FAIRHAVEN • 
 
 TOJ^Y OF PILGRIM LAND 
 
 
35or 
 
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 CORNELL 
 
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 LIBRARY 
 
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Cornell University Library 
 PS 3507.O587F17 
 
 Fairhaven a story of pilgrim land by Jus 
 
 3 1924 022 358 927 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
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 the Cornell University Library. 
 
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 J?cvf2l e /J3° 
 
 
FAIRHAVEN 
 
 A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 
 
 BY 
 
 Justis Henry G. D. 
 
 Justis nenry Vj. u. 
 
 fJJRlSTOPjfER. 
 
 [PUBLISHING 
 HOUSE^ 
 
 BOSTON 
 
Copyright igiS 
 By The Christopher Publishing House 
 
 AW? 2, 
 
 ^ 
 
 :h 
 
FAIRHAVEN 
 
 A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Wall Street had felt the pulse, recorded 
 the temperature and registered the respira- 
 tion of every section of the Union and the 
 result of the diagnosis was a virtually unan- 
 imous verdict that the country was on the 
 eve of an era of unprecedented prosperity. 
 Business was reported looking up in the 
 great centres of industry, record-breaking 
 harvests were predicted in the West, rail- 
 roads were increasing their earnings, and 
 the press of the nation was of the opinion 
 that the end of the long period of depression 
 had been reached and a longer period of 
 good times begun. 
 
 Reactionary movements in the market 
 had virtually ceased, and with bankers con- 
 fident, brokers optimistic and investors 
 eager for the quick results of the rising mar- 
 ket at hand, no sign of the slightest cloud ap- 
 peared in the clear skies that gave promise 
 of such a glorious future. Europe, too, 
 seemed to be equally well satisfied with con- 
 ditions and prospects. Peace reigned. The 
 troubles in the Balkans had been settled 
 
6 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 without involving any of the great powers, 
 and Diplomatic Europe drew a long breath 
 of relief over the apparent solution of prob- 
 lems that had, only a short time before, 
 threatened war between some of the nations 
 imm ediately concerned. 
 
 It needed no oracle under such conditions 
 to predict an early boom in the market; and 
 that the multitude of lambs would shortly 
 gambol from the open pastures to the Wall 
 Street fold was the universal expectation of 
 the would-be-shearers of the likely-to-be- 
 shorn. Brokers' offices began to show in- 
 creasing activity; the tickers were humming 
 more cheerful tunes, and the tape was 
 stringing off records of a rising market; the 
 financial columns of the daily papers were 
 full of optimistic predictions from bankers 
 and other supposed to be infallible authori- 
 ties, and altogether those early summer days 
 of 1914 were full of the radiance and glory 
 of the golden harvest to come. 
 
 The long period of depression had been a 
 severe strain on many concerns in the finan- 
 cial district. Houses whose names had been 
 synonyms for stability and resources for 
 many years were known to have had diffi- 
 culty in meeting the problems that con- 
 fronted them as a result of a restricted 
 market for the securities in which they 
 specialized; and this strain, although more 
 acutely felt by the smaller concerns, was not 
 without reckoning in the affairs of some of 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 7 
 
 the greater houses that had an established 
 national reputation as financial fortresses. 
 And in the latter class one house in which 
 the problems had assumed the proportions 
 of a crisis was that of John Randolph 
 Carroll & Son. 
 
 That a banking house with a history of 
 sixty years of uninterrupted success; that 
 had close connection with the greatest finan- 
 cial institutions in New York and other 
 cities; that was rated Al in the reports as 
 to its standing, reputation and resources; 
 and that, above all, had as its head John 
 Randolph Carroll, the son of its founder, and 
 known as one of the representative men in 
 the most exclusive social circles of the 
 Metropolis — that such a house should be in 
 difficulties was so remote a possibility that 
 it was never even suspected. And yet such 
 was the case. 
 
 Even the shrewdest, the most conserva- 
 tive and the most experienced bankers are 
 unable to infallibly predict conditions in the 
 future of the business world. So when, one 
 after another, came the startling develop- 
 ments in the New York, New Haven and 
 Hartford Railroad scandals, the wholesale 
 looting of the Rock Island Railroad, the sud- 
 den failure of one of the great New York de- 
 partment stores and the shrinkage of many 
 of the great industrial stocks such as Fed- 
 eral Steel, there were not wanting many 
 pessimists who predicted a panic as immi- 
 
FAIRHAVEN 
 
 nent. But as the days lengthened into the 
 beginning of June, and as the signs of re- 
 turning prosperity became more manifest, 
 it was with a feeling of rejoicing that Wall 
 Street felt that panic had been averted, and 
 the worst times known in years were at last 
 at an end. 
 
 No man in New York had greater reason 
 to rejoice over this change than had John 
 Randolph Carroll. For months past his 
 fortune had been trembling in the balance, 
 and the supreme crisis had arrived when the 
 market began to show an upward trend. If 
 the improved conditions should continue he 
 would be able, after the most desperate 
 struggle of his career, to conquer the tide 
 of adversity that had threatened to engulf 
 his house ; but if the upward movement was 
 merely one of the periodical fluctuations of 
 the market and if a reaction began, then it 
 meant for him but one inevitable result — 
 absolute ruin. 
 
 By reason of his exalted position in the 
 financial world, his descent from one of the 
 oldest and most exclusive Southern families, 
 his marriage with the only daughter of the 
 Verner-Stuyvesants — a family than whom 
 no more sociallv prominent members of the 
 old Knickerbocker set were in New York — 
 and bv an attractive and charming person- 
 ality Randolph Carroll had for manv years 
 been recognized as among the most favored 
 men in society. Nearly six feet in height. 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 9 
 
 admirably proportioned, with his fine ruddy 
 complexion, his sparkling eyes and his clear- 
 cut, expressive features he looked the ideal 
 man of fifty: as a matter of fact he was in 
 his sixty-third year. A devoted lover of 
 outdoor life, an enthusiastic yachtsman, and 
 with a clean life inspired by lofty ideals — 
 this, with a naturally boyish disposition and 
 a dash of the Celtic in his ancestry, had com- 
 bined to minimize the imprint of the passing 
 years, and to preserve to him that ines- 
 timable blessing — the buoyancy of perpet- 
 ual youth. 
 
 Yet all this might have been his portion 
 and the man been incomplete but for the 
 greater — the supreme element that made 
 happiness perfect — his marriage to the first 
 and only woman he had ever loved and in 
 whom he found the realization of his ideal of 
 all the noblest attributes of womanhood. 
 The wedding at Old Trinity had been one of 
 the most brilliant affairs from a society 
 point of view that had ever taken place in 
 New York, and at the reception which fol- 
 lowed the assemblage was representative of 
 the creme de la creme of the financial, the 
 diplomatic and the fashionable world. Four 
 months in Europe followed. That the father 
 of Mrs. John Randolph Carroll had formerly 
 been a United States Minister to one of the 
 European Courts was a not unimportant fac- 
 tor in assuring a welcome to the most ex- 
 clusive circles abroad, and the honeymoon 
 
10 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 as a consequence was a succession of bril- 
 liant and exclusive affairs given to welcome 
 the Carrolls in London, Paris, Berlin and 
 other cities. Within a fortnight after their 
 return to New York John Randolph Carroll 
 had been taken into full partnership by his 
 father, the founder of the banking house, 
 and was recognized as one of the coming 
 men in Wall Street. The new home on 
 Fifth Avenue was ready for their reception, 
 society welcomed them with open arms, and 
 thus began the life of Mr. and Mrs. John 
 Randolph Carroll in New York. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Hortense De Puyster Carroll (nee Verner- 
 Stuyvesant) was gladly accorded the rank 
 that name, fortune and personal attractions 
 combined to qualify her to assume in so- 
 ciety. Within a year she had taken her 
 place among the leaders of the younger set, 
 and no formal function was considered a 
 complete success minus the presence of the 
 Randolph Carrolls. Prom earliest child- 
 hood when her first words were prattlings in 
 French as a result of having a Parisian 
 nurse, through her early girlhood when an 
 accomplished German governess familiar- 
 ized her with the language of Goethe and 
 Schiller, from the select and exclusive 
 boarding school where she acquired all the 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 11 
 
 refinements and graces of youth, and from 
 the years of young womanhood spent abroad 
 while her father was United States minis- 
 ter, the life of Hortense Carroll had been a 
 pathway of roses leading to the shrine of 
 happiness which from birth had been 
 planned at every step as her ultimate desti- 
 nation. And now she had arrived and en- 
 tered into the fullest enjoyment of her own. 
 Gifted with finely expressive features 
 crowned by a glorious wealth of dark brown 
 hair, rather above the average height of the 
 women of her set, possessing an easy grace 
 and dignity (which some of the less happily 
 endowed were wont to designate as "innate 
 hauteur") and with a natural voice of rare 
 sweetness, Hortense Carroll was altogether 
 of winning personality. Prom the time she 
 became able to handle a racket she was de- 
 voted to tennis, and in the latter years of 
 her younger womanhood she had become an 
 enthusiastic lover of golf. This, added to 
 the fact that she was an accomplished and 
 daring horsewoman, that several summers 
 had been spent on prolonged cruises on her 
 father's yacht, and that the love of outdoors 
 had always appealed to her, had given her 
 the finest health and splendid physical 
 powers. Music was her forte; and under 
 the best professional teachers she had ac- 
 quired a technique and ease that made her 
 one of the finest pianistes, for she had that 
 wonderful gift that gave to her music that 
 
12 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 soul that was deeper than the sound. Al- 
 together it may be inferred that Heaven in 
 its allotment of gifts and blessings had been 
 by no means niggardly in the case of 
 Hortense Carroll. 
 
 Eomance, too, had not been wanting; and 
 that element which most girls in their 
 younger days consider essential to perfect 
 happiness had played its pranks in the youth 
 of this altogether admirably endowed young 
 queen of society, and had seasoned ex- 
 perience with the spice of life. A few 
 months after her sixteenth birthday, and 
 before she had made her debut in society 
 she had been the guest with her mother at 
 the house of Paul Jones Rossmore, — one of 
 the beautiful places up the Hudson — the 
 home of one of her friends at boarding 
 school. The friendship between Hortense 
 and Katherine Rossmore, despite the dif- 
 ference in their ages — Katherine was two 
 years older and had already had her "com- 
 ing out" — had begun at the school and had 
 grown deeper as Hortense approached 
 womanhood. This visit was on the occasion 
 of her friend's eighteenth birthday and a 
 ball on a somewhat elaborate scale was the 
 close of the festivities incident to the 
 occasion. 
 
 Accompanied by her mother Hortense 
 had been in the ball room but a moment 
 when her eyes met the look of admiration 
 from a strikingly handsome young man who 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 13 
 
 was speaking to Philip Rossmore — the 
 brother of her hostess who was a student at 
 the University of Virginia (the Rossmores 
 were of old Virginia stock), and who had 
 been granted a brief leave of absence that 
 he could be present at the celebration of his 
 sister's birthday. The companion of Philip 
 Rossmore was his closest and best friend, 
 his classmate at the University, his confi- 
 dant and the one man among all the students 
 in ■ whose companionship he found his 
 greatest happiness. And so it happened 
 that he had invited him to make this visit to 
 his home and to share in the pleasures await- 
 ing them. And when, a few minutes later, 
 Katherine had introduced her brother's 
 friend to her young guest — an introduction 
 with the accompaniment of music and lights 
 and floral decorations and the gaiety and 
 joy befitting the occasion — Hortense De 
 Puyster Verner-Stuyvesant and John Ran- 
 dolph Carroll began their life story with all 
 the fortuitous environment that was the 
 never-to-be-forgotten scene that was set by 
 kindly Pate for their first meeting. 
 
 There lives down deep in the heart of 
 every man and woman the memory of a first 
 meeting that can never be forgotten — a 
 memory that time never can efface. The 
 tide of life in its ebb and flow may drift 
 those atoms of human flotsam leagues apart; 
 Pate may so ordain that that first meeting 
 may also be the last; Circumstance may 
 
14 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 decree that from that first meeting shall 
 come a blending of two lives into one: and 
 after all only Time can tell. Youth at such 
 times never dreams of the future; the 
 present sufficeth. And so from the moment 
 their hands clasped; from that always to be 
 remembered instant when their eyes met in 
 mutual admiration; from the fleeting min- 
 utes when their steps blended in harmony 
 with the music in the dreamy waltz 
 Hortense and Randolph Carroll had no 
 thoughts beyond the glory and sweetness 
 and happiness that was theirs. The meeting 
 was brief, for fifteen minutes later the 
 young students were compelled to leave to 
 make hasty preparations for departure that 
 they should be able to report at the Univer- 
 sity at the expiration of their leave of ab- 
 sence. But the romance of two lives had 
 begun and theirs was a meeting never to be 
 forgotten. 
 
 Three months later came the announce- 
 ment that General Francis Verner-Stuyve- 
 sant, father of Hortense, had been appointed 
 United States Minister to one of the smaller 
 kingdoms of Northern Europe. A week 
 before the departure Hortense made her 
 formal debut, and the event was one of the 
 most brilliant in New York society in years. 
 While in London, en route to his post on the 
 Continent, the Verner-Stuyvesants found 
 themselves welcome in the most exclusive 
 and aristocratic circles; and the American 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 15 
 
 minister to England was quick to suggest 
 the presentation of Miss Verner-Stuyvesant 
 and her mother at the Court of St. James. 
 Although not quite seventeen at this time 
 Hortense had matured so rapidly as to give 
 the impression of being a year or two older. 
 This was the effect of an innate dignity and 
 poise that never failed to elicit admiration 
 in whatever circle she moved; and, added to 
 this, a subconscious realization of the physi- 
 cal and intellectual gifts that had combined 
 to make her womanhood perfect gave her a 
 strength and power unusual at her age. 
 With a temperament naturally cheerful, 
 radiant with the happiness of youth, bright 
 and witty in conversation, absolutely free 
 from the assumption of any social or per- 
 sonal superiority, unselfish and solicitous 
 for the happiness of others less happily 
 gifted, there was nothing wanting to make 
 the life of Hortense Verner-Stuyvesant at 
 this time the glory of Heart's Desire. But 
 at times came the thought of a boyish face 
 aglow with admiration, of the touch of a 
 hand, of the strains of a dreamy waltz and 
 then — and then — a thought of the future — 
 when 1 ? 
 
 CHAPTER HE. 
 
 A week after his daughter's presentation 
 at Court General Verner-Stuyvesant and his 
 family departed for his post on the Conti- 
 
16 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 nent, and no member of the diplomatic 
 corps ever entered the Capital of the country 
 to which he had been assigned under more 
 brilliant auspices. The formal presenta- 
 tion to the reigning monarch was a cere- 
 monial never to be forgotten, and at the 
 court ball on the evening of that memorable 
 day the brilliant and beautiful young daugh- 
 ter of the American Minister was the re- 
 cipient of such flattering recognition by 
 members of the royal family as to create 
 something of a sensation among the other 
 members of the assembly. From that 
 moment the life of Hortense was all to which 
 the most socially ambitious girl could 
 aspire. 
 
 Not only at the Capital to which her 
 father had been appointed, but at the courts 
 of other nations, the signal recognition ac- 
 corded at her Continental debut opened the 
 doors of the most exalted circles. Part of 
 two winters were passed at the Riviera 
 where an elaborate establishment was main- 
 tained; and here, on the second season, be-, 
 gan what promised to be the turning point 
 in the life of Hortense. It is needless to say 
 that all her charms, her exalted social pres- 
 tige, the boundless millions that European 
 imagination credited her with as a possible 
 dot and the presumption that the prize for 
 the eligible parti was waiting for the winner, 
 had assured a train of ardent aspirants for 
 her hand — and fortune. The second son of 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 17 
 
 a Kussian grand duke; the prospective heir 
 — twice removed — to the throne of one of 
 the minor German principalities; diplomatic 
 attaches from some of the best known and 
 oldest European families; young army of- 
 ficers of high rank — in a word the scions of 
 many of the most exalted families of several 
 nations were among the host of eligibles — 
 according to Mrs. Verner-Stuyvesant's es- 
 timate of the proper value of the term — 
 from whom her daughter might choose when 
 she desired to say the word. But among 
 them all not one had touched the heart of 
 the young American girl. And this not 
 because of any memories of a first meeting: 
 for if any thoughts came during the life of 
 pleasurable excitement it was only at rare 
 intervals, and the lapse between such 
 thoughts grew longer as time went on. 
 
 Destiny favored one suitor above all 
 others, and both General and Mrs. Verner- 
 Stuyvesant added all the weight of their 
 parental influence to enable Destiny to bring 
 about a happy ending to the romance it had 
 willed to begin. During their brief visit to 
 England the Verner-Stuyvesants found 
 among the many social courtesies enjoyed 
 nothing more pleasant than a brief visit — 
 the pressure on their time made it little 
 more than a week-end — to Harlyon Hall, the 
 ancestral home of the Marquis of Broke- 
 Stoke. No family in England boasted a 
 nobler heritage, and no finer estate was to 
 
18 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 be found in the Midlands. Some years be- 
 fore the Marquis had made the acquaintance 
 of General Verner-Stuyvesant while both 
 were on a hunting trip in the Far West, and 
 on his return to New York the Verner- 
 Stuyvesants were his hosts during the brief 
 time that elapsed before he sailed for home. 
 And now came the opportunity to show cor- 
 dial appreciation of the hospitality then ex- 
 tended. He had left nothing undone, and 
 the result was that his American guests 
 were overwhelmed by invitations from the 
 many titled families invited to give eclat to 
 the festivities in their honor. It was here 
 that Destiny had decreed that Hortense 
 should first meet the one man who of all 
 others was most likely to win her girlish 
 heart — if Pate should so decide — and if the 
 memory of a boyish face should fade away 
 with the flight of time. 
 
 Of all the delightful impressions ex- 
 perienced by General and Mrs. Verner- 
 Stuyvesant none was more lasting than 
 their intense gratification at the marked 
 and unmistakably fervid admiration shown 
 Hortense by Lord Harold De Perhyn, the 
 only son and heir of the Marquis of Broke- 
 Stoke, on this occasion. The De Perhyns 
 were one of the oldest and most exalted fam- 
 ilies of England, and their annals, from the 
 time of the Norman Conquest, were an il- 
 luminated page in the history of the King- 
 dom. The present Marquis was the eighth 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 19 
 
 holder of the title, and his son, Lord De 
 Perhyn, was of course next in succession. 
 The young lord was at this time attached to 
 the British Embassy at Paris ; but the brief 
 leave of absence to enable him to meet his 
 father's guests, and add to the pleasures of 
 their visit to Harlyon Hall, was easily ob- 
 tained. That the manifestly delightful im- 
 pression made at the first meeting between 
 Hortense and Lord De Perhyn was mutual 
 was so self evident that the possibilities of 
 the future began to be thought of, if not 
 openly discussed, at once; and although 
 there was no family among the aristocracy 
 of England in which his son would not be 
 welcomed as an aspirant for the hand of any 
 of their daughters, the Marquis showed un- 
 mistakable pleasure at the fact that the 
 young American beauty and Lord De 
 Perhyn were en rapport from the first mo- 
 ment they met. 
 
