pocket and counted them out upon the table.
"Here it is," he said, "and I am done with you for good and all--with you and your rascally cheating ways," "Come, come, let's go easy," warned Sam Murray, a fat, well-to-do farmer, who was accustomed to act the part of a lawyer in small transactions.
Fletcher flushed purple and threw off his rage in a sneering guffaw."Now that sounds well from him, doesn't it?" he inquired "when everybody knows he hasn't a beggarly stitch on earth but that strip of land he thinks so much of." "And whose fault is that, Bill Fletcher?" demanded the young man, throwing the last note down."Oh, well, I don't bear you any grudge," responded Fletcher, with an abrupt assumption of goodnatured tolerance;"and to show I'm a well-meaning man in spite of abuse, I'll let the debt run on two years longer at the same interest if you choose."Christopher laughed shortly."That's all right, Sam," he said, without replying directly to the offer."I owe him too much already to hope to pay it back in a single lifetime." "Well, you're a cantankerous, hard-headed fool, that's all I've got to say," burst out Fletcher, swallowing hard, and the sooner you get to the poorhouse along your own road the better it'll be for the rest of us." "You may be sure I'll take care not to go along yours.I'll have honest men about me, at any rate." "Then it's more than you've got a right to expect."Christopher grew pale to the lips."What do you mean, you scoundrel?" he cried, taking a single step forward."Come, come, let's go easy," said Sam Murray persuasively, rising from his chair at the table."Now that this little business is all settled there's no need for another word.I haven't much opinion of words myself, anyhow.They're apt to set fire to a dry tongue, that's what I say." "What do you mean?" repeated Christopher, without swerving from his steady gaze.Tom Spade glanced in at the open door, and, catching Fletcher's eye, hurriedly retreated.A small boy with a greasy face came in and gathered up the glasses with a clanking noise."What do you mean, you coward?" demanded Christopher for the third time.He had not moved an inch from the position he had first assumed, but the circle about his mouth showed blue against the sunburn on his face.Fletcher raised his hand and spoke suddenly with a snort."Oh, you needn't kick so about swallowing it," he said."Everybody knows that your grandfather never paid a debt he owed, and your father was mighty little better.He was only saved from becoming a thief by being a drunkard." He choked over the last word, for Christopher, with an easy, almost leisurely movement, had struck him full in the mouth.The young man's arm was raised again, but before it fell Sam Murray caught it back."I say, Tom, there's the devil to pay here!" he shouted, and Tom Spade rushed hurriedly through the doorway."Now, now, that'll never do, Mr.Christopher," he reasoned, with a deference he would never have wasted upon Fletcher."Why, he's old enough to be yo' pa twice over."A white fleck was on Fletcher's beard, and as he wiped it away he spoke huskily."It's a clear case of assault and I'll have the law on him," he said."Sam Murray, you saw him hit me square in the face.""Bless your life, I wasn't looking, suh," responded Sam pleasantly."I miss a lot in this life by always happening to look the other way.""I'll have the law on you," cried Fletcher again, shaking back his heavy eyebrows.