 Naturally of all those interested in the 
 glorious future that this meeting made prob- 
 able for Hortense her mother was most con- 
 cerned; and from the moment it first flashed 
 uponherthat Lord De Perhyn was impressed 
 he had Mrs. Verner-Stuyvesant as his most 
 ardent and enthusiastic supporter in the 
 campaign. For a campaign it proved to be. 
 By his father's influence he was transferred 
 from Paris to the British Embassy at the 
 capital to which General Verner-Stuyvesant 
 had been appointed; and there his attention 
 
20 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 to Hortense became so pronounced and con- 
 stant that rumors of their engagement — 
 rumors which Mrs. Verner-Stuyvesant 
 never felt constrained to contradict— were 
 prevalent in court and society circles. 
 During their season at the Riviera he was in 
 constant attendance; and when, despite her 
 mother's passionate and tearful entreaties 
 and her father's more tactful but none the 
 less ardent words of advice, Hortense had 
 twice rejected the noble lord, it looked as if 
 his campaign were at an end. But with un- 
 broken faith Lord De Perhyn never gave up 
 the race for victory which he felt his place 
 and power and prestige destined him event- 
 ually to win. 
 
 Nearly four years had elapsed since his 
 appointment when General Verner-Stuyve- 
 sant was superseded by his successor under 
 a new administration at Washington, and 
 returned with his family to New York. 
 Their place in the exclusive society of the 
 Metropolis was resumed, and Hortense once 
 again found herself one of the shining lights 
 in the younger set of the socially elect and 
 the object of much of the gossip of the fash- 
 ionable world. Shortly before Hortense 
 returned home a paragraph had appeared 
 in the society columns of the Paris edition 
 of the Herald to the effect that formal an- 
 nouncement of the engagement of the 
 charming daughter of a distinguished 
 United States Minister to the only son and 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 21 
 
 heir of the Marquis of B — S — , of Harlyon 
 Hall, England, was daily anticipated. This 
 was of course copied by New York papers, 
 and society found no difficulty in supplying 
 the missing link. And, if anything were 
 wanting to confirm the universal belief in 
 the truth of the rumor, the arrival of Lord 
 De Perhyn in New York some three months 
 later, and his warm reception at a dinner 
 given in his honor by the Verner-Stuyve- 
 sants, was the one thing to keep society on 
 the qui vive for a formal announcement of 
 the engagement. 
 
 Every list of invitations to the many 
 social affairs given by Society to welcome 
 Lord De Perhyn naturally included the 
 Verner-Stuyvesants, and the occasions were 
 rare when Hortense and her titled suitor 
 were not seen together. So the romance 
 continued until one memorable day, when 
 Lord De Perhyn with Hortense and some 
 friends had driven out to the private links of 
 a country house for an afternoon's golf — 
 a sport to which Hortense had become en- 
 thusiastically devoted and which was just 
 beginning to interest Society. They were 
 playing a foursome with two friends. 
 
 Lord De Perhyn was about to make his 
 last drive in the game. He had been bril- 
 liantly successful, and, if the stroke he was 
 about to deliver should equal his record 
 since the game began the Colonel would have 
 to look to his laurels. So eager was he for 
 
22 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 a crowning success and so intent on his ap- 
 proach that in the moment of tense anticipa- 
 tion he forgot the ' ' Fore ! " A second after 
 the ball had sped on its flight came a cry 
 of anguish from a caddie of players ahead 
 whom the ball had struck with full force and 
 who fell as if shot. While other players 
 ran to the assistance of the injured boy, 
 Lord De Perhyn turning to Hortense, indif- 
 ferent as to the fate of the lad and with an 
 expression of rage and bitterness, exclaimed 
 ' ' Damned little cad ! He spoiled my drive ! ' ' 
 Less than ten words, but they with his ac- 
 tion sounded the doom of all his hopes for 
 the hand of Hortense Verner-Stuyvesant. 
 Without the least sign of anxiety as to the 
 lad he had injured — killed for all he knew — 
 he turned back as if to go towards the house. 
 Hortense with a cry of pity for the hapless 
 victim ran towards him. Among the first 
 to arrive at the side of the injured boy who 
 was now senseless was one of the players, 
 who in a moment had lifted the lad and was 
 carrying him towards the house. Hortense 
 met him; and then and there the young stu- 
 dent who had years before come up on one 
 eventful visit to a great home on the Hud- 
 son and the girl who there first felt the touch 
 of his hand and felt the first great thrill 
 of womanly emotion were brought face to 
 face by Fate once more. Lord De Perhyn 
 by his words and action had pronounced his 
 own sentence; and when, a few days later 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 23 
 
 he had proposed for the third time and had 
 received his unmistakably final answer, he 
 went back to England. 
 
 CHAPTER TV. 
 
 Yesterday is History, To-Day is Life, To- 
 Morrow Destiny. So it was that from the 
 To-Day, when Pate decreed that they should 
 meet again, all the glory and joy and sweet- 
 ness of Life began for Hortense and John 
 Randolph Carroll. In the years that had 
 elapsed since he had first met Hortense he 
 had graduated with honors at the Univer- 
 sity, had made a two years' tour of the world 
 in company with Philip Rossmore, to whose 
 invitation, when they were fellow students, 
 he owed his first meeting with the girl whose 
 image from that moment was enshrined in 
 his heart. He had not graduated until the 
 Verner-Stuyvesants had been two years 
 abroad and then began his world tour. 
 While in Calcutta a marked copy of a New 
 York paper had been received by Rossmore, 
 and there Randolph first saw the veiled an- 
 nouncement of the engagement of Hortense. 
 In the years that had passed since their 
 meeting he had often dreamed of what he 
 prayed the future held in store — and now — 
 and now — % But, as time went on and no 
 further news came, hope revived and gave 
 birth to faith that all would come out right 
 
24 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 in the end. It was within a week after his 
 return to New York that the incident that 
 brought them together occurred; and on the 
 anniversary of that day the following year 
 their marriage was celebrated with such 
 splendid accompaniments as to make the 
 event a red letter day in the annals of Old 
 Trinity. On the following morning formal 
 announcement was made in the press that 
 John Randolph Carroll had been admitted 
 as partner in the well known banking house 
 founded by his father and now recognized 
 as one of the most solid and conservative 
 financial concerns in New York. 
 
 A more welcome and altogether more de- 
 sirable addition to the charmed and exclu- 
 sive circle of the younger set in Society 
 (spelled of course with a capital letter) than 
 the Randolph Carrolls could not be recalled, 
 and the return from the honeymoon was the 
 signal for an avalanche of invitations of all 
 sorts to do them honor. Down town young 
 Carroll was the recipient of many evidences 
 of hearty good will from magnates in the 
 financial world who had been for many 
 years more or less intimately associated 
 with his father; and hardly a day passed 
 when he was not present at some informal 
 or elaborate luncheon at the exclusive re- 
 sorts of the biggest men in Wall Street. 
 This was naturally an essential part of his 
 training for the fife career that had now 
 begun; and his father had so arranged de- 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 25 
 
 tails as to give young Randolph ample time 
 from his merely nominal duties at the start 
 to make his circle of acquaintance and 
 friendship in the financial district as large 
 and desirable as possible. This accom- 
 plished, the more serious and technical lines 
 of his practical education and professional 
 training as a master of financial affairs 
 were laid down by the father and with loyal 
 appreciation and intelligent interest fol- 
 lowed by the son. The result was that with- 
 in a year from his entrance to the banking 
 house John Randolph Carroll had won rec- 
 ognition as one of the best informed, most 
 practical and cleverest of the younger men 
 among the bankers of New York. He had 
 taken to his duties with a natural interest 
 and intense avidity, for his training and 
 ancestral traits made his temperament one 
 of faith in his own powers and of assurance 
 that nothing but success was to be his in 
 whatever venture he saw fit to undertake. 
 
 The life of Hortense while her father was 
 United States minister, her presentation at 
 several of the European courts, her intimate 
 association with the most aristocratic fami- 
 lies of foreign capitals, her marriage with 
 Randolph Carroll, and, added to this, her 
 own charms of person and manners, natu- 
 rally gave her the essential advantages that 
 qualified her for leadership in the younger 
 set of Metropolitan society; and this posi- 
 tion was accorded her with a unanimity and 
 
26 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 spontaniety that was most flattering evi- 
 dence of the regard and sincere appreciation 
 in which she was universally held. Such 
 recognition implies certain responsibilities; 
 and these, while to the outside world never 
 very arduous, are nevertheless not without 
 accompanying penalties in the way of physi- 
 cal and mental strain. For to ignore any 
 of the innumerable invitations to teas and 
 luncheons, dinners and bridge parties, sup- 
 pers and dances; to be absent at any wed- 
 ding or elaborate social function given in the 
 season; to be indifferent to meetings to pro- 
 mote this fad and societies to start that; to 
 decline weekends and "at homes" was nat- 
 urally to cause disappointment and some- 
 times petulant protest on the part of those 
 who showered on the young matron expres- 
 sions of their good will and desire for her 
 presence. 
 
 Perhaps in no city in the world do the 
 foibles and frills and functions of Society 
 present so many features of diversified 
 pleasure seeking as in New York. There 
 are, of course, many phases of social enjoy- 
 ment that while appealing strongly to one 
 set or coterie have absolutely no charms for 
 others. But the field for the entertainment 
 of all, men and women and man or woman, 
 is so varied and inexhaustible that there is 
 no limit to opportunity to indulge in one's 
 favorite pursuits along the rosy pathways 
 of pleasure. In the earlier days of their 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 27 
 
 married life the Carrolls naturally and 
 gladly appreciated the attentions lavished 
 upon them, and as a result were constantly 
 seen at society affairs; so much so in fact 
 that their absence was likely to be noted 
 with expressions of disappointment and 
 regret. But these occasions were rare ; for, 
 apart from what happiness they derived 
 from giving pleasure by their presence to 
 their friends, their social code made imper- 
 ative the acceptance of many invitations 
 where participation was more of a duty — 
 measured by the conventional standard — 
 than a delight. Naturally their own hos- 
 pitality was limited only by the time al- 
 lowed them by the constant pressure from 
 others ; but, when they were allowed a night 
 to entertain, their lavish expenditure, the 
 richness and elegance of their splendid home 
 on The Avenue, the social prominence of 
 their guests and the brilliant success which 
 marked every phase of the evening made 
 those occasions notable days in the social 
 calendar. 
 
 Less than a year after their marriage the 
 first great sorrow came to sadden the lives 
 of the Carrolls: their first — and, it was de- 
 creed — their only child died within a day 
 after birth. For weeks the life of the un- 
 happy mother trembled in the balance, but 
 finally the skilful treatment of the most 
 eminent specialists, added to the naturally 
 sound physical strength of the patient, won 
 
28 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 the victory and. her life was saved. During 
 the days of agonized suspense and uncer- 
 tainty Randolph Carroll gave up his life at 
 the bank ; and there were not wanting among 
 the physicians and nurses those who held 
 that the realization by the patient of her 
 husband's affection and devotion was a con- 
 trolling influence in turning the balance that 
 trembled between life and death. A long, 
 and at times, critical period of mental and 
 physical depression followed. Much of 
 this time was spent at the Verner-Stuyve- 
 sant place down on Long Island; and with 
 the companionship and care of her mother 
 and, except when his duties at the bank 
 kept him in New York, with her husband al- 
 ways by her side to cheer and comfort her 
 by his presence, Hortense gradually recov- 
 ered and was once more able to resume her 
 place as mistress of her home in town. 
 
 Yielding to the earnest desire of his 
 father that he visit Europe and make the 
 personal acquaintance of the heads of the 
 banking houses that were their correspon- 
 dents and agents in the financial centres of 
 several countries; and doubly influenced by 
 the confidential advice of her physician that 
 an entire change of scene would be of the 
 greatest value in completing the restoration 
 of his wife's health, Randolph Carroll sug- 
 gested the tour and they went abroad. The 
 knowledge and experience gained on this oc- 
 casion by the young banker were of ines- 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 29 
 
 timable value. His personal association 
 with the magnates of the financial world of 
 all the leading nations, the practical knowl- 
 edge of the intricacies of the money markets 
 of the Continent and the interdependence of 
 the bankers of the old world and the new in 
 many of the stupendous undertakings of the 
 time, his keen appreciation of the value of 
 the several sources from which in future he 
 could expect co-operation to develop Ameri- 
 can projects that promised large returns for 
 capital — all this, and the happy realization 
 that the rest and change had brought back 
 to his wife the glow of health and strength 
 were the results of the tour. And on his re- 
 turn to the bank and the active and increas- 
 ing duties and responsibilities which were to 
 be his share of the work thereafter there was 
 no man among the younger set in the finan- 
 cial district of New York better qualified to 
 lead in the race for riches than was John 
 Randolph Carroll. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Mammon, the Syrian God, whose worship 
 is so universal today and whose devotees 
 are to be found in every race and class and 
 creed — to whose service countless millions 
 give their lives from the dawn of manhood 
 to the darkening shades of senile age — 
 reigns supreme in the great temple which 
 
30 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 men have built for his shrine and sanctuary 
 in the metropolis of this land and which is 
 called Wall Street. Every other city, town 
 and village in this as in other lands, pos- 
 sesses more or less imposing places conse- 
 crated to the service of this Master of Man- 
 kind; but nowhere on earth is the worship 
 and devotion more intense, nowhere is the 
 service more eager and arduous and no- 
 where are the rewards so great when for- 
 tune smiles on his worshippers as where 
 Mammon sits enthroned in New York. 
 Mammon is an exacting and merciless mas- 
 ter and demands unceasing worship to grant 
 his rewards. So it is that from the moment 
 his followers begin by recognition of his 
 supreme powers to grant their desires — de- 
 sires destined never to be fully satisfied for 
 the prayers of the faithful are ever for 
 "More — More — More!" until the inevitable 
 end when comes the awakening to the reali- 
 zation of a life wasted in pursuit of wealth — 
 there is no rest, no peace of mind, none of 
 that supreme happiness of life which is best 
 expressed by Content. 
 
 On the return of his son to active service 
 John Eandolph Carroll, Sr. began to grad- 
 ually relinquish the cares and responsibili- 
 ties he had borne since the founding of the 
 banking house to the success of which he 
 had devoted the best years of his life. His 
 one great ambition had been achieved — he 
 had brought to manhood a son worthy of his 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 31 
 
 name, his family traditions, his accumulated 
 millions and his place in the financial world 
 — a son who would maintain the prestige, 
 the success and the enviable reputation of 
 the great banking house which bore his 
 name. His one great desire — a longing for 
 which he hoped, and in the fulfillment of 
 which he had faith, was that a son should 
 be born to Randolph. But this desire, alas, 
 was never to be fulfilled. With the now 
 absolute confidence that Randolph Jr. was 
 capable of handling any of the complex and 
 intricate problems that would present them- 
 selves, and beginning to realize that the con- 
 tinuous stress and strain under which he 
 had lived so many years had begun to affect 
 his health, the father finally decided to take 
 a year's rest abroad. But the decision came 
 too late ; less than a month after he had an- 
 nounced his plans for the future he was 
 sleeping in the little cemetery down in 
 Maryland beside the wife he had lost when 
 Randolph was a child and to whose memory 
 he had been faithful to the end. 
 
 Until the death of his father Randolph 
 Carroll never fully realized the weight of re- 
 sponsibility resting on the sole head of a pri- 
 vate banking house with the capital, the 
 varied interests and the financial powers 
 possessed by the bank which was now his 
 own and whose millions he alone controlled. 
 In the case of national banks and trust com- 
 panies the conditions were different; in 
 
32 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 these responsibility rested on boards of 
 directors and on salaried officials whose ex- 
 perience and reputation qualified them for 
 positions of executive importance. Each 
 department had at its head a man whose 
 study and training made him a master in his 
 special line of work, and the duties involved 
 were largely routine, or subject to such 
 rules and regulations as to limit individual 
 responsibility. But with the head of a 
 great private banking house no such condi- 
 tions were possible. The bank staff selected 
 by his father — the paying teller had been 
 in the bank's service twenty-two years — 
 was up to the highest standard of efficiency 
 and technical requirements; but when it 
 came to the consideration of great opera- 
 tions — the questions of investment, of loans, 
 of sharing responsibility in financing great 
 corporations there was but one man to make 
 the decision — Randolph Carroll. 
 
 The result was that, as the years went on, 
 the exactions of business increased to such 
 an extent that the time for home or social 
 life was necessarily lessened, and the future 
 promised no cessation from continuous 
 strain. It was not alone during the hours 
 where in his office at the bank the feat of 
 juggling millions to make them more was 
 his daily care, and where the weight and 
 burthen of making decisions that involved 
 immense amounts — not only of his own cap- 
 ital but the investments' of those who 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 33 
 
 trusted implicitly to his judgment and 
 who were among his closest and most in- 
 fluential friends — were always resting upon 
 him; but even in the quiet of his own home — 
 when it was quiet; in the hours of the now 
 fewer social affairs in which he was able to 
 take part; and sometimes even when in the 
 silences of service at the church his thoughts 
 turned to some great project in which he 
 was concerned and in which his decision 
 meant success or failure. So it went on 
 year after year. 
 
 Hortense had now — many years after 
 marriage — accepted the inevitable condi- 
 tions and had as compensation (if such it 
 could be considered) for the loss of her hus- 
 band's companionship all the pleasures and 
 delights that the most exclusive society in 
 New York could bestow. From the material 
 point of view — the standard by which hap- 
 piness in life is usually measured in New 
 York — there was nothing to be desired; 
 nothing wanting that money could buy. 
 Their town house was an ideally perfect 
 establishment — according to the metropoli- 
 tan society standard of the day. An ex- 
 perienced and competent housekeeper who 
 relieved her mistress of all cares of detail in 
 management; a social secretary who was a 
 model of efficiency; a lady's maid who had 
 all the skill and taste natural to the native 
 Parisian, and who had been in the service 
 of ladies of title ; an English butler who pos- 
 
34 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 sessed the mingled servility and innate 
 pomposity peculiar to Ms class; two house 
 maids of irreproachable neatness; a French 
 chef — a master of his combined science and 
 art; his assistant; two kitchen maids, a 
 laundress and her assistant; a furnaceman 
 and a man of all work; these with two coach- 
 men and footmen comprised the Carroll 
 household in New York. 
 
 More than this number of servants were 
 maintained at the summer home in the Berk- 
 shires. Here, near Lenox, the father of 
 Randolph, many years before, had acquired 
 by foreclosure, much against his will, a fine 
 estate of some sixty acres. For a long time 
 it had been leased, but on the marriage of 
 Randolph his father had conveyed the estate 
 to him as one of his wedding gifts. Soon 
 after his father's death Randolph had de- 
 cided to make it his summer home and had 
 spent money without stint to bring the es- 
 tate to its present state of perfection. With 
 his superintendent, farmers, gardeners, 
 grooms, stablemen, and resident house 
 caretakers the place had a working force ex- 
 ceeding in number and expense the house- 
 hold in New York. During the season here 
 the life was one of pleasure. At the begin- 
 ning the Carroll Place, as it was usually 
 called, was the rendezvous for the younger 
 social set; but as the years went on this con- 
 dition gradually changed, and when the 
 Carrolls opened their house for the season 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 35 
 
 their invitations were restricted to members 
 of their set less inclined to a round of con- 
 tinuous excitement. It was here for a few 
 weeks in summer that her husband could 
 find leisure for a stay of several uninter- 
 rupted days — days in which Hortense en- 
 joyed that close and constant association 
 and companionship for which in her heart 
 she had always had an intense longing; but 
 the fullness of desire in this respect, owing 
 to the number of calls which made it neces- 
 sary for him to rush back to New York, was 
 never fully satisfied. 
 
 Another contributing cause to the yearly 
 lessening days of mutual companionship was 
 Randolph Carroll's devotion to his favorite 
 sport — yachting. His love of this enjoy- 
 ment had grown with the years, and no 
 member of the New York Yacht Club could 
 show a larger or finer collection of trophies 
 won in many a memorable regatta. This 
 was due mainly to the fact that in giving the 
 Herrischoffs orders for the three yachts of 
 which he had been owner, one after another, 
 carte blanche accompanied the contracts; 
 but it was due still more to the skill and 
 seamanship of his sailing master, Captain 
 Eldridge Bartlett. From a boy Captain 
 Bartlett had followed the sea. Born in 
 Chatham — "The Ragged Elbow of Cape 
 Cod" — he had inherited his love of the deep 
 from generations of sea-going ancestors. 
 After having won recognition in yachting 
 
36 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 circles, not only in American but also in for- 
 eign* waters, he was beset by offers from 
 some of the most prominent and richest 
 yachtsmen in the world. He was asked to 
 name his price ; but with a loyalty and devo- 
 tion which Randolph Carroll never forgot 
 and never failed to reward he turned down 
 all temptations and for over twenty years 
 remained the faithful and wonderfully suc- 
 cessful sailor who steered the Carroll yachts 
 to victory. It was after one of these 
 triumphs that Randolph Carroll made him 
 a present that was virtually a small fortune ; 
 and with this he bought the home that he 
 had always desired. Here with his widowed 
 sister he spent his winters; and here he 
 found a place for the many objects of inter- 
 est he had collected during his voyages as 
 a young man to Europe and the Orient. 
 Always a lover of books he had for years 
 constantly added to the collection he began 
 as a boy; and now his home was complete — 
 the ideal place in which, when the time 
 should come, he would spend his declining 
 years. The place he had bought was on the 
 Northern reaches of Cape Cod Bay; and he 
 named that place FAIRHAVEN. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Society, with all the pleasure the word im- 
 plies, is apt to lose something of its spell 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 37 
 
 when even the most ardent of its devotees 
 passes the half century mark on the highway 
 of life. There are, of course, many men and 
 women who at that age are in the fullest 
 tide of enjoyment and apparently uncon- 
 scious of any waning desire to play the game 
 to the limit; and since the dancing craze 
 became the rage — or rather when it was the 
 fad — for the paroxysm seems to have 
 passed — Fashion appeared to have decreed 
 that age was no barrier to the fullest in- 
 dulgence in terpsichorean delights. Bridge 
 and Auction had their hosts of women who 
 were obsessed by the fascination of the 
 game; and in many of the more secret and 
 carefully chosen coteries the passion for 
 gambling became so general as to cause in- 
 numerable scandals and disastrous results. 
 While these.pursuits were more particularly 
 the craze of what has become known as The 
 Smart Set there were not wanting among 
 the more conservative class many who 
 viewed them with qualified approval. There 
 was still another class — and although small 
 it embraced the best in New York — in which 
 such things were tabooed and in which the 
 more reckless and daring phases of pleasure 
 found neither place nor tolerance. 
 
 Such was the class in which Hortense 
 Carroll by natural taste and desire and by 
 social position found herself at home. It 
 embraced something less than a score of 
 families in New York — families which by 
 
38 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 tradition, ancestry and accumulated wealth 
 were naturally regarded as the creme de la 
 creme. Her circle had lessened with the 
 years, and of the scores of the more intimate 
 friends and associates of her girlhood and 
 younger married life but a scant half dozen 
 remained. Death, Disillusion, Disaster and 
 Divorce had each contributed to the pitiless 
 process of elimination as time went on; and 
 in this circle there was no opening for the 
 nouveau riche to reinforce the decimated 
 ranks of the chosen few that survived. Her 
 father and mother had passed away within 
 a month of each other five years before, and 
 now at fifty-six she was beginning to look 
 her age. And she was beginning to realize 
 more than ever the pitiful loneliness of the 
 childless wife who, loving her husband with 
 all the tenderness and devotion of her na- 
 ture, yearns in vain for the closer and more 
 constant companionship that makes married 
 life one grand sweet song. 
 
 About this time the era of depression 
 which affected every part of the country and 
 most of its financial, industrial and com- 
 mercial interests began to assume alarming 
 proportions in many directions. Fear of 
 impending panic became general and Capi- 
 tal, naturally conservative, began to look 
 first to its own safety. Banking houses 
 which were largely interested in railroads, 
 great manufacturing corporations and pub- 
 lic utilities found it necessary to shorten 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 39 
 
 sail and to conserve resources ; and as a re- 
 sult failures began to increase in every sec- 
 tion of the Union. To add to the disturbing 
 conditions came the astounding revelations 
 regarding the wholesale looting of the New 
 England railroads — revelations which gave 
 to an amazed and indignant public cause for 
 a demand for the prosecution of the gang of 
 financial pirates who by their criminal con- 
 spiracy had brought ruin to hundreds if not 
 thousands of homes. The inevitable shrink- 
 age in the market price of the stocks and 
 bonds of these roads bore heavily on many 
 banks, but on none was the strain so terrific 
 as on the house of John Randolph Carroll & 
 Son of New York. 
 
 Conditions grew worse as time went on, 
 Failures became more frequent and the nat- 
 ural American characteristic cheerfulness 
 and faith in good fortune gave way to a pes- 
 simistic despondency that could see no ray 
 of light ahead. However great the absorp- 
 tion of Randolph Carroll in the cares of 
 business in former years, now by force of 
 circumstances it was greater and more in- 
 tense than ever before. For month by month 
 the burthen of care grew heavier by the 
 added weight of fear for the future. His 
 life now became a feverish round of nerve 
 racking excitement — a life like that led, 
 with very few exceptions, by his contem- 
 poraries in "Wall Street. After a night's fit- 
 ful and broken sleep morning found him 
 
40 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 with the leading New York papers at his 
 breakfast table. Here in his eagerness to as- 
 similate the news of the day that might af- 
 fect the market, one way or other, he had no 
 time for the amenities of domestic life. His 
 car waited at the door and nine-thirty inva- 
 riably found him in his office at the bank 
 confronted by stacks of mail. Here, with 
 his secretary and his general manager as- 
 sisting, the pressing problems were dis- 
 cussed and, when possible, solved. Noon 
 found him either in his own bank or in that 
 of some of the other financial magnates in 
 consultation and in perfecting plans for op- 
 erations where they had interests in com- 
 mon which were imperilled as a result of the 
 conditions that prevailed. Occasionally 
 time was found for a hurried luncheon at 
 the Bankers' Club, but often the pressure 
 was too great to find the hour to spare. 
 Afternoons were devoted to callers whose 
 financial standing gave them the privilege 
 of access to the head of the bank, and whose 
 confidence and support it was of paramount 
 importance that at this time of all others 
 the bank should command: and to impress 
 these with the confidence it was imperative 
 they should be made to feel was no slight 
 strain on the man whose more intimate 
 touch with the inside of affairs made him 
 apprehensive that the worst was at hand. 
 The close of banking hours witnessed more 
 conferences; and evenings were rare when 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 41 
 
 there were not groups of masters of finance 
 found at meetings to discuss conditions 
 either at their own homes, at the Waldorf or 
 at some of the clubs. Then, usually about 
 eleven, when the nerves were at the utmost 
 tension and the overwrought brain was 
 taxed to the limit, the Master of Money 
 sought home and rest — rest that never came 
 for his feverish dreams were but visions of 
 the life of his waking hours, and morning 
 found him more exhausted and more dis- 
 tracted than on the night before. And John 
 Randolph Carroll was one of the most en- 
 vied men in New York ! 
 
 Hortense had seen with growing anxiety 
 and alarm the changes wrought by stress 
 and time on the man whose health and hap- 
 piness were her greatest concern. For, de- 
 spite the conditions years had brought, the 
 love that had bound them heart to heart still 
 glowed to light their lives with a steady 
 flame; and in all their married life each 
 could recall with a feeling of deepest grati- 
 tude that not in one single instance had 
 there been man or woman in their lives who 
 gave cause for the slightest doubt as to the 
 strength and beauty and glory and perfect 
 harmony of the tie that bound them for all 
 time. To his wife's prayerful entreaties 
 that he consider his health of first impor- 
 tance Randolph had more than once prom- 
 ised that when times were more favorable 
 he would change his banking house from a 
 
42 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 private concern to a corporation, and then 
 gradually retire from the strenuous life; but 
 times showed no signs of bringing about the 
 conditions he considered essential to this 
 end until the Spring of the year 1914. It 
 was at this time that signs of clearing skies 
 in the financial world became more appar- 
 ent; but also at this time the pressure on 
 his resources became most alarming. Dan- 
 ger there was, but not imminent; and day 
 by day brought nearer "him and nearer home 
 the one man on whom he could count for 
 millions when required. This man was 
 Philip Rossmore — the true friend of his 
 youth, his chum at the University, the com- 
 panion of his world, his associate in later life 
 — the one man in all the world on whom he 
 could rely to the limit. For Philip 
 Rossmore was worth anywhere from fifty to 
 one hundred millions according to the esti- 
 mates of those best qualified to know; and, 
 as a matter of fact, the latter figure was 
 nearer the amount of his fortune. But 
 Rossmore had been for months on a yacht- 
 ing cruise around the world. He was now 
 homeward bound via Suez and the Mediter- 
 ranean. So Spring passed — a season of 
 stress and anxiety: but with June came the 
 hope that the worst was over and that, as- 
 suming favorable conditions to continue, he 
 could pull through without the help of 
 Rossmore. 
 Under these conditions it was natural that 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 43 
 
 Randolph should show some signs of relief 
 from the terrible strain; and, although his 
 time both during and after business hours 
 was occupied more than seemed necessary, 
 he found it possible to spend two or three 
 evenings in the week at home ; and here with 
 Hortense he planned their future. With the 
 return of Rossmore the arrangements he 
 had made for incorporation would be car- 
 ried out; a long visit to Europe would fol- 
 low, and on their return he and Hortense 
 had decided on a restful winter in Southern 
 California. So began the never-to-be-for- 
 gotten month of June — began with visions 
 of peace and happiness and companionship 
 and the fulness of all that makes life worth 
 living. Then came the bolt from the blue — 
 the shot fired by the assassin in Servia that 
 was destined to be heard around the world. 
 Then anxious days of waiting. Russia be- 
 gan mobilizing; Austria adhered unflinch- 
 ingly to her stand that the murder of her 
 heir to the throne and his wife should be 
 avenged; Prance lined up as Russia's ally; 
 Germany, bound by treaty to Austria, ful- 
 filled her obligations and prepared; England 
 took her place as prearranged with her 
 allies and then — and then — WAR! 
 
 Suddenly Hell burst its bounds and all 
 Europe was aflame! In its twentieth cen- 
 tury Christianity was a mockery, Civiliza- 
 tion a byword, Religion an empty phrase 
 and The Brotherhood of Man an illusion and 
 
44 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 a baseless dream! Millions of ill-fated men 
 were called to the colors of all nations — 
 called for but one purpose: tbat they should 
 slaughter without mercy their fellow men; 
 that they should bring suffering and poverty 
 and privation to countless multitudes of 
 helpless women and children; that they 
 should hand down to unborn millions a heri- 
 tage of hate that will endure for centuries to 
 come — all this to gratify the ambition of 
 human puppets who, surrounded by tawdry 
 trappings, men suffer to sit on thrones and 
 call themselves king or kaiser or czar. 
 
 Even with the earliest signs of the im- 
 pending conflict financial circles in New 
 York in common with those of other capitals 
 began to show evidences of alarm. Banks 
 began to call loans, stocks started on the 
 down grade, and in all lines of business signs 
 of uneasiness and uncertainty as to the 
 future became manifest: and this not only in 
 New York but in every city and state in the 
 Union. It was at this time that the fate of 
 the banking house of John Randolph Carroll 
 & Son began trembling on the verge. A 
 sudden failure of a great concern that in- 
 volved millions and in which it was gen- 
 erally known that the bank had been very 
 largely interested precipitated matters. For 
 rumors spread with marvelous rapidity in 
 New York. Randolph Carroll now realized 
 that he was face to face with the supreme 
 crisis of his life. Cablegrams, one after an- 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 46 
 
 other, were dispatched to Rossmore but no 
 reply came. It was not that the old bank 
 and Randolph Carroll were without friends 
 and supporters in New York ; but in a crisis 
 like this friendship counts for little ; the in- 
 exorable rule is "business first" and senti- 
 ment proves no factor in the game. Failures 
 became more frequent; panic seemed at 
 hand — and then came the closing of the 
 stock exchange. This was the beginning of 
 the end. A last cablegram was sent to 
 Cairo where it was hoped Rossmore 's yacht 
 had arrived. But it was in vain — there was 
 no response. For at that very moment 
 Rossmore, stricken with typhus fever, was 
 hovering between life and death. He had 
 received no word of the crisis in his friend's 
 life for before being ill not one message had 
 found him. But, alas, even had that last 
 cablegram reached him, and had he re- 
 sponded with the millions he would have 
 done and that would have averted the catas- 
 trophe, it would have been too late. For on 
 the afternoon of the day the last message 
 was sent John Randolph Carroll was over- 
 come by a stroke in the midst of the most 
 momentous conference of his life — and the 
 end had come. An hour later notice of the 
 suspension of the bank had electrified all 
 New York ; its doors had closed forever and 
 that of the banking house of John Randolph 
 Carroll and Son was added to the long list 
 of disasters due to the outbreak of the great 
 war. 
 
46 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 There are times in the lives of some men 
 — and women — when Fate in its spells of 
 gloom deals the cards so cruelly that when 
 life or death hangs in the balance the latter 
 would he chosen by the unhappy victim of 
 adversity as the more welcome alternative. 
 In the brief intervals of consciousness that 
 came to Randolph Carroll, when the fitful 
 realization of the truth flashed upon him, he 
 not only hoped but in his more agonized 
 moments prayed that death would end it 
 all. In the excitement of the calamity that 
 had so suddenly ended the conference at the 
 bank frantic efforts were made to summon 
 physicians; and at least two of the nervous 
 and overwrought men among those present 
 had telephoned for an ambulance that the 
 stricken man should be taken to a hospital 
 without delay. The first ambulance to ar- 
 rive came at the same moment as did 
 Randolph's own physician summoned by 
 the manager of the bank. And by his or- 
 ders the patient was taken home. It is at a 
 crisis such as this when the inestimable 
 value of a friend, who is all that the deepest 
 and fullest meaning of the word implies, 
 finds greatest realization; and this was the 
 time in his life that John Randolph Carroll 
 found such a friend — stanch and loyal and 
 true; and that friend was his physician, 
 Doctor Jamison. 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 47 
 
 To the Carrolls the Doctor owed the fact 
 that he was at this time one of the most cele- 
 brated and successful of the medical frater- 
 nity in New York. His practice was among 
 the oldest families and in the most exclusive 
 circles of society, and his income annually 
 was far beyond what he would have consid- 
 ered an ample fortune in the dreams of his 
 younger days. Singularly enough his first 
 meeting with the man and woman, to whom 
 with a gratitude that would never die he 
 felt that he owed his wonderful success in 
 life, his fortune and his enviable place in the 
 professional and social world, was on that 
 memorable day when a hapless little caddy 
 fell senseless from the crash of a ball driven 
 with bullet-like speed and force by a certain 
 noble lord who, for the purpose of this story, 
 has passed into history. Almost at the 
 moment when Randolph Carroll had rushed 
 to the aid of the boy, and, while carrying 
 the helpless lad had met Hortense, another 
 player had come upon the scene — one most 
 welcome, for he was a young medical student 
 who was a guest at one of the neighboring 
 houses. And he was equal to the emer- 
 gency. It was to his care that the injured 
 boy was given; and it was he who applied 
 first aid and finding that the boy's shoulder 
 had been crushed and dislocated by the shot 
 had pressed Randolph into service, had 
 secured a carriage and had the boy carried 
 to the hospital. Here, after eight weeks, 
 
48 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 the boy recovered and Randolph paid the 
 bill. 
 
 Shortly after their first meeting young 
 Jamison and Randolph again met at the 
 hospital where Randolph had called to in- 
 quire after the boy, and in their conversa- 
 tion discovered in each other many traits 
 and ideas that appealed to kindred natures. 
 The acquaintance continued, grew into a 
 warm friendship; and with the result that 
 when the young student graduated with 
 honors and gained his coveted M. D., he fol- 
 lowed Carroll's advice and instead of re- 
 turning to his native Vermont as he had 
 planned, began practice in New York. And 
 from that moment his fortune began. His 
 social recognition by the Carrolls was a pass- 
 port to society, and his signal success in one 
 or two cases in his earlier practice widened 
 his reputation and secured his prestige as a 
 skilful and conscientious physician in the 
 charmed circle in which he was destined to 
 find the material rewards of his career. In 
 the rare instances where professional ser- 
 vices were required at the Carroll home he 
 was the only doctor — and they never had 
 another. It was when first rumors of dan- 
 ger to the bank reached him that the Doctor 
 hurried to Wall Street with all haste to offer 
 to Randolph Carroll every dollar he had if it 
 would help to save the day; it was on his 
 arrival that he found the blow had fallen; 
 found his friend prostrate and senseless, and 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 49 
 
 that disaster had come which he was now 
 powerless to avert. 
 
 In the weeks of agonizing uncertainty 
 that followed Doctor Jamison was con- 
 stantly, by day and night, at the side of his 
 friend. Finding his own diagnosis con- 
 firmed by the most eminent specialists 
 whom he had summoned in consultation, he 
 gave himself to the task of saving Ran- 
 dolph's life with an unselfish devotion that 
 is talked of in New York to this day. Turn- 
 ing over for the time being his practice to 
 two of his friends of highest professional 
 standing he was thus entirely free ; and that 
 he should never be absent in any emergency 
 and at the earnest solicitation of Mrs. 
 Carroll, he occupied a room adjoining that 
 of his patient and his friend. But it was not 
 alone in his professional capacity in this ter- 
 rible ordeal that Doctor Jamison proved 
 the friend in need, the friend in deed. In 
 one of his brief, fully conscious moments, 
 Randolph had given the Doctor full power 
 of attorney to act for him in the legal pro- 
 ceedings which began a day after the clos- 
 ing of the bank; of course in conjunction 
 with his lawyer. Receivers had been ap- 
 pointed and the work of liquidation begun 
 without a moment's delay. In the face of 
 a constantly falling market it was impera- 
 tive that assets should be realized as quickly 
 as possible. No sentiment — no compunc- 
 tion was shown. Mammon has no such 
 
SO FAIRHAVEN 
 
 terms in his vocabulary; and in justice to 
 some of the more pressing creditors let it 
 be said that many were in the most desper- 
 ate straits and daily threatened with the 
 same fate that had befallen the house of 
 Carroll. In every stage of the work Dr. 
 Jamison to the utmost limit of his power — 
 mental, physical and financial — fought the 
 battle for his friend. Finally the struggle 
 was ended. Banking house, homes, lands, 
 yacht, furniture — all were swept into the 
 caldron and John Randolph Carroll was a 
 ruined, broken man. 
 
 Naturally the winding up of the affairs 
 of a bank of such importance and involved 
 in so many varied and widely diverse in- 
 terests required considerable time; and it 
 was not until the latter part of October in 
 that year that the task was accomplished, 
 and then only the last report of the receivers 
 was wanting to place the seal of finality on 
 the work. Pour months had now elapsed 
 since the day of the crash that crumbled the 
 bank to ruins. In all this time Doctor 
 Jamison had never faltered in the self- 
 imposed burthen he had taken upon himself 
 to bear. But now the time had come when 
 he found himself face to face with the 
 gravest aspect of the problem he had to 
 solve — The Future! For notice had been 
 served upon him that within thirty days the 
 Carrolls must vacate their home and that all 
 its rich and elegant appointments were to 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 51 
 
 be consigned to the ignominy of the auction 
 block. How to convey this terrible news — 
 how to save his friends from the awful 
 humiliation and distress the news would 
 cause — was the question that now caused 
 him many a sleepless night. 
 
 That all she had endured had left its mark 
 upon Hortense Carroll was so painfully 
 evident to the few friends admitted to her 
 presence that several in their overwrought 
 feelings of sympathy were moved to tears. 
 Instead of the graceful, elegant, consciously 
 satisfied society leader of their younger days 
 they found a broken, saddened, sorrowful 
 and suffering woman. During his long ill- 
 ness she had watched by the side of her 
 stricken husband with no thought of self, 
 with a woman's and a wife's deepest devo- 
 tion to the first and only man she had ever 
 loved. When the services of one of the two 
 trained nurses summoned at the beginning 
 of her husband's illness were dispensed with 
 as unnecessary, Hortense, in the absence of 
 the nurse retained, took her place in the 
 room; and here, watching with saddened 
 heart the helpless sufferer she endured 
 hours of such silent agony as words cannot 
 describe. That the failure meant a dark 
 and sorrowful future she realized more and 
 more as time went on. There were friends 
 who gave her delicately to understand that 
 she could rely on them for aid; but the innate 
 pride that she had inherited through genera- 
 
62 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 tions of affluent ancestors made her inva- 
 riably refuse to accept even the significance 
 of such suggestions. But she knew after all 
 these months that the climax was at hand. 
 
 Hortense cherished no illusions. How 
 completely the crash had wrecked their for- 
 tunes she did not know; and Doctor Jamison 
 never dared to tell. So when one evening 
 the Doctor sought and found her sitting 
 silent and alone in the great parlor she felt 
 instinctively that the moment she had so 
 long dreaded at last had come. And it had. 
 The Doctor began by telling her that 
 Randolph's condition was now such that the 
 one thing necessary to bring about his com- 
 plete restoration to perfect health was an 
 absolute change of scene. He had, he said, 
 given this matter serious thought, but be- 
 fore coming to a final decision he wanted to 
 consult her. It had occurred to him that 
 some quiet village in Southern France might 
 be the ideal place, but the great war ren- 
 dered that out of the question. Then there 
 was the South — somewhere in Maryland or 
 Virginia preferably: but he was afraid such 
 surroundings might call to Randolph's mind 
 memories of his boyhood's happy days, and 
 from that induce a state of melancholy. 
 Again he had thought of Southern Califor- 
 nia, but the rainy season, with its depressing 
 influence, was near. It was at this moment 
 the door bell sounded, and a moment after 
 voices were heard in the hall. A letter, so 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 63 
 
 the listeners heard through the open door, 
 had arrived for Doctor Jamison. In an- 
 other moment the letter was in his hand, 
 and with old-time courtesy, the Doctor 
 asked permission to open it. 
 
 Ever since he had been given full power 
 of attorney it had fallen to his share of re- 
 sponsibility to open all mail addressed to 
 Randolph Carroll, and the legal firm that 
 had charge of the Carroll interests had sent 
 the communication which he had just re- 
 ceived. As he glanced rapidly over the 
 pages and grasped their significance, he ut- 
 tered an expression of astonishment. And 
 well he might! For that letter, at this most 
 opportune moment, lifted his weight of care, 
 and the problem that had worried him for 
 weeks was solved at last. Nor was Hortense 
 less astonished, for the letter conveyed the 
 news of the death of Captain Eldridge 
 Bartlett, who for over twenty years had 
 been the master of the Carroll yachts, and 
 legal notification that he had left by his will 
 his house and all its contents and the land on 
 which it was built to "the man who was the 
 best friend I had in life, John Randolph 
 Carroll." In an instant Doctor Jamison 
 grasped the possibilities the arrival of that 
 letter held. But of these he spoke no word 
 to Hortense. Telling her that for the pres- 
 ent it would be unwise to speak of the good 
 news to her husband, as absolute freedom 
 from any excitement was a most essential 
 
54 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 factor in his progress to complete recovery; 
 and saying that, so far as the question of the 
 change of scene was concerned, that matter 
 could be taken up later, the Doctor arose. 
 As he stood by the door, and then as if it 
 were an afterthought of no great moment, 
 the Doctor bidding Hortense good night, 
 added that he would be away from town for 
 the next few days but that his friend, Dr. 
 Selfridge, would make a daily call in his 
 absence. 
 
 Midnight found the Doctor on the New 
 Haven train bound east ; morning found him 
 in Providence en route to Plymouth, Massa- 
 chusetts. Ten o'clock that morning found 
 him away south of Plymouth town, and 
 finally at his destination — the old home of 
 Captain Bartlett with its views of land and 
 sea on the northern reaches of Cape Cod 
 Bay. For the next four days no busier man 
 could have been found in Massachusetts; 
 and when on the evening of the fourth day 
 he dropped into his berth on the Fall River 
 boat the blessed sleep that comes from 
 fatigue crowned by the satisfaction that all 
 is well was his reward, and his awakening 
 only came when the steamer docked in New 
 York. He had found the Haven of Rest! 
 
 On the afternoon of an early November 
 day, a week after the return of Doctor 
 Jamison to New York, the Carrolls left their 
 palatial home and an hour later were in their 
 stateroom on the Fall River steamer. Doctor 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 55 
 
 Jamison was their sole companion. Of their 
 feelings it is difficult to write. They were 
 going they knew not where, for neither of 
 them, despite all their travels, had ever set 
 foot on the Eastern shores of Southern New 
 England. It was a clear, calm night when 
 the boat left New York, but on their arrival 
 at Fall River the conditions had changed; 
 and when they arrived in Plymouth and en- 
 tered the carriage a severe Easterly storm 
 had begun. And anything more depressing 
 it would be hard to imagine. The rain fell 
 in torrents; the leafless trees swayed and 
 shivered in the gale ; the vagrant leaves that 
 had found a last resting place on the sodden 
 roads made the way a dull and dreary 
 brown; the summer homes with their closed 
 and shuttered windows were desolate and- 
 forsaken; the storm had made traffic negligi- 
 ble and added to the depressing effect of 
 the drive ; the waves on the beach chanted a 
 requiem for departed summer — and to this 
 accompaniment the Carrolls arrived at 
 Fairhaven. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Not in years had a more violent and 
 vicious gale swept the New England coast 
 than that which reached its hight just as the 
 Carrolls arrived at their journey's end. 
 Those who know what the traditional 
 
56 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 November gale means when in the fulness of 
 its strength it rages along the shore need 
 not be told: those who have never felt its 
 fury may congratulate themselves on their 
 lack of experience. The fierce wind was bit- 
 terly cold, and as they descended from the 
 carriage, tired and depressed, the Carrolls 
 shivered and shrank as the blast chilled 
 them through and through. One glance at 
 the storm-drenched house from the roofs of 
 which the rain was swept in sheets by the 
 wind; a hasty look at the sodden grounds, 
 unkempt and showing no sign of tree or 
 shrub; and, as for a moment they turned as 
 they reached the steps, a view of the dull 
 and dreary prospect on every side pro- 
 duced' a feeling of profound depression 
 closely akin to despair. Nor was it to be 
 wondered that for a moment came a doubt 
 as to the wisdom of their trust in Doctor 
 Jamison. "Was a coast with such a climate 
 — with its savage gales and drenching 
 rains — the place; was such a bleak and 
 lonely house as this the haven they were for 
 the time being to call their home? What 
 wonder that with the thought their spirits 
 sank to the lowest ebb. 
 
 The moment they entered the house, how- 
 ever, came an instantaneous sense of relief 
 — they had found shelter from the storm. 
 And when, a minute or two later, divested 
 of their heavy winter coats, they found 
 themselves seated in great easy chairs be- 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 57 
 
 fore a glorious fire that filled the room with 
 a generous warmth never more welcome; 
 when the cheery voice of the Doctor (com- 
 menting on the evident fact that the fire had 
 been built so that the radiance of the glow- 
 ing logs should be at its best at the moment 
 of their arrival) had broken the silence, and 
 when, without a word, a tea table was drawn 
 up near them and the fragrance of the bev- 
 erage just made had become apparent, the 
 feeling of depression under which they had 
 entered the house had begun to disappear 
 and with the relaxing tension a sense of 
 comparative relief and content — a feeling 
 of subconscious gratitude that they were 
 safe from the fury of the gale that raged 
 without — had come. 
 
 Hortense under the refreshing influence 
 of her cup of tea — which, by the way, she 
 found delicious — and with a sense of grow- 
 ing comfort as she gazed into the glowing 
 fire found herself becoming somewhat in- 
 terested in her surroundings. She noted, 
 with a woman's quick intuition, that the 
 room in which they were seated was fairly 
 large, that the furniture, although old- 
 fashioned, had been the best of its day, that 
 the walls were adorned with some old en- 
 gravings, that the large rug which covered 
 the floor was an oriental — it was in fact a 
 Khiva-Bokhara — and that the clock, which 
 at the moment had struck the hour, had an 
 exquisitely mellow cathedral chime. There 
 
58 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 was no piano, a fact which she noted with 
 regret, for in the past few years she had 
 found greater pleasure in her music than 
 even in the days of her youth. Then, too, 
 she noticed that the small tea table which 
 had moved up to her side was covered with 
 spotless linen, that the cream was rich, the 
 butter fine, the rolls dainty and appetizing 
 and the table appointments neat and ap- 
 propriate. And now her glance followed 
 the woman who had moved the table and 
 had evidently made the tea — the woman 
 whom she realized already was no unimpor- 
 tant factor in making life — the life she was 
 destined to suffer for some months to come 
 — endurable. Her first impression was 
 rather favorable — but would it last 1 ? 
 
 Once or twice her thoughts reverted for a 
 fleeting moment to the splendid mansion 
 that had been her home for so many years, 
 and it was with difficulty that the mingled 
 sob and sigh was suppressed as the contrast 
 between the then and now forced itself up- 
 on her. One after another the vivid pic- 
 tures of the past came flashing before her — 
 the great parlors with their elaborate and 
 beautiful furnishings and atmosphere of re- 
 fined elegance and artistic perfection; the 
 fine dinins: room with its great extension 
 table capable of places for twentv guests, its 
 floral decorations, its rare and priceless mon- 
 oerammed china, its exquisitely beautiful 
 silver; the soft and delicate light from tho 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 59 
 
 fine old candelabra that had been in her fam- 
 ily for over two hundred years, — these with 
 memories of social occasions when her invi- 
 tation meant the presence of the most exclu- 
 sive, the most elegant and the most notable 
 of the world of society came to add to the 
 bitter realization of the depths to which she 
 had fallen now. 
 
 For a passing second it was hard to con- 
 trol her emotions, and it was only by an ef- 
 fort that she was able to restrain the tears. 
 Suddenly, however, as she turned slightly in 
 her chair, her eyes rested on the face of her 
 husband. In that instant the memories of 
 the past were swept away by a flood of other 
 thoughts — thoughts not of self but of and 
 for the man who had shared the glories and 
 happiness of the past life and who had now 
 to bear the cross of the new life that had 
 begun. And as she gazed upon his face- — 
 drawn and pale, and with an expression of 
 infinite sadness and suffering — she realized 
 that of all the phases of crushing misfortune 
 that had befallen them his was infinitely the 
 harder to bear. And then and there from 
 her inmost heart burst forth a great flood of 
 womanly tenderness and sympathy and 
 compassion: a wonderful realization of what 
 her mission in life as a true and loyal and 
 loving wife implied, and down deep in her 
 soul was born at that moment the resolu- 
 tion to consecrate her life for all time to- 
 wards the restoration to health and strength 
 
60 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 and happiness of the man she loved. And 
 this time she made no attempt to restrain 
 the tears. ' 
 
 Meeting the glance of Doctor Jamison as 
 she raised her head and with instant under- 
 standing of its silent message, Hortense rose 
 and going to the side of her husband placed 
 her hand with gentle tenderness on his 
 shoulder. There was something in that 
 touch, slight as it was, that thrilled him; and 
 as he lifted his head and looked into her eyes 
 the look of sadness seemed to disappear like 
 a passing shadow. There was, however, 
 something infinitely pathetic in his voice as 
 he suggested that after her fatigue a rest 
 was what she needed now. He had antici- 
 pated her purpose as regarded himself. But 
 when she urged that it was he, not she, that 
 most needed sleep, and when the Doctor lent 
 his aid in support of her entreaties Randolph 
 rose. Assisted by his friend he went up 
 stairs, and fifteen minutes later was in the 
 profound sleep of utter exhaustion. 
 
 At the moment he left the room Hortense 
 became conscious that the newly born 
 thought of her duties and of the sacrifices 
 she must make as a wife was no transient 
 emotion. The realization deepened that if 
 ever in a man's life was needed the comfort, 
 the companionship and the constant care 
 and devotion of a wife worthy of all that the 
 word in its fullest and most sacred sense im- 
 plied that time was here in the life of 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 61 
 
 Randolph. Sinking into the chair and gaz- 
 ing into the radiant flame of the cheery fire 
 her thoughts began to dwell, not on the 
 changes wrought by the failure, but on the 
 happier days of her married life. And into 
 her heart there came the sweetest of memo- 
 ries of her husband's love, his chivalry, his 
 devotion; of long years without a cloud to 
 cast the slightest shadow on their lives — 
 long years during which he had never caused 
 her pang or pain. Now the time had come 
 that she must prove herself worthy the great 
 life-love that had blessed her and had filled 
 so much of her years with a happiness whose 
 fulness it seemed she had never fully real- 
 ized until now. And then and there she 
 vowed in silence to consecrate her life to the 
 one great purpose whose fulfillment would 
 make her worthy the name of wife, and 
 breathed a prayer for aid to help her to keep 
 that vow. 
 
 Yielding to the delicious languor that be- 
 gan to steal over her mind and body, and 
 with a dim consciousness that a new and ex- 
 quisite sense of happiness had come to 
 lighten and brighten her life, and with the 
 spell that the open fire can cast on the wea- 
 ried mind, Hortense sank back in the chair 
 and in a moment was fast asleep. Thus it 
 was that Doctor Jamison found her as 
 silently he entered the room after having 
 seen Randolph voyage to Dreamland. 
 
 For a moment he watched and waited; 
 
62 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 then quietly and on tiptoe he crossed the 
 room, entered an alcove, and coming to a 
 closed door tapped gently. A moment later 
 the Doctor was in the kitchen. There, be- 
 fore seating himself, he put out his hand to 
 the bright faced girl who was the sole occu- 
 pant of the room before he entered, and with 
 evident genuine sincerity exclaimed "Well 
 done, Middy! Everything is just splendid! 
 I want to thank you, and I know you'll 
 never regret the day when you came to help 
 Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Carroll!" 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Less than a week before the bright and 
 cheery young woman — she looked about 
 twenty-six — whom Doctor Jamison had ad- 
 dressed as Middy had entered the new home 
 of the Carrolls for the first time. That she 
 and the Doctor were no strangers to each 
 other could be easily inferred from his in- 
 formal and easy way of talk and action: and 
 such was the case. As a matter of fact it 
 was Doctor Jamison who first welcomed her 
 arrival on this planet up in Vermont some- 
 thing over a quarter of a century ago. Her 
 father and the Doctor had been brought up 
 as neighboring boys on adjoining farms; and 
 so it was that not only her family but the 
 strong and virile race from which she sprang 
 and from which she had inherited all the 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 63 
 
 fine ancestral traits indigenous to the old 
 Green Mountain State were known to the 
 man who sat fronting her with such an air 
 of relief . He had known much of her life 
 during her earliest years, for on his annual 
 vacations when a student, and on his sub- 
 sequent visits after his graduation, he had 
 never failed to visit Middy's family. After 
 her father's death he had tried to induce her 
 to go to the state normal school to take a 
 course that would qualify her for the life of 
 a teacher, but Middy refused. She was an 
 only child, devoted to her mother, and with 
 a daughter's true devotion she remained at 
 home to comfort and cheer until the mother 
 took her place by the father's side in the 
 little churchyard which had become the last 
 home of so many generations. 
 
 On the death of her mother Middy found 
 a home with a maiden sister of Doctor 
 Jamison, and there the training she re- 
 ceived in the way of home management — a 
 training that had made her a model of thrift, 
 neatness, efficiency and punctuality, — had 
 qualified her to act in every capacity as a 
 first class housekeeper. Although earning 
 wages she was more of what might bevalled 
 a companion than what is generally known 
 as a servant. In Vermont the latter term is 
 rarely used except by the snobbish element 
 affected by the class distinction craze that 
 is so prevalent to-day; help is the word. 
 And so for nearly eight years Middy had 
 
64 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 had the happiness and the blessing of a 
 home where her sense of self-respect was 
 never offended; where the atmosphere was 
 one of comfort and consideration and kind- 
 ness, and where, with quick appreciation of 
 her good fortune, she devoted herself with 
 unceasing and hearty good will to the care 
 of the home in which she had found a refuge. 
 So it was that when the Doctor had decided 
 upon Fairhaven as the place for the Carrolls 
 he thought of Middy as the one of all he 
 knew that could best fill the place to make 
 it what he had in mind. 
 
 "Within an hour after his return to New 
 York he had written his sister inviting her 
 to spend the winter with him in his bache- 
 lor's home. In this letter he had briefly 
 outlined the case of the Carrolls, the selec- 
 tion he had made of their place of rest and 
 retirement, and had asked that Middy be 
 given leave of absence until his sister should 
 return in summer to her Vermont home. 
 Enclosed in this letter was one to Middy 
 making a strong appeal for her help in the 
 emergency. Knowing well that he could 
 count on her acceptance he had enclosed 
 money for expenses and instructions as to 
 the train and day on which she should come 
 to Boston where he arranged to meet her on 
 arrival. So Middy came to Pairhaven. On 
 their arrival the Doctor, after they had ex- 
 amined the house together and decided on 
 what was wanting, handed her over the keys 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 66 
 
 and left her in full charge of affairs. She 
 was to spare no expense in engaging help, 
 buying household linens and other things 
 required — in a word in having Fairhaven 
 bright, cheery and homelike when his 
 friends arrived. His "well done, Middy — 
 splendid" was the best evidence that she 
 had justified his faith and had proved her- 
 self equal to the occasion. 
 
 Ever since she had known him Middy had 
 been accustomed to hearing the Doctor say 
 pleasant things; but never could she recall 
 words of praise and appreciation more wel- 
 come than those he had just spoken. She 
 knew that she had tried hard to deserve 
 them, but the spontaneity and heartiness 
 with which they came forth and the warm 
 grasp of the hand that emphasized the trib- 
 ute, touched her as had nothing in years. 
 Kind words were a great part of the 
 Doctor's stock in trade and he had never 
 spent them to greater advantage. 
 
 "Remember, Middy," he added after she 
 had expressed the pleasure his words had 
 given her, "that in what you have done and 
 in what you are going to do for Mr. and Mrs. 
 Carroll you are aiding me. They are my 
 dearest friends and I owe them much — more 
 than I can ever repay. So in asking you to 
 do your share in making them happy here I 
 am asking at your hands for something 
 money can't buy. You have that within 
 yourself; so I'll just say 'Be yourself, 
 
66 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 Middy,' and that will more than satisfy us 
 all. There is one thing more : Spare no ex- 
 pense for anything — -for help, for the table, 
 for everything wanted. Take this," and as 
 he spoke he handed her a pocketbook, "and 
 use it freely. Don 't speak of money matters 
 to Mrs. Carroll until she speaks herself. 
 Then you can say I left some of her money 
 with you for current expenses — and that 
 will last you till I come here again. ' ' It did 
 — and something more. 
 
 Silently re-entering the parlor the Doctor 
 found Mrs. Carroll still fast asleep. As he 
 stepped softly to her side her changed ex- 
 pression was so marked that he could not 
 fail to notice it. The worn and tense look 
 had given place to one of repose and quiet 
 content, and her face had, it seemed to him, 
 something of the semblance of a smile of 
 happiness. Then with lightened heart and 
 a growing conviction that he was perhaps 
 building better than he knew, he softly as- 
 cended the stairs and in another moment 
 was again by the bedside of Randolph. As 
 he recalled the face of the man whom he had 
 known so well in the happier days gone by, 
 and now gazed at this — pale and drawn and 
 haggard, with sunken eyes and carelined 
 forehead, and with the gray beard, his emo- 
 tions were so deeply stirred that for a mo- 
 ment he instinctively turned away lest the 
 patient suddenly awakening should see his 
 agitation. But the feeling was only for a 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 67 
 
 moment: it gave place to a renewed and 
 strengthened resolution that if, by any sac- 
 rifice, by any length of loyal service, by any 
 means within his power he could aid in 
 bringing back to health and strength and 
 happiness his friend, he would devote his 
 life if need be to that end. 
 
 Never had a brief rest been more welcome 
 or sleep more refreshing than Hortense felt 
 she had enjoyed as she was awakened by the 
 sound of a bell. At the same moment Middy 
 entered the room and going into the hall 
 found that the expressman had arrived with 
 two trunks, the advance consignment of ten 
 which were to come from New York on the 
 next train. Mrs. Carroll rose, and as she 
 was about to speak the Doctor entered. It 
 was to him that Middy spoke. 
 
 "I think," she said quietly, "that the 
 trunks had better be placed in that room," 
 pointing to a door at the left of the fireplace. 
 Then turning to Mrs. Carroll she spoke to 
 her directly for the first time: "By putting 
 them here, Mrs. Carroll, the trunks can be 
 unpacked much more easily — and Mr. 
 Carroll's sleep won't be disturbed." Then 
 to the expressman: "Bring the trunks this 
 way!" That was all. The trunks were 
 brought in as Middy directed, placed as she 
 indicated, she paid the bill, closed the out- 
 side door and started to return to the 
 kitchen. 
 
 Never in her life had Hortense been more 
 
68 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 surprised by word or act on the part of a 
 servant. To be addressed as "Mrs. Carroll" 
 instead of as Madame or even "Ma'am" — 
 she who had been at many times in the past 
 approached by servile English domestics as 
 "My Lady"; to be spoken to without the 
 slightest sign of subservience, of recogni- 
 tion of her superior caste, of her position as 
 mistress of the establishment, however small 
 it might be; and this with an unconscious 
 air of perfect ease as if manner and words 
 were so natural and unaffected that they 
 seemed to "belong" — that she, Mrs. John 
 Randolph Carroll should be compelled to 
 tolerate such demeanor on the part of an in- 
 ferior — of a menial — was unthinkable. It 
 should end here and now. 
 
 Even a greater surprise than this, how- 
 ever, was in store, and before she could find 
 words to express her outraged feelings — the 
 shock to her dignity — the second shock 
 came. Middy had just reached the kitchen 
 door when the Doctor's voice halted her exit. 
 With quick intuition he had grasped the sit- 
 uation instantly, and its perils to all his 
 finely laid plans and preparations. He real- 
 ized that the time to clear the atmosphere 
 was now, and that to bring about a mutual 
 recognition that would create the ideal con- 
 ditions of which he had dreamed and hoped, 
 no word of reproval or correction must be 
 spoken. And so he had stopped Middy by 
 a word: "Oh Middy, just one moment 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 69 
 
 please!" Mrs. Carroll looked at him 
 curiously with something in her eye that 
 suggested that it would perhaps occur to 
 him that, as the lady of the house, she might 
 have a word or two to say. Middy had come 
 to the Doctor's side; this was the supreme 
 moment. 
 
 "This is my friend Middy, Mrs. Carroll, 
 and I want you to like her from the start. 
 Middy, I have not had time to tell Mrs. 
 Carroll all the splendid things you've done 
 in the short time you've been here — she will 
 soon see for herself. And when she does, 
 rest assured that Mrs. Carroll will value 
 your services and appreciate your devotion 
 to her happiness as much as I do. Thank 
 you again, Middy! And now," taking her 
 hand, "I am going soon and I won't have 
 a chance to see you until I come back from 
 New York in a week or two — so now — good 
 bye — good bye!" Middy left the room 
 with that warm grasp of the Doctor's hand, 
 and he and Hortense were alone. 
 
 Educated in her youth under conditions 
 where servants were regarded as persons 
 of such menial position that their existence 
 was only expected to be noticed when their 
 services were required; accustomed to a 
 social position where abject deference, 
 humility and self-effacement were expected 
 as part of the invisible livery of servitude, 
 and recognizing only as an inferior caste 
 those whom in all her life she had been used 
 
70 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 to regard as having been specially designed 
 for, and assigned to, labor by the Creator, it 
 is hardly to be wondered at that the self- 
 poise and evident independence of Middy 
 came as something of an outrage to the sense 
 of social dignity of Hortense. But when the 
 Doctor addressed Middy in that easy and 
 familiar tone, when he called her his friend 
 and evidently meant all that the word im- 
 plied, and when he took her by the hand — 
 Well! No wonder Hortense sank into her 
 chair and for the moment found no word 
 to express her feelings. 
 
 Ever since the Doctor had known Middy 
 as a little girl he realized that she possessed 
 a strong and exceptionally independent 
 character. Fairly well educated, of a fam- 
 ily that, notwithstanding its modest means, 
 had never felt any sense of social inferiority; 
 and in the capacity in which she had served 
 Miss Jamison in the little Vermont village, 
 never having once known of an instance 
 where her duties implied abject obedience 
 or loss of self-respect, she was not of that 
 type that the world of which Mrs. Carroll 
 was representative was accustomed to class 
 as "domestic servants." Knowing all this 
 the Doctor felt that to bring about such a 
 relationship between Mrs. Carroll and 
 Middy as would prove mutually satisfac- 
 tory, and conduce to the content, comfort 
 and happiness of all concerned, the time had 
 come. And when he had finished, when he 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 71 
 
 had in a tactful but earnest and sympathetic 
 way dwelt on the fact that Middy had some 
 of the best blood of Pilgrim and Puritan in 
 her veins ; that she had thereby inherited the 
 finest traits of loyalty and devotion to those 
 who won her heart, and that she would 
 prove a treasure to the Carrolls he had ac- 
 complished his end. "And," he concluded, 
 "one thing more: Middy with her expe- 
 rience and sense of responsibility will take 
 a great burden of care from you. She will 
 be your housekeeper. Trust her to the limit 
 — I'll vouch for her in all ways. And be- 
 lieve me the day will come when in the en- 
 forced association the next few months 
 means you will find her a companion in 
 many ways." 
 
 Now that he had noted with pleasure the 
 impression made by his words and that, 
 judging from her occasional nods of ap- 
 proval, he had brought Mrs. Carroll to his 
 point of view, the Doctor, drawing his chair 
 a bit closer, and with a voice that vibrated 
 with all the emotions that inspired his 
 words, leaned towards Hortense. "You 
 must know, you must have felt, my dear 
 Mrs. Carroll," he said, "that in my every act 
 since that unhappy day, I have been gov- 
 erned by but one idea — one purpose — the 
 restoration of health to Randolph — the 
 bringing of health and happiness to you and 
 to him." 
 
 Hortense felt her eyes fill with tears. In- 
 
72 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 stinctively her hand went out to meet that 
 of the Doctor. "Oh don 't I know — haven 't 
 I felt — don't I understand! I — I — " 
 
 Under the stress of the emotion that over- 
 came her she felt for a moment on the verge 
 of a breakdown, but before she could speak 
 the Doctor's next words brought a sudden 
 glow of happiness. "Randolph," he said, 
 "is on the road to complete recovery — in 
 mind, in body and in fortune. For even 
 now his friends are at work to place him 
 again where the banking house of John 
 Randolph Carroll & Son stood before. 
 But of that more later on. It is the present 
 we have to face, the present that you have 
 for his sake to endure. I have brought you 
 here — here to Fairhaven — because nowhere 
 else on earth are conditions so favorable for 
 him. The air is what he wants — the tang of 
 the sea air filled with the health-giving ozone 
 that his condition requires. He wants rest 
 and quiet — an absolute change from every- 
 thing that will for the time recall the scenes 
 he has left behind and the suffering with 
 which they were connected. And above all 
 and beyond all — beyond anything else in 
 the world," and as he spoke he pressed the 
 hand he had held since she spoke, "beyond 
 everything on earth he needs and he wants 
 you — y ou — y ou ! 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 73 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Now that he had finished his mission at 
 Fairhaven for the time Dr. Jamison was 
 ready to start on his return to New York. 
 He had planted the seed and he knew that in 
 due time the flowers would bloom. Without 
 another word to Hortense he had gone up 
 to Randolph's room to find him still in slum- 
 ber — a sleep so evidently helpful and rest- 
 ful that he decided not to awaken him to 
 say good bye. So, writing a few words on 
 the back of an envelope — words of cheer and 
 comfort — he went down stairs to find 
 Hortense awaiting him as he entered the 
 room. "Thank you with all my heart, 
 Doctor," she said, giving him both hands 
 and speaking with a manifest depth of feel- 
 ing, "I begin to understand!" That was 
 all, but it was enough; the Doctor knew now 
 that the seed had been planted in the richest 
 soil. The carriage that was to convey him 
 to the station, whence he was to take the 
 train for Boston that he might make con- 
 nection with the afternoon express for New 
 York, was about due. Excusing himself 
 for a moment he went to Middy and bade 
 her good bye. Then once more returning 
 to Hortense he told her that the receivers of 
 the estate having turned over to him in ad- 
 vance, pending a final settlement, five 
 thousand dollars, he had placed that sum in 
 
74 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 equal amounts to her credit in the Plymouth 
 National and Old Colony banks in town. 
 And then he handed her the cheek books. 
 The statement regarding the deposit of the 
 money was true; the receivers' part of the 
 story was false. He knew that to tender his 
 own funds to Hortense would have been a 
 blow to her pride, and he knew that having 
 the money at her command would give a 
 feeling of security and an absence of worry. 
 So the money was his own; and he felt in his 
 easy Unitarian conscience no compunction 
 about the lie out of whole cloth. It may be 
 taken for granted that when the recording 
 angel took up his pen to note that lie he 
 hustled around to find an eraser to blot it 
 from his book; but if any record has been 
 made of that episode it will be found, when 
 settlement day comes, on the credit side of 
 the Doctor's account on the ledger. 
 
 Dr. Jamison had gone. During his pres- 
 ence in the house Hortense had been con- 
 scious of a feeling of companionship, of 
 consolation, of an absence of worry, know- 
 ing that she had one on whom to rely for 
 advice, for aid, for co-operation in any 
 emergency. His departure emphasized her 
 sense of loneliness, of sadness and of the 
 dread dreariness of her surroundings in 
 the long winter months to come. But sud- 
 denly in the midst of her deepest depression 
 came the words, "Beyond anything in the 
 world — beyond everything else on earth he 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 75 
 
 wants and he needs you — you — you!" In 
 another moment her whole expression had 
 changed, a new light had come into her eyes, 
 a new impulse had stirred and thrilled her, 
 a new feeling had quickened her heart-beat, 
 and a new life had begun for at that moment 
 a new Hortense Carroll had been born. 
 With bight and quickened steps she went up 
 stairs and into the room where Randolph 
 slept. For a moment she gazed at the care- 
 worn face. Her tears came; then with a 
 flood of emotion she made no effort to con- 
 trol, she sank on her knees by his side and 
 taking the listless hand that rested on the 
 counterpane she pressed it to her lips. For 
 a moment Randolph opened his eyes; then, 
 pressing the hand that held his own, he 
 murmured "Hortense," and was again in 
 the land of dreams. 
 
 Returning to the parlor Hortense crossed 
 without stopping, and then entering the al- 
 cove knocked at the kitchen door. In a 
 moment the door opened and Middy stood 
 before her, a smile on her lips. In response 
 to the "Won't you come in, Mrs. Carroll?" 
 Hortense entered the kitchen. The sensa- 
 tion was a novel one — a sensation without 
 precedent in all her life. So this was a 
 "kitchen. " She tried to think. Like a flash 
 her life passed in review — her early child- 
 hood, her girlhood with its settings of wealth 
 and luxury, her days at boarding school, 
 her career as a young society queen, her life 
 
76 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 abroad, her splendid establishment in New 
 York — and in all these times not once to her 
 recollection at that moment had she ever set 
 foot in a kitchen before! It was certainly 
 a new experience. But others were to fol- 
 low. Middy with an easy air of self-pos- 
 session stood aside while Hortense entered, 
 and then following and pointing to one of 
 two chairs at a small table near the window, 
 said "Won't you be seated, Mrs. Carroll 1 ?" 
 Hortense could hardly restrain a gasp of 
 astonishment — perhaps it was to recover 
 that she sank into the chair. But when 
 Middy, without a word of apology, or even 
 asking permission, seated herself in the 
 chair opposite, Hortense felt that she had 
 reached the limit. She could recall no in- 
 stance in all her life when a servant had 
 dared to sit in her presence. Well! But 
 words at such a stage of affairs as this were 
 useless as a means of expression. 
 
 "Everything is so nice, so comfortable — 
 don't you think so, Mrs. Carroll?" And then 
 without waiting for an answer Middy con- 
 tinued in a spontaneous outburst of confi- 
 dence: "You see — of course you don't know 
 yet — but it's so complete! That," pointing 
 to a door, "leads to the pantry and to the 
 cellar where I have the coal and wood. 
 This is," and she pointed to another door, 
 "my china closet — oh everything is so handy 
 it is just a pleasure to be here, and what do 
 you think of this?" Rising from her chair 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 77 
 
 she opened another door. ' ' Here 's my bath 
 room and my laundry with set tubs — think 
 of it — in a small place like this ! And then, ' ' 
 crossing the room again, "here's what I 
 call the big gun of the whole brass band!" 
 
 Despite Middy's mixed metaphor and her 
 burst of eloquent appreciation Hortense 
 failed to feel the thrill of curiosity. She 
 was too much overcome by the variety of her 
 emotions. Astonishment at Middy's want 
 of deference, amazement at her daring to 
 offer a seat as if to a person of her class, 
 indignation that she should have dared to 
 seat herself without even asking permission 
 — oh this was unendurable. Then suddenly 
 came the afterthought — this was the girl 
 whom Doctor Jamison had called his friend. 
 Then too, she recalled, this was the girl of 
 whose family and training he had spoken, 
 on whose life with his sister he had dwelt, on 
 whose fidelity and strength of character he 
 had laid such stress. So she forebore reply 
 and watched Middy. In a moment Middy 
 had lighted a match and applied it to the 
 gas range. As she lighted the burners, one 
 after another, it was with exclamations of 
 pleasure that she invited Mrs. Carroll to 
 rise and see for herself. Strange to say 
 Middy until she came to Fairhaven had 
 never seen a gas range, and Hortense was 
 now looking at one for the first time in her 
 life. 
 
 "And now, Mrs. Carroll," Middy, having 
 
78 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 explained the mysteries of the range, went 
 on, "I think we're going to be very com- 
 fortable, don't you 1 ? And I'm going to do 
 everything I can for you and for Mr. Carroll. 
 The Doctor — it was he who showed me how 
 to manage that gas stove — wants me to do 
 my level best in every way and honest I will. 
 Of course I've only begun — there's lots to 
 be done, upstairs and down. You see I've 
 only had about a week — and it's going to 
 take a month before I can get everything in 
 shipshape — I mean in A 1 order. You 
 haven't seen the dining room or what I call 
 the nook, have you — no? I thought not! 
 Nor the other rooms upstairs — No 1 ? But 
 honestly, Mrs. Carroll, when we do get 
 everything in applepie order it's going to be 
 a dream of a place, believe me ! And", Middy 
 continued after pausing a moment for 
 breath and then playfully raising her hand 
 and with a smiling face, "remember I'm not 
 going to let you do a thing. All you've got 
 to do is to tell me what you want — I'll do it! 
 You are to rest, Mrs. Carroll — that's the 
 Doctor's orders. I am keeping an account 
 of every penny I spend," and Middy as she 
 spoke went to another table and producing 
 a household account book laid it open before 
 Hortense, "and when you want any extras 
 just tell me and I'll order them. That will 
 save you lots of bother — and that's what 
 I'm here to do!" 
 Not only her words but the evident sin- 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 79 
 
 cerity and interest which prompted them 
 revealed a new something about Middy 
 which Hortense instinctively felt, and which 
 came to her as a source of mingled pleasure 
 and surprise; and there remained the im- 
 pression that in Middy she was to find a new 
 experience — the understanding of one as- 
 pect of the life of a fellow woman that she 
 had never known before. Then too it 
 flashed upon her as an explanation of 
 Middy's handing her a chair and without 
 conscious embarrassment, or a "by your 
 leave, Madam," seating herself, that this 
 was Middy's own domain where in a way 
 she ruled supreme, and where, when one en- 
 tered, they were to be received and treated 
 according to Middy's code of social ethics. 
 It was these thoughts, together with a dawn- 
 ing realization of her own utter lack of prac- 
 tical knowledge of household affairs — as 
 witness her first view of a gas range, — and 
 also the consciousness of the evident knowl- 
 edge and experience that Middy possessed 
 in her special field, that put to flight the 
 momentary feeling of resentment that had 
 come a few minutes before. The fact, too, 
 that Middy wore none of the conventional 
 signs of servitude — neither cap nor apron — 
 and that her white collar and cuffs were 
 spotless and her dark brown dress neat and 
 trim; that her face radiated cheerfulness 
 and content and perfect health and strength 
 — all this had its influence in bringing 
 
80 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 Hortense for the time being to a happier 
 state of mind. 
 
 During Middy's talking spell Hortense 
 had unconsciously become impressed by the 
 neatness and order and brightness of this, 
 to her, new and novel department of a home. 
 Two large windows commanding an outlook 
 north and south made the room light and 
 pleasant; the coal and gas ranges — for the 
 kitchen had both — fairly glistened with the 
 polish that Middy had applied; their white 
 metal adornments and appointments shone 
 like silver; an old-fashioned wall clock 
 ticked cheerily above the table where they 
 sat; the draperies on the windows and the 
 covering of the tables were spotlessly white; 
 the linoleum which covered the floor was 
 without speck or stain; the walls, papered 
 with excellent taste, were ornamented with 
 two or three old engravings in quaint old- 
 fashioned frames; the brass utensils had 
 been polished to the last degree — in a word 
 it justified Middy's gratified comment — it 
 was "homey and complete." 
 
 Suddenly it occurred to Hortense that a 
 word of commendation — of good will — was 
 due from her and would be appreciated. ' ' I 
 am very much pleased indeed," she said, 
 "you see I am — I am not — I do not know a 
 great deal about household affairs, but I 
 know and I feel that I can depend on you." 
 Then after a moment's pause came the 
 thought that she was not quite sure of the 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 81 
 
 name. "May I ask is Middy your first 
 name or — or your last?" 
 
 "It isn't either the one or the other," re- 
 plied Middy with a smile. "You see, Mrs. 
 Carroll, when I was at school in Vermont 
 the girls just couldn't get my name right, 
 and so they called me Middy. I think both 
 my father and mother called me that too. 
 But I seem to remember it first coming from 
 the girls at school. My real name — my full 
 name — is Mehitable Potter Brewster Endi- 
 cott Sedgwick." 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Xenophon of Ephesus (or was it Socrates 
 or Sophocles? — anyway one of the ancient 
 Creek philosophers) is credited with the 
 proverb that "whom the gods shall visit 
 with blindness of the eye yet shall he see 
 more brightly with clearness of the mind"; 
 in other words that no matter what the af- 
 fliction there is some alleviating compensa- 
 tion. The same idea has come down through 
 the ages. We have it in such expressions 
 as "Blessings in disguise," "It's a long lane 
 that has no turning," "The day is darkest 
 before the dawn," in the more homely 
 phrase, "It's never so bad but it might be 
 worse," and so on ad infinitum. In the hour 
 of misfortune or adversity the "hope that 
 springs eternal in the human breast" is ex- 
 
82 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 pected to comfort or to cheer; and in every 
 land, among every race and in every 
 language the equivalent of "While there's 
 life there's hope" has its place among the 
 proverbs collated to console humanity in 
 the hour of trial and tribulation. Not one 
 of these uplifting thoughts, had they ever 
 occurred to him, would have brought the 
 faintest ray of light into the darkness that 
 had fallen upon John Randolph Carroll. 
 For his was the surrender complete — of ab- 
 ject submission, of hopeless resignation, of 
 absolute recognition that the Supreme 
 Court of Destiny had handed down its de- 
 cision in his case — a decision from which 
 there was no appeal. 
 
 The tide of his life was at its lowest ebb 
 when he became dimly aware of the depar- 
 ture of Dr. Jamison. When, shortly after 
 in a moment of semi-consciousness, he felt 
 the touch of the hand of Hortense and the 
 pressure of her lips the tide at that moment 
 ceased to ebb — the great miracle that was to 
 remake his life had begun. He had relapsed 
 into sound sleep — a sleep that had, for the 
 first time in months, brought him pleasant 
 dreams — dreams wherein Hortense in all 
 the loveliness and sweetness of her glorious 
 youth had been ever present to fill the vague 
 and shadowy visions with a feeling of hap- 
 piness and blessed content. So it was that 
 on waking his thoughts were not thoughts 
 of self but of her whose unhappy fate it was 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 83 
 
 to share the misfortunes that had befallen 
 him. Then came with a glow of supreme 
 happiness the memory of that touch of her 
 lips and the loving pressure of her hands — 
 the silent but exquisitely eloquent evidence 
 of her love and devotion. If he felt the crush- 
 ing and hopeless despair that had been the 
 result of the misfortunes that had come; if 
 in all these weeks of his illness, when for so 
 much of the time he was happily uncon- 
 scious, he had fallen to the depths of mental 
 and physical suffering; if in the change that 
 had come he had to endure the shame and 
 humiliation of being compelled to surren- 
 der his palatial home and to take refuge in 
 such a poor and desolate place as this, what 
 of her share in all the horrors that had 
 passed, in the deprivation and wretched life 
 of the present, and in all the trials and 
 struggles that the future held in store % 
 
 Even at the moment of thought came the 
 answer: That touch of her lips — the silent 
 pledge of faith and devotion, of the resolve 
 that whatever of good or evil fortune was 
 to come she would share it with the man she 
 loved; that the marriage bond — "In riches 
 or in poverty, in sickness or in health" — 
 were no empty words; that she would bear 
 her part with fullest consecration to her 
 conception of her ideal of the loyal and lov- 
 ing wife. As he began to dwell upon this, 
 and to realize more deeply than ever before 
 the divine impulse that had impelled this 
 
84 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 manifestation of affection, there was born 
 the resolution that while life remained he 
 would devote it to one end — not to win back 
 fortune for fortune's sake or for the sake of 
 self, but to win success for her sake that he 
 should bring back to her all the happiness 
 that the riches of the world would ensure. 
 This was the moment of the miracle. As if 
 some life-giving current had been created in 
 his blood, as if a burst of sunshine had dis- 
 pelled the shadows on his mind, as if the 
 lethargy and listlessness that had rendered 
 him weak and languid had been suddenly- 
 destroyed by some potent agent, he felt that 
 the worst was over at last and that the dawn 
 of the new life had come. 
 
 Every impulse that springs from the 
 nobler attributes of our complex natures is 
 a magical stimulus to body and to mind. 
 Randolph was amazed at the marvelous 
 change that had come upon him. In an- 
 other instant he had risen from his recum- 
 bent position, and, propped up by pillows, 
 had begun to take notice of the room. There 
 was nothing to depress him on that first 
 survey; on the contrary the storm that still 
 raged without gave him a feeling of relief 
 that its furious onslaughts, as the gale 
 dashed the rain against the windows, could 
 never reach him here. From his position 
 he faced the two windows that lighted the 
 room, and the shades and the well chosen 
 light draperies gave him an impression of 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 85 
 
 neatness and good taste. A large old- 
 fashioned mirror occupied the space be- 
 tween the windows and covered the space 
 from floor to ceiling; and as he glanced at 
 this he saw himself as he was. The result 
 was a painful surprise — something in the 
 nature of a nervous shock. What! Could 
 this be he — Randolph Carroll! The dis- 
 hevelled gray hair, the sunken eyes, the 
 shrivelled cheeks, the gray beard, the pallid, 
 drawn and haggard face — Cood Heavens! 
 Was this wreck all that was left of him once 
 accounted the perfection of physical man- 
 hood! He felt himself relax as with a de- 
 sire to sink back on the pillow and shut 
 from his sight such a pitiable picture of a 
 ruined, broken man. Then came the 
 thought it was to this — to him as he saw 
 himself — that Hortense had given in this 
 room the pledge of a wife's devotion in that 
 touch of her lips on his hand. 
 
 Nothing that Dr. Jamison had told him 
 had given Randolph any idea of the true 
 state of his financial condition. He knew of 
 course, in a general way, ;that the process of 
 liquidation was going on and that, so far as 
 his house had been a factor in the financial 
 world, it had ceased to exist. But he had a 
 firm belief that when the final statement 
 should be made it would be found that his 
 assets would so far exceed his liabilities that 
 the surplus would amount to — to what? 
 Sometimes he placed the sum as low as a 
 
86 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 hundred thousand dollars; in his more 
 sanguine moments it ranged from that 
 amount to half-a-million — perhaps more. 
 But whatever it would be to him it meant 
 naught but poverty when contrasted with 
 the millions at which he was rated and the 
 state in which he lived before the fall. How- 
 ever there would surely be enough on which 
 to build anew. He had been told of 
 Rossmore 's attack of typhus, and of his sub- 
 sequent recovery; and also that, owing to 
 his fear of mines and submarines in the 
 Mediterranean, he had reversed his course 
 and was coming home through the Red Sea, 
 the Indian Ocean and thence by the Cape of 
 Good Hope across the Atlantic to New York. 
 Rossmore might be looked for in a few 
 weeks, and then — and then the building of 
 the new future would begin for he knew that 
 Rossmore would stand by him to any extent 
 that friendship could demand — or better 
 still that friendship could inspire. This 
 caused a momentary forgetfulness of his 
 own pitiful condition, and a feeling that now 
 that he was on the road to recovery the turn 
 of fortune would soon be at hand. 
 
 At this moment a gentle knock was heard, 
 and before he could speak the door opened 
 and Hortense entered. With an expres- 
 sion of pleasure at finding him awake, and 
 looking as if the sleep and rest had wrought 
 such a markedly improved appearance, she 
 laid down the small tray she had brought 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 87 
 
 into the room and going to his side fixed the 
 pillows so that his position was more com- 
 fortable. Then bringing the small table to 
 the bedside she began to talk cheerily as she 
 urged him to enjoy the luncheon. In the 
 days when she had acted as nurse in their 
 home in New York Hortense had acquired 
 quite a range of knowledge as to the proper 
 food for the convalescent. She had, by the 
 Doctor's advice and direction, given the 
 necessary instructions to her housekeeper, 
 and the experience then gained was now of 
 value. For she knew just what would ap- 
 peal to Randolph's appetite, and just hov? 
 much or how little he should be permitted 
 to take. 
 
 Now she had a subject of interest on 
 which to converse — a novelty in her ex- 
 perience on which to dwell — and that was 
 Middy. To have come into intimate con- 
 tact with such a character, to realize that 
 association was the inevitable consequence 
 of the conditions to which they must needs 
 conform and to think of his wife — his wife ! 
 — being obliged to endure — to suffer such 
 loss of dignity — of self-consciousness — 
 touched Randolph to the quick the moment 
 she began on the subject. But that feeling 
 of sorrow that Hortense should suffer was 
 of very brief duration. As she went on he 
 began to see the truth as Hortense saw it, 
 and before she had spoken half a dozen 
 
88 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 sentences he found himself becoming quite 
 as interested as she was herself. 
 
 "Don't think for a moment I exaggerate, 
 Randolph," she said, "but Middy is really- 
 remarkable — in fact I don't recall ever hav- 
 ing met anybody bike her in all my life. 
 Why, fancy — she knew how to cook when 
 she was a girl of ten. Can you imagine such 
 a thing! And she knows positively every- 
 thing — and she can bake bread! It's true; 
 I saw the loaves in the oven and asked her 
 if they were there to be toasted. And then 
 I tasted her bread — that's a slice of it — 
 isn't it delicious! And personally I really 
 like her — you needn't look so alarmed or 
 surprised — I do and so will you. - She's of 
 good family too — told me about some of the 
 oldest and best families in New England to 
 which her own is distantly related; and yet, 
 with all this, she's just as natural and un- 
 affected as anyone could be. Do you know, 
 Randolph, the more I think of it the more 
 I am convinced that Dr. Jamison had some 
 great purpose in everything he has planned 
 — and this girl Middy is a part of his pro- 
 gramme; just how I don't know, but I feel 
 it. I'm getting interested — isn't that fine! 
 Think what it means. And to see you so 
 much improved — honestly, Randolph, I 
 think — I feel — that somehow glorious days 
 are coming — that great happiness is in store 
 for us bye and bye." 
 
 During her talk Randolph kept his eyes 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 89 
 
 fixed on the animated face of Hortense. He 
 could see the change and he could feel the 
 throb of happiness in his heart as a result. 
 But what did it mean? Was it not an as- 
 sumed expression of cheerfulness — was not 
 her apparent interest in the girl Middy a 
 device born of the laudable purpose of mak- 
 ing him feel happier because of her appar- 
 ent content with the conditions to which 
 they were temporarily bound? If so was 
 it not the better plan for him to assume that 
 her expressions were sincere? Then sud- 
 denly came the thought of her kiss on his 
 hand during the moment when she knelt 
 at the bedside when in the room before. 
 Quietly he told her that he had been in a 
 happy dream, the result of her having been 
 so near; and then putting forth his hand and 
 grasping hers as they met, he told her how 
 that kiss had given him new strength, new 
 hope, new life. 
 
 Evidently from the tears that came into 
 her eyes, from the tightening grasp of her 
 hand and from the quiver in the soft voice 
 whose tones touched his heart, she spoke as 
 she felt then — as she felt now. 
 
 "Did it make you happy, Randolph! I'm 
 so glad — so glad. Yes I — I just felt — it just 
 came to me that it might make you glad 
 to know I was near. So that was why," 
 she paused a moment and then said, "that 
 was why — that — that and — and because I 
 love you, dear!" 
 
90 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 In all of his married life — in the days of 
 his courtship — Randolph Carroll, as he 
 thought of times gone by, could recall no 
 words ever spoken by Hortense that had 
 given him such exquisite pleasure, such a 
 glow of happiness as had those simple 
 words "I love you, dear." It was the first 
 time in many, many years that any word of 
 endearment had been spoken by Hortense, 
 or, he reflected with a feeling of surprise, by 
 either. The thought came to him with a 
 sense of painful regret. Why was this, 
 what had caused it — had time deadened the 
 great love they once bore for each other? 
 Her words came again, "I love you, dear!" 
 Of course she did — always had — as he had 
 loved her, but — but — then came like a flash 
 the answer — the explanation. In their circle 
 of society it had never been considered 
 "good form" to give expression to emotion, 
 to use terms of endearment, in any way. 
 And so, gradually and insensibly, soon after 
 marriage they had drifted with the tide of 
 conventionalism and had ever after ad- 
 dressed each other at home or abroad simply 
 as "Hortense" and "Randolph." 
 
 Certainly such cold and formal manner 
 was not natural to him. He thought of his 
 youth, of his old Southern home where terms 
 of endearment and affection were used by 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 91 
 
 all, from his devoted parents to the old col- 
 ored mammy who fairly worshipped him. 
 And he reflected that this was the customary 
 tone in all parts of the South and in all 
 grades of society. In the "West, too, there 
 was a heartiness and a warmth of expression 
 and feeling in such marked contrast to the 
 coldness and formality of the East that it 
 never failed to impress unfavorably those 
 who were able to make the comparison. 
 Then it began to dawn upon him how much 
 the loss of expression of love and affection 
 meant to those unhappily deprived of its 
 sweetness; and the happiness it gave, not 
 only to those to whom such words were 
 spoken, but to those whose hearts dictated 
 them. From that moment was born one of 
 the finest impulses of his life — he would 
 never again speak to his wife simply as 
 "Hortense." He had come to realize that 
 she was something nearer and dearer than 
 he had known in all the years before. 
 
 A new life had begun for Hortense; a 
 life so entirely different, so completely un- 
 like anything she had ever known, that it 
 possessed the charm of absolute novelty, 
 and kept her alert and interested from 
 morning till night. She seemed to have no 
 time for indulgence in regrets for the past — 
 if such regrets ever came — for the present 
 afforded every opportunity for keeping her 
 mind fully occupied. Under Middy's 
 guidance she had on the day following their 
 
92 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 arrival made a visit to every part of the 
 house: and the result was a revelation. The 
 ground floor comprised the parlor or living 
 room, with a large alcove which made the 
 apartment comparatively spacious; and two 
 large windows front with two smaller in the 
 alcove made the room bright and cheerful. 
 Adjoining the parlor was a smaller room 
 furnished with a fine mahogany table and 
 chairs, a sideboard and other appointments, 
 and which Middy suggested be made the 
 dining room. Connected also with the par- 
 lor in front was a still smaller room with a 
 comfortable, old-fashioned lounge and a 
 large, well-filled book case, and this Middy 
 had called "The Nook." Thus, including 
 the kitchen suite, there were four rooms, not 
 counting large closets, on the ground floor. 
 On the upper floor — it was a two-story 
 house — was the large room in front over the 
 parlor with connecting bath room with mod- 
 ern appointments. Beyond and in rela- 
 tively the same position as the rooms below 
 were two smaller rooms. Back of these 
 was another occupied by Middy and acces- 
 sible by a back stairway. Over all was a 
 large attic. 
 
 The variety, the richness and the rarity 
 of the contents of every room in the house 
 was a surprise and pleasure to Hortense. 
 Most of the furniture was of old Colonial 
 design, and many pieces were quaint and 
 curious. The number of rare old-fashioned 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 93 
 
 engravings on the walls of every room was 
 another source of delight. But it was the 
 wonderful collection of books — hundreds of 
 them — that amazed her beyond all else. 
 Books in piles in the corners of rooms; on 
 shelves in the large closets, in drawers of 
 chests and in the rare and old-fashioned 
 mahogany highboy with its beautifully ar- 
 tistic brass trimmings that Middy had pol- 
 ished till they shone like old gold — books, 
 books, books of every kind everywhere. It 
 was when she became impressed with the 
 endless variety of works that Hortense 
 found herself thinking of the past and of the 
 man who had made this wonderful collection 
 — how wonderful she did not then fully real- 
 ize — the man to whom she and Randolph 
 owed all this in falling heirs to Fairhaven. 
 Even now as she visualized the past she 
 could see Captain Bartlett in his well fitting 
 uniform as he walked with conscious pride 
 as captain of her husband's splendid yacht. 
 And she could recall one beautiful June 
 night, when, under a full moon and a cloud- 
 less sky the yacht had sailed from Marble- 
 head and was on the broad Atlantic, the 
 captain had been invited to dine with her 
 husband and herself; and how, after dinner 
 as they sat together in their easy chairs aft, 
 the Captain, drawn out by Randolph, had 
 told something of his life. As a boy of 
 twelve, up to which age he had had the ad- 
 vantage of seven years at school, he had 
 
94 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 made his first voyage with an uncle to the 
 Grand Banks. Four months at sea, with 
 this uncle, who was captain of a fishing boat, 
 had confirmed the intense desire for a 
 sailor's life which is the natural heritage of 
 every coast-born boy of New England. At 
 twenty he had made voyages as an able sea- 
 man to Europe, and twice around the Horn 
 to Pacific ports, as well as two whaling 
 voyages, so that when he won his place as 
 second mate he was well qualified. A year 
 later he was first mate on a voyage to India 
 and the following year saw him captain of 
 one of the fine old clippers that were the 
 pride and glory of the United States in by- 
 gone days. His life had taken him to most 
 of the countries of Europe and the Orient 
 and there were few ports of importance to 
 which he had not sailed. In all this time 
 he had been an assiduous reader, and had 
 stocked up his book shelves at every port be- 
 fore beginning his voyage. The result was 
 the marvelous collection in Fairhaven. 
 Then, too, he had brought home curios and 
 souvenirs from many a foreign land, and this 
 accounted for the many rare and costly 
 ornaments and rugs with which the house 
 was filled. 
 
 Daily as she recovered from the fatigue 
 of her journey, and as the feeling of acute 
 depression that marked her arrival began 
 to be forgotten, Hortense became impressed 
 by the possibilities opened by discovery of 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 95 
 
 the household treasures the rooms con- 
 tained. She began to see where certain 
 pieces of furniture could be placed; where 
 some of the paintings and engravings could 
 be changed to advantage; and in short where 
 the interior of the house could be arranged 
 artistically and in a way that would add to 
 its attractiveness during the few months 
 they were to occupy it as a home. So she 
 planned the campaign, and Middy as execu- 
 tive officer, was given directions accordingly 
 — perhaps it would be more accurate to say 
 was empowered to 'go ahead with her share 
 of the work. So outside help was called in, 
 rugs thoroughly beaten, hardwood floors 
 cleaned and polished, windows washed, and 
 the thousand and one little things incidental 
 to such a campaign all attended to by 
 Middy's staff under her active direction. 
 And it may be added that when the work 
 was finished it was in every way thoroughly 
 well done. Middy was a genius in the way 
 of absolute efficiency. 
 
 After days of strenuous energy the storm, 
 having finished its assignment, gave way to 
 clear skies and keen bracing air that tingled 
 those who faced it with the joy of life. And 
 nowhere was its splendid tonic influence 
 more welcome and more productive of ef- 
 fect than within the walls of Fairhaven. 
 Hortense felt and showed the benefit of the 
 change. Color had begun to tint her cheeks, 
 her eyes were brighter, the lines of care 
 
96 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 were disappearing, her step was more alert 
 and her voice had no longer the undertone of 
 sadness and regret. Prom morning until 
 night she had her time so fully occupied that 
 the days passed without those hapless in- 
 tervals that might have given her time for 
 listless memories of the past or forebodings 
 as to the future. Eandolph was her first 
 care, and it was to his comfort, his happi- 
 ness, his health, that she gave herself with 
 unstinted devotion. It was with a thrill 
 of rejoicing that she noticed the signs of his 
 growing strength and cheerfulness day by 
 day. He was now able to enjoy a change, 
 and to take his rest in a great easy chair by 
 the window that commanded a fine view of 
 the bay. Here he had breakfast served — 
 such breakfasts as only Middy could pre- 
 pare, and which appealed to his appetite as 
 well as built up his strength. Then 
 Hortense would read to him for an hour or 
 so from the daily paper which arrived at 
 eleven, and kept them informed of the great 
 drama being enacted in the world beyond. 
 
 Sometimes hearing sounds of moving fur- 
 niture, and occasionally strange voices in 
 the parlor beneath his room Randolph man- 
 ifested curiosity as to what was going on. 
 But Hortense begged him to wait, to have 
 patience ; in a few days he would be able to 
 come down stairs and see for himself. She 
 had adopted a way of speaking to him now 
 which she might have used in speaking to 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 97 
 
 a child. If lie would only be patient a little 
 longer — be a good boy — she could assure 
 him that be would see everything and know 
 everything that had happened. And then 
 she would place his chair so that he could 
 get the finest view, and fix the footstool and 
 place the table by his side with the tonic that 
 the doctor had ordered him to take at in- 
 tervals. Then with a gentle patting of the 
 head and a parting kiss she would go down 
 stairs to hurry to completion the work so 
 well begun and from which she had derived 
 so much happiness. At last everything was 
 complete — that is almost everything for 
 there was one thing wanting for which she 
 longed but which she must do without for 
 months to come. 
 
 A week at Pairhaven had wrought a won- 
 derful change in Randolph. He felt 
 stronger, brighter, more of himself than he 
 had believed could be possible in so short a 
 time. And now his curiosity was to be sat- 
 isfied, for the day had arrived when 
 Hortense was to let him see for himself the 
 results she had accomplished. She had pur- 
 posely delayed bringing him down stairs 
 until evening. He had been wondering 
 with a good deal of interest just what she 
 had done. So when she came up and told 
 him that as he had really been a very good 
 boy she was now going to reward him, he 
 was conscious of something like a real boy- 
 ish pleasure of anticipation as to the sur- 
 
98 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 prise in store. They descended the stairs 
 and Hortense suddenly opened the parlor 
 door. Randolph stood for a moment in a 
 spell of surprise and delight. The interior 
 was a flood of light from cheery fire and 
 glowing lamps. The transfiguration was 
 astounding. The windows had been draped 
 with tasteful curtains; the furniture had 
 been re-arranged; the walls ornamented 
 with rare paintings and engravings of 
 which he had. never dreamed; the floor cov- 
 ered with beautiful and costly rugs — in a 
 word the whole interior so changed that he 
 could not recognize it as the same he had 
 entered only a week before in the depth of 
 his depression and despair. 
 
 Turning to Hortense in the fulness of his 
 pleasure and happiness he clasped her in 
 his arms with an impulsive emotion he 
 made no effort to restrain, and then kissed 
 her again and again. Then with a flow of 
 words of praise and appreciation he pointed 
 out this arrangement that delighted him 
 and that which appealed to his sense of the 
 artistic and appropriate in the way of 
 adornment. In another moment he was 
 seated in his great chair by the fireside and 
 Hortense, thrilled with happiness at the 
 pleasure she had given and tingling with the 
 joy his heartfelt words of praise had given 
 her, was seated by his side. 
 
 "Randolph dear," she began, "I don't re- 
 call a happier moment in years. I am so 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 99 
 
 delighted that you're pleased — that it has 
 all made you look so well and happy. Why 
 we're going to be very comfortable here, 
 dear, and I confess I'm falling quite in love 
 with the home myself. But one thing more 
 — I don't want to forget. I want some one 
 else to share your appreciation — the one but 
 for whose help and energy I never could 
 have done so much in so short a time. ' ' And 
 so saying she went to the alcove door and 
 called Middy, whom she brought to the side 
 of Randolph's chair. 
 
 "I want to tell you that I meant Middy, 
 and I want Middy to see and to hear how 
 much pleased you are with what we have 
 done — sit down, Middy!" 
 
 But Middy wouldn't sit. As she stood 
 for a few moments and heard Randolph's 
 warm words of unstinted praise and pleas- 
 ure her eyes sparkled with delight; but when 
 with an impulse that did him honor — an im- 
 pulse that gave Middy a moment of greatest 
 joy — he extended his hand and taking hers 
 said, "Thank you, Middy! Mrs. Carroll 
 has told me a lot — and we both appreciate 
 you," Middy could stand it no longer. 
 Once or twice she tried to speak but it was 
 no use; so swiftly she went back to the 
 kitchen and sank into her chair with tears 
 of absolute happiness. The Carrolls had 
 won Middy for life. 
 
100 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Until this moment when, as he looked in- 
 to the glowing fire and felt the genial 
 warmth steal over him, as he nestled in the 
 large easy chair, his feet resting on the rug, 
 as the soft light of the lamps shed a mild 
 radiance over the pretty picture, and above 
 all and beyond all as he felt the near com- 
 panionship of the wife with whom he had 
 been blessed, it seemed to Randolph Carroll 
 that he had never fully realized or ap- 
 preciated in the fulness of its beauty, in its 
 suggestion of rest and repose, and in its 
 deeper meaning as man's most sacred 
 earthly shrine the all-embracing signifi- 
 cance expressed in the word HOME. And 
 under the blissful spell of happiness, as he 
 turned to express his thoughts and met the 
 eyes of Hortense fixed upon him with an ex- 
 pression of tenderness and affection that 
 thrilled him, it seemed to the very depths of 
 his soul, it was as if a new life had begun — 
 as if he had been born again. Impulsively 
 his hand went out to meet hers and drawing 
 her towards him he brought her to his side. 
 In an instant she sank on his knees, and 
 then, her head resting on his shoulder and 
 his arms around her, his overflowing heart 
 went out in the words "Oh Honey — Honey 
 — My Honey Girl!" It was the voice of 
 youth that spoke the feelings of the heart 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 101 
 
 of the man — the old, endearing, tender 
 words of boyhood in his Maryland home had 
 best expressed at that moment the feeling 
 that thrilled him with such excess of joy and 
 rapture. Hortense and Randolph had 
 found each other again, and a new life of 
 love and glory and sweetness and happiness 
 had begun for both. 
 
 Thanksgiving was now approaching and, 
 it seemed to the Carrolls, no more fitting 
 time for the holiday could have been chosen 
 so far as they were concerned. The festival 
 had never before possessed for them any 
 particular significance; in fact there had 
 been years when they had never even heard 
 of it or given, if they had heard of it, any 
 special observance. But here at the dawn 
 of their new-found happiness, in their snug 
 and cosy home and amid surroundings that 
 on every hand were associated with the 
 Pilgrims to whom the day was one of the 
 most sacred in their calendar, it seemed good 
 that they observe it in the fulness of the 
 spirit that the occasion implied. Of course 
 when it came to the question of detail Middy 
 had to be consulted — for Middy had become 
 such a recognized authority, such an infal- 
 lible guide, and such a trusted and valued 
 counselor that her advice and suggestions 
 were now considered indispensable. So 
 Hortense and Middy went into secret 
 session. 
 
 Eventually the great day arrived and with 
 
102 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 it on the first train Dr. Jamison from New 
 York. The warmth and cordiality of his 
 welcome touched him deeply, and his sur- 
 prise and delight at the wonderful progress 
 made by Randolph, and the content and in- 
 terest and happiness of Hortense in her new 
 home was unbounded. He could scarcely 
 realize that so marked a change could have 
 come in so short a time. His words of con- 
 gratulation and his messages to them made 
 the Carrolls glow with pleasure. From 
 many of Randolph's friends came offers of 
 aid to put him back where he belonged in 
 Wall Street ; from friends of Hortense warm 
 and pressing invitations to their city or 
 country homes for unlimited time, and from 
 all so many messages of good-will and 
 hearty regards that they were overcome 
 with emotion at the thought that despite 
 their misfortunes so many loyal and true 
 friends remained. But perhaps nothing 
 gave them greater pleasure for the moment 
 than the Doctor's sincere and outspoken ex- 
 pressions of admiration as he surveyed their 
 home and noted the changes made by 
 Hortense. 
 
 "Oh," he exclaimed in a burst of enthu- 
 siastic praise, "I had no idea of all this! 
 Why it's — it's beautiful — and — and artistic 
 and — and — ," then impulsively he grasped 
 the hands of both, "I congratulate you with 
 all my heart! I never imagined it could 
 have been made so delightful as this — it's a 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 103 
 
 lovely, perfect, artistic and beautiful little 
 home." 
 
 For the next hour the Doctor had the floor. 
 Hortense and Randolph had so many in- 
 quiries to make, so much to hear of wbM had 
 been going on in the great world from which 
 they had been apart that their friend was to 
 have no respite until his fullest budget of 
 information was exhausted. All the time 
 he was talking he found himself more and 
 more astonished and delighted, not only by 
 the very marked changes for the better in 
 the expression of both, but by a certain 
 subtle something in their voice, their looks, 
 themselves. He had known that rest and 
 quiet would effect a marked and lasting 
 change in Randolph's physical condition: 
 what had worried him as friend and physi- 
 cian was the mental phase of the case. He 
 had hoped that in months to come Randolph 
 would recover some of his old-time cheer- 
 fulness, and that his natural buoyancy of 
 spirit would be restored; but to find in such 
 a short time Randolph smiling and even 
 laughing at times — why it was something 
 without precedent in his whole professional 
 experience. Then it came to him — it was 
 Hortense ! So after all it was his own pre- 
 scription^ for had he not in his parting in- 
 junction \o her emphasized the inspiration 
 that came to him then: "What he needs be- 
 yond everything is you, you, you!" 
 
 And when Hortense with evident pleasure 
 
104 PAIRHAVBN 
 
 began her sincere tribute to Middy the 
 Doctor's happiness was complete. There 
 was no stinting of her expressions of praise 
 and appreciation, no desire to minimize her 
 estimate of Middy's value and help and ad- 
 vice in every way, and her final summing up 
 in the words "She has been more to me than 
 I can express— I have found her a perfect 
 treasure!" proved to the Doctor that in 
 bringing Middy all the way from his old 
 home in Vermont he had done the one thing 
 that was wanted to make for the Carrolls 
 a pleasant home in Fairhaven. Middy 
 meanwhile was making good. If there is 
 anybody on earth who, having all the essen- 
 tials provided, is capable of making a 
 Thanksgiving dinner a triumph of domestic 
 culinary art it is a girl from Vermont — and 
 Middy was that girl! Unknown to the 
 Carrolls the Doctor had sent down a fine 
 young Vermont turkey specially selected by 
 a friend of his at the old homestead, and it 
 had arrived ready for Middy's hands the 
 day before. Then, too, all the extras — 
 "fixins" — had been provided, and there was 
 nothing wanting — not even the Doctor's 
 favorite beverage on such occasions, the fine 
 pure Vermont cider without which no 
 Thanksgiving dinner served in strictly first- 
 class style was ever complete. He had de- 
 termined that if the Carrolls were to enjoy 
 New England life their first Thanksgiving 
 would be a good time to initiate them into 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 105 
 
 the grand lodge of Yankees By Preference. 
 Finally the hour arrived, and as the chime 
 sounded Middy entered. Somewhere she 
 had read that the proper style of announce- 
 ment at such a time was to say, with an ac- 
 companying curtsey, " Dinner is served, 
 Madam," but either she forgot or thought 
 her own style preferable for her announce- 
 ment was simply, "Everything's ready!" 
 And it was. There was nothing wanting in 
 any way to make the dinner a complete suc- 
 cess. For the time being every thought of 
 their misfortunes of the past vanished from 
 the Carrolls; Doctor Jamison was in fine 
 form, and had an appetite that gave him zest 
 for all the good things spread in such abun- 
 dance, and Middy (who had on a fine em- 
 broidered apron to give what she considered 
 the proper finish to the occasion) waited on 
 table with an easy efficiency and a cheerful 
 smile. The conversation never lagged and 
 there was no restraint because of Middy; 
 she was now regarded as something of a 
 family fixture and treated accordingly. 
 Right here to her credit be it said that she 
 had never once overstepped the boundary 
 line ; and, while in conversation with Mr. or 
 Mrs. Carroll she was easy and self-pos- 
 sessed, she never assumed any air of famil- 
 iarity any more than she ever descended to 
 any word or act of servility that would have 
 wounded her own sense of self-respect. And 
 when the last course — and it was Middy's 
 
106 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 chef d' ouvre — the fine pumpkin pie with its 
 delicious crisp pastry, its delicate flavoring 
 and its satisfying tang of Yankee soil — was 
 served there rose from that table in the neat 
 and elegantly appointed little dining room 
 three well satisfied and happy people who 
 had realized the delights of a Thanksgiving 
 dinner in Yankeeland. 
 
 From the time dinner began the Doctor 
 was deeply impressed by their marked 
 change in their way of speaking to each 
 other, in almost every sentence, by Hortense 
 or Randolph. Hundreds of times he had 
 sat with them at table in their own home 
 or in the homes of others where they were 
 those of their set — polite, formal, and occa- 
 guests. In those days their manners were 
 sionally with a touch of dignity as if to im- 
 press those who heard them that there was 
 nothing sentimental in their intercourse — 
 sentiment or emotionalism being frowned 
 upon in society and considered, as an Eng- 
 lishman he recalled expressed it, "deuced 
 bad form, don't you know!" If that were 
 true, the Doctor reflected with a smile, the 
 Carrolls were now certainly violating the 
 society code and falling into "deuced bad 
 form." For when Randolph spoke to 
 Hortense it was usually as "Honey" or 
 "Honey Dear," and once in an earnest 
 moment as "Sweetheart"; and all this in the 
 most natural way as if the Doctor's pres- 
 ence was no cause for restraint; and when 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 107 
 
 Hortense addressed Randolph it was as 
 "Randolph Dear" or simply "Dear." But 
 there was once during the dinner when each 
 had been pressing the other to the fullest 
 enjoyment of the good things before them, 
 that she said in a moment of great happi- 
 ness "Oh Dear Heart! isn't this just fine!" 
 And now the Doctor began to realize the 
 truth — after all these years they had found 
 what life meant in its most beautiful and 
 deepest sense for them; and with a sup- 
 pressed sigh came to him the realization 
 that he had lost in his life the one greatest 
 blessing that can come to man. 
 
 Even though at times the Doctor had 
 found it necessary to warn some of his 
 patients against what certain ultra prac- 
 tioners called "the pernicious effects of the 
 tobacco habit," he had never, so to speak, 
 taken his own medicine in that particular; 
 and recalling before leaving New York how 
 much Randolph in his days of health had 
 enjoyed his after-dinner cigar, he had pro- 
 vided himself with a box of rare Havanas as 
 a present for his friend when he could in- 
 dulge without detriment to his restored 
 health. His plan was to give them to 
 Hortense unknown to Randolph so that if 
 ever the craving came Hortense could sur- 
 prise him. But after such a dinner as they 
 had just enjoyed he felt that a good cigar 
 was the one thing wanting to make 
 Randolph's happiness complete; and, inci- 
 
108 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 dentally, his own. So drawing his cigar 
 case he passed it to his friend telling him 
 that he might enjoy one cigar a day after 
 dinner until Christmas ; then two smokes, if 
 he desired, each day for a month, and then, 
 if he still craved the luxury, three cigars, 
 one after each meal, for the balance of his 
 life; and that was to be the limit. And if 
 ever a man enjoyed his smoke to the fullest 
 degree Randolph Carroll did then. It was 
 the first he had had since the day he was 
 stricken down, over six months before. 
 
 Compelled to return to New York where 
 a vital crisis in the life of one of the great 
 millionaires would be reached early next 
 day, and where as the patient's physician 
 his presence was imperative at the momen- 
 tous consultation, the Doctor was again 
 forced to curtail his visit. But before his 
 departure he had still another pleasurable 
 surprise awaiting him. That was when 
 Hortense asked him to walk into the library. 
 The Doctor was surprised, but not more so 
 than was Randolph; for Hortense had kept 
 this a secret. Then she opened the door of 
 the smaller room leading from the parlor. 
 And it was a surprise indeed. For there 
 she had had placed a great black walnut 
 bookcase which reached from floor to ceil- 
 ing and which entirely covered the wall of 
 the room. And that bookcase contained 
 over twelve hundred volumes! And there 
 by the window was the big Morris chair and 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 109 
 
 the footrest and everything necessary to 
 make the lover of books at ease and at rest. 
 What wonder both were overcome with de- 
 light and astonishment. And what wonder 
 that Randolph, taking Hortense in his arms 
 to the Doctor's delight, exclaimed "Oh, my 
 Honey Hortense! Isn't this just like yon 
 — another surprise to make me happy!" 
 Then with tears in his eyes and with a kiss 
 on her lips he turned to the Doctor: "Isn't 
 she an angel, Jamison! God bless her heart 
 — she's the one wife in all this world!" 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The first snowstorm of winter had come. 
 There had been occasional flurries but un- 
 til this time, within a few days of Christmas, 
 nothing that could be dignified by the term 
 snowstorm as understood in New England. 
 But this was unquestionably the real thing. 
 Beginning late in the afternoon, and with its 
 usual accompaniment of a rising wind, the 
 snow fell with increasing heaviness as night 
 came on. And the wind not to be outdone, 
 shifting to the nor 'east gradually reached 
 the strength of a gale. Occasional blasts 
 seemed to shake the walls of the house, and 
 the roar of the tempest while the storm was 
 at its hight was for a time appalling. Then, 
 as if to add to the outdoor terrors of the 
 night, there was borne on the wind Nature's 
 
110 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 requiem for the dying year — the sullen boom 
 of the waves of the rising tide as they 
 surged in vain endeavor to storm the de- 
 fences of the three-mile-long front of his- 
 toric Plymouth Beach. It was surely a New 
 England coast storm with every accompani- 
 ment to make it the storm of the season. 
 
 In all their lives Randolph and Hortense 
 Carroll could not recall a time when condi- 
 tions, indoor and out, so much impressed 
 them with the sense of happiness and grati- 
 tude and security and peace and rest implied 
 in the word HOME. Randolph on coming 
 down stairs for the first time several weeks 
 before, and at the moment when he realized 
 the wonderful change that Hortense had 
 made in the parlor, had been impressed by 
 the deeper significance of the word; but it 
 needed such a storm as this, with the roar 
 of the gale and the sullen sounds of the 
 surging surf and the whirlwind of the driven 
 snow, to bring to both the blissful spirit of 
 thankfulness that they were seated together 
 by their own fireside. Randolph had just 
 been complimenting Hortense on her latest 
 addition to the attractions of the parlor — a 
 splendid rare engraving of Guido Reni's 
 Aurora which covered the wall over the 
 mantlepiece, and than which a more beauti- 
 ful and appropriate decoration could not 
 have been chosen. They had seen the 
 famous fresco — Guido 's immortal master- 
 piece — at the Rospiglios Palace in Rome, 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 111 
 
 and their possession of this fine reproduc- 
 tion — this picture of Phoebus, the God of 
 Day, driving the chariot of the Sun, pre- 
 ceded by Aurora and attended by The Hours 
 — was a source of delight to both. His ap- 
 preciation of her choice had given Hortense 
 so much pleasure that rising from her chair 
 she came to his side, and kissing him fondly 
 said, "Randolph, darling, you do make all 
 this such a pleasure for me by your words of 
 praise! Oh, Boy, Boy, you're a per- 
 fect dear!" So, while the storm raged 
 without love reigned within. 
 
 On no other night since they had come 
 to Fairhaven had the spirit of the fire with 
 its wealth of warmth and cheer, the attrac- 
 tive and refined furnishings of the room, the 
 soft and mellow light of the lamps and the 
 exquisite sense of perfect happiness in the 
 presence of each other so appealed to 
 Randolph and Hortense as on this night of 
 the storm. Both were under the spell of the 
 moment; the sorrows and sufferings of the 
 past were forgotten; they were together and 
 at home. And now for the first time 
 Randolph down deep in his heart could un- 
 derstand Ike Walton's Prayer interpreted 
 by James Whitcomb Riley: 
 
 I crave dear Lord 
 No boundless hoard 
 Of gold and gear, 
 Nor jewels fine, 
 Nor land nor klne 
 Nor treasure-heaps of anything — 
 
112 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 Let but a little hut be mine 
 Where at the hearthstone I may hear 
 
 The cricket sing 
 
 And have the shine 
 Of one glad woman's eyes to make 
 
 For my poor sake 
 Our simple home a place divine — 
 Just the wee cot — the cricket's chirr 
 Love, and the smiling face of her! 
 
 Next morning the storm had passed and 
 the sun shone from a cloudless sky. It was 
 one of those marvelously sudden changes 
 that make New England the region of un- 
 limited variety of climatic surprises — just 
 the sort of change that justified the reply 
 of the Boston man who, feeling rather out 
 of sorts, had, after consulting several phy- 
 sicians at home without satisfactory results, 
 gone to a famous specialist in New York. 
 After a thorough examination and collec- 
 tion of his fee the physician told his patient 
 that, while he was physically all right, a 
 change of climate was what he needed. 
 
 "A change of climate! Why, Good Lord, 
 Doctor, I live in Boston!" 
 
 Nothing more beautiful as a winter land- 
 scape had ever been seen by the Carrolls 
 than that revealed at every point of view, 
 North and South, East and West, from the 
 windows of Pairhaven that glorious morn- 
 ing. The fall of snow had been quite heavy 
 — something over twelve inches — and as a 
 result the extensive view was one of dazzling 
 white. The air was crisp and clear, and the 
 sunlight reflected in myriads of crystal 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 113 
 
 flashes from the unbroken surface of the 
 highway that on the South stretched away 
 to the Manomet Hills. On the North the 
 road that ran through the picturesque 
 suburb was an unbroken stretch of ivory, 
 while to the West the rising ground sparkled 
 and shone with a radiance of rarest beauty. 
 But it was in the East lay the greatest charm 
 — the finest effect of all. Beyond the snow- 
 covered lawns and grounds that reached to 
 the water's edge, the ruffled surface of the 
 Bay scintillated as if millions of diamonds 
 were glistening; then, as if to frame the pic- 
 ture, the snow-covered beach extended to 
 the limit of view and there beyond, the broad 
 expanse of Cape Cod Bay, bright and blue, 
 and beautiful, completed the great master- 
 piece of Nature's painting that was one of 
 the assets of Fairhaven. 
 
 During the interval that had elapsed since 
 the Doctor's last visit and the never-to-be- 
 forgotten Thanksgiving dinner, Randolph's 
 strength and health had grown day by day 
 and he was now feeling fit to return to ac- 
 tive life in New York when the time for that 
 should arrive. But that was to depend on 
 his friend Rossmore, and the time would 
 probably be in the early spring. Rossmore 
 had arrived at San Francisco and had writ- 
 ten that his physician had ordered him to 
 spend the winter in Southern California, 
 and that he had taken a villa in Santa 
 Barbara. In his letter he had told 
 
114 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 Randolph to draw on him for any amount, 
 and that he had notified the City National 
 Bank of New York to honor any checks that 
 Randolph should sign. Moreover he had 
 advised Randolph that a gigantic financial 
 organization was in process of formation, 
 and suggested that he (Randolph) hold him- 
 self in readiness to take active part in the 
 work when the arrangements had pro- 
 gressed so far that his services would be re- 
 quired. As may be imagined this evidence 
 of friendship and of concern for his future 
 acted like a miracle. It gave Randolph the 
 hope, the faith, the renewed courage and the 
 absolute confidence in his future — in a word 
 it had been the required mental stimulant to 
 make him a new man. 
 
 Dreams of the future when he would 
 again assume place and power in the finan- 
 cial world now began to haunt him day and 
 night. He could see himself once more in 
 council with the magnates of Wall Street 
 discussing plans and reaching decisions on 
 matters of such stupendous moment that 
 their verdict involved the fate of Empires; 
 he could see where the success of the plans 
 he had evolved for securing control of the 
 Rock Island (now sagged to eighteen or 
 twenty dollars a share while the Burlington, 
 which once sold for less than par, was now 
 quoted at something like two hundred) ; he 
 could see how the time had come for the for- 
 mation of that great shipping combination 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 116 
 
 which would restore the American flag to 
 its place on the high seas as the standard 
 dominating the commerce of the world; he 
 could see himself — John Randolph Carroll 
 — once more in the most exclusive circles of 
 New York Society and where once more he 
 and Hortense — Ah! There lay the inner 
 influence, the subtle source of all his dreams. 
 All his ambitions, all his hopes, all his plans 
 were after all but tributary to one supreme 
 end — the happiness of Hortense. Now for 
 a moment his dreams of being the master of 
 millions gave way to thoughts of her — of her 
 alone. And as he dwelt on their past — as 
 he recalled the romance of their early life, 
 the brilliant days of her career as a young 
 society queen, the grace and dignity which 
 distinguished her in the charmed circle in 
 which the greater part of their lives had 
 been spent, her devotion and sacrifice in 
 those long and trying days of his illness, 
 her gentle resignation and patient bearing 
 in the state to which they had fallen to- 
 gether, and finally her wondrous return of 
 happiness and interest in this little home 
 that she had transformed into a bower of 
 domestic content and repose — as he thought 
 of all this a great wave of feeling swept over 
 him, and alone in his room he cried aloud 
 "G-od bless her! Grod bless her! She is 
 the dearest, the sweetest, the best, the kind- 
 est, the gentlest and the noblest wife and 
 woman in all the world!" 
 
116 PAIRHAVEN 
 
 Ever since Randolph had read her his 
 letter from Rossmore Hortense had begun 
 to plan her share of their future on their 
 return to New York. She would once more 
 be mistress of an establishment worthy the 
 name of the Randolph Carrolls; once more 
 she would take her place in the now small 
 but still more exclusive set representative 
 of the oldest and finest families in the me- 
 tropolis; again in the richest and costliest 
 costumes of the mode, of the hour she would 
 be seen in her box at the opera; once again 
 the fine limousine with its luxurious ap- 
 pointments and liveried servants would be 
 at her command; and with the income that 
 millions would assure she and Randolph — 
 Ah! It was because he would share in all 
 this life of splendid perfection that she 
 would enjoy it to the fullest once again. It 
 was because Randolph — her husband — 
 would once more be the friend and associate 
 of the most powerful and most prominent 
 leaders of the financial world; it was be- 
 cause, despite his misfortune, his name was 
 untarnished and he owed no man in the 
 world a dollar; it was because he had borne 
 loss and illness and change from their pala- 
 tial home and luxurious lif e to this simple 
 and unpretentious little home on the New 
 England shore — borne it all so bravely, so 
 splendidly, so uncomplainingly — so like a 
 man! And what a man he was! So kind 
 and appreciative, so loving and true, so 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 117 
 
 cheerful and bright, so full of faith in the 
 future and so ideally the lover, the husband, 
 the companion for all time! What would 
 life have been without him? And then as 
 the fullest realization of her happiness as 
 his wife overcame her with a swift beating 
 heart she voiced the emotion that swept over 
 her "He has made my life one of joy and 
 gladness — God bless him! He's the best 
 and truest, the most ideal and perfect hus- 
 band that ever blessed wife since the world 
 began!" 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Varied and extensive as had been 
 Randolph's course of reading in his younger 
 days his active life thereafter had given him 
 but little opportunity to indulge in the de- 
 lights of literature. For with the stress of 
 his active business career, his social obliga- 
 tions, his yachting trips and the entire ab- 
 sence of anything like leisure moments he 
 could find no time to enjoy reading even 
 had he had the desire. True the fine library 
 in his New York home had on its shelves a 
 magnificent collection of the finest works of 
 the most famous authors; but, if the truth 
 be told, these works were more for orna- 
 ment of the library than for use. They 
 were of the costliest editions and their bind- 
 ings were rich and beautiful and in harmony 
 
118 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 with the tone of the room; but hundreds of 
 them had never even been opened; and it is 
 safe to say that, except for those read by 
 Hortense, not three per cent had ever dis- 
 closed their title page. However the case 
 of the Carroll's library as one of those of 
 their social set in JSFew York was not an ex- 
 ception — rather it was the usual thing. 
 
 Only when he began to examine the con- 
 tents of the library at Fairhaven did 
 Randolph realize the value of the literary 
 treasures to which he had fallen heir; and 
 what made his pleasure perfect was the 
 thought that in the long winter months 
 ahead he would be able to enjoy them under 
 such conditions as would make his reading a 
 delight. For, now he could see, that to en- 
 joy a book one must perforce be in a state 
 of quiet and content and free from thoughts 
 of distracting influence. Now that his 
 future was assured nothing remained to 
 cause him the slightest concern. And so 
 with his mind in repose he began to take 
 stock of the library. It was worthy of the 
 name. Complete sets of Shakespeare and 
 Scott, of Dickens and Thackeray, of George 
 Eliot and Washington Irving; a complete 
 set of volumes of Americana; works by 
 Byron and Longfellow, and Poe and Moore 
 and Lowell; stories by Hawthorne and Jane 
 Austin and Charlotte Bronte and Mark 
 Twain and Henry James and Brete Harte 
 and scores of others; works in French and 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 119 
 
 German, Spanish and Italian; a complete 
 set of rare old publications called The 
 Museum, which contained the choicest cur- 
 rent selections of English literature of the 
 early days of the last century; and over 
 eighty bound half-year volumes of Harper's, 
 Scribner's and The Century Magazines of 
 the seventies and eighties — an inexhaust- 
 ible mine of enjoyable reading — these 
 with many volumes of The Tatler, The Spec- 
 tator, and — but detailed description would 
 require a catalogue. If there was any con- 
 ceivable subject not treated of in some of 
 the books in that library it would certainly 
 take some moons to find it out. 
 
 The discovery of such an unexpected and 
 wonderfully diversified collection of books 
 was quite as great a surprise and pleasure 
 to Hortense as to Randolph. She too, owing 
 to the exigencies of life as a woman of so- 
 ciety, had found but little time for enjoy- 
 ment of literature. True she had glanced 
 at the magazines; and, if a book were the 
 current sensation, she had usually found 
 time to read that ; not alwavs because of its 
 value, but for the reason that "everybody 
 was reading it" in the circle to which she 
 belonged. And there were one or two of 
 these that she was rather ashamed after- 
 wards to confess having read. But of the 
 books of many of the erreatest authors she 
 had only a cursory knowledge — a vague 
 recollection — if she ever remembered hav- 
 
120 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 ing read them as a girl. Now, however, 
 she could understand and appreciate them. 
 Speaking and reading French and German 
 fluently, and having some knowledge of 
 Italian, she was delighted at the number and 
 variety of volumes in these languages: and 
 doubly so because almost daily she made a 
 new discovery of works which were to her 
 entirely unknown, although by world- 
 famous authors, and which possessed the 
 charm of absolute and delightful novelty. 
 
 In the long evenings now behold Ran- 
 dolph and Hortense as they sit by the fire- 
 side with Thackeray or Dickens or Scott or 
 Irving or whomsoever they have summoned 
 to be their guest for the time — a guest there 
 to pour out to them his noblest thoughts, to 
 submit for their pleasure his finest creations, 
 to minister to their enjoyment of those ideal 
 hours at home. And as Randolph reads a 
 chapter while Hortense listens to his voice 
 (now, she thanks Heaven, no longer weak 
 and tremulous, but full and vibrant and ex- 
 pressive) or as, when comes the time that 
 Hortense reads and Randolph is the listener 
 and hears, with a heart full of rejoicing, the 
 mellow sweetness of that dearest voice in 
 the world, they are both unconscious of the 
 winds that blow without, or sometimes the 
 soft patter of the falling rain, or of aught 
 beyond the peace and content and happiness 
 that is theirs in the loving companionship of 
 each other within the snug and cosy walls of 
 Fairhaven. 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 121 
 
 One evening Randolph had been reading 
 in the evening paper an account of a san- 
 guinary battle which had just taken place on 
 the northern front of the war zone in France, 
 and in which the British forces engaged had 
 been repulsed with enormous losses. The 
 news had depressed him. That day he had 
 received a special delivery letter and pack- 
 age from Dr. Jamison. The letter referred 
 to the contents of the package — an English 
 newspaper which had been arbitrarily sup- 
 pressed and suspended from further publi- 
 cation because of an article which had ap- 
 peared in its columns. Every possible copy 
 of the paper containing the article had been 
 seized, but a few had escaped capture by the 
 authorities and reached the hands of those 
 who had prized them doubly because they 
 were so rare. Two copies of the confiscated 
 issue had fallen into the hands of a friend of 
 the Doctor's who had just arrived in New 
 York from England; and one copy, which 
 he now sent to Randolph to read, was given 
 as a present by his friend. The objec- 
 tionable article was a poem entitled Tommy 
 in the Trenches. It was intended to voice 
 the feeling of the masses of the people, not 
 only of England but of all countries en- 
 gaged in the great war, at the sacrifice de- 
 manded of them to glorify the ambitions of 
 Kings and Czars and Emperors and States- 
 men eager for the empty glory of a place in 
 the pages of history as conquerors of their 
 
122 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 enemies — as historic personages in the most 
 colossal and the bloodiest war of all time. 
 The paper was The British Radical. Ran- 
 dolph had read the poem twice, and now as 
 he sat in his easy chair watching Hortense 
 as she smiled over some passage in a book 
 she was reading, he debated the wisdom of 
 reading the poem to her. But suddenly, as 
 she ended the chapter, she looked up and 
 asked him if the Doctor's letter or package 
 contained anything of interest. He decided 
 to satisfy her. The poem was in Cockney 
 dialect — and Randolph, who had acquired 
 the faculty of imitating that dialect while in 
 London, began reading with a pathos and 
 feeling and the accent in a way that held 
 Hortense spellbound to the end. Tommy 
 is supposed to be speaking to a brother 
 To mm y who has raised him up and is sup- 
 porting him as he lies in the trench just after 
 his fatal wound: 
 
 TOMMY IN THE TRENCHES. 
 
 C A* ft* yv k(t^~. & * ~~u£j ) 
 
 Tommy lad I'm goin' — my heart beats awful slow 
 
 And here down in the trenches I can feel my life blood 
 
 flow, 
 And I'm thinkin', thinkin', thinkin' of a girl I left behind, 
 Of my father and my mother, of a little sister — blind! 
 Oh hold my head up, Tommy, stay with me to the end 
 For it's growin' darker, darker, and a last word I would 
 
 send, 
 And if you live to get back home to them my last words 
 
 bring — 
 Just say that while I gasped for breath I sang God Save The 
 
 King! 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 123 
 
 II. 
 
 His Majesty — God bless him — he's aseated on his throne 
 With his lords and dukes around him' — I was lying here 
 
 alone 
 When I heard you comin', Tommy lad, to get my last good- 
 bye, 
 To lift my head and hold my hand and stay until I die: 
 I'd send word to Sally, Tom, — Oh God! this awful pain — 
 Don't tell her that I weakened — that I couldn't stand the 
 
 strain 
 Just tell her that I thought of her — that she shall keep that 
 
 ring — 
 That I was game unto the end and sang God Save The King! 
 
 III. 
 
 That day we sailed from Dover, Tom, our heads was bloom- 
 in' high. 
 We were singin' Tipperary and Good Bye, Sweetheart, Good 
 
 Bye. 
 We were just to have a pic-nic — it would only last a spell — 
 But they didn't know what havoc could be wrought by shot 
 
 and shell. 
 We've been torn and marred and butchered and starved and 
 
 frozen cold — 
 God! the world will shriek with horror if the truth is ever 
 
 told— 
 But there In state our grand and great cry "to your colors 
 
 spring — 
 Dare death and dare damnation — but sing God Save The 
 
 King!" 
 
 rv. 
 
 We're out here In the trenches, Tom, with rain, hail, sleet 
 
 and snow! — 
 Afreezln' cold and hungry lad — my heart beats awful slow! 
 But His Majesty — God bless him, and his lords and dukes 
 
 as well — 
 They're havin' high old times tonight while we are here 
 
 in hell! 
 My father's nearin' eighty, Tom, my mother's old and gray. 
 My only sister — blind from birth — God! what more can I 
 
 say! 
 What's to happen to them now — they'll all feel hunger's 
 
 sting — 
 But what's the use of talkin' lad— let's sing God Save The 
 
 King! 
 
124 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 V. 
 
 Tommy lad I'm goin' — I feel the end has come; 
 
 No more I'll hear the bugle note — the sound of flfe or 
 
 drum: 
 This awful chill's acreepin' up — my eyes are growin' dim— 
 I'm goin', goin', Tommy lad, I'm goin' home to Him 
 Who in the hollow of His hand moulds us poor bits of 
 
 clay 
 And closes up our book of life when we have had our 
 
 day — 
 My love to Sal — God bless you pal — my spirit's on the 
 
 wing, 
 Good bye, old man, I wonder can I-sing-God-Save-The- 
 
 King! 
 
 Never had a recital produced a more vivid 
 picture in the minds of reader and listener. 
 Randolph's voice as he finished was expres- 
 sive of the deeply sympathetic feeling that 
 the poem inspired, and Hortense at the end 
 found herself giving way to tears she made 
 no effort to restrain. In the silence that fol- 
 lowed the thoughts of both were of the aw- 
 ful horrors of the cataclysmic war which 
 was making shambles of the scenes of the 
 fearful conflict. They both realized that 
 the picture of the dying soldier which was 
 so vividly brought before them was typical 
 of the fate of millions of men of all races and 
 creeds and nationalities. The effect was not 
 only to bring to their minds the horrors of 
 privation, of mutilation, of the slaughter of 
 fellow men, but to vizualize the agony and 
 suspense of the greater millions of fathers 
 and mothers, of wives and sweethearts 
 whose hours of agonized suspense as they 
 waited tidings of the fate of their loved ones 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 125 
 
 at the front was not the least of the terrible 
 price the warring nations were compelled 
 to pay. Both Hortense and Randolph had 
 in happier days been in many of the lands 
 where Hell now reigned, and they could re- 
 call homes where they had visited which 
 were now but shattered hearths and crumb- 
 ling walls, while their once happy inmates 
 were now scattered fugitives suffering the 
 privations of exile and poverty and despair. 
 There was yet another effect which the 
 involuntary mental visualization of all these 
 horrors brought forth — that was the real- 
 ization of how much we of this happy land 
 had to be thankful for that we were spared 
 the awful horrors of war. And this thought 
 brought home to them as nothing else could 
 have done the deep appreciation of their 
 own perfect happiness by their own fireside. 
 The contrast of their lot with that of count- 
 less millions of husbands and wives — of men 
 and women — in the battle-scarred nations 
 of Europe so impressed them that a silent 
 prayer of gratitude was in their hearts at the 
 moment when the fullness of their freedom 
 from all the dread consequences of war be- 
 gan to unfold. The scenes of desolation, of 
 ruined homes, of shattered hopes, of maimed 
 and broken men and helpless women and 
 children, of fear and hunger and despair — 
 thev were saved and safe from all this, and 
 in their sanctuary of love and peace and rest 
 and happiness — and they were together. 
 
126 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 Overcome at the moment by the supreme 
 realization of their great happiness after a 
 silence that lasted a few minutes when 
 Randolph's voice had ceased, Hortense rose 
 from her chair and coming to his side sank 
 on his knees; and then, with a feeling that 
 found voice she could not control, exclaimed 
 as she sank in his arms, "Thank God, 
 Randolph darling, we are Americans — and 
 here at home!" 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Middy was a wonder. The appreciation 
 of her devotion to their comfort and inter- 
 ests expressed by Mr. and Mrs. Carroll had 
 been the one thing wanting to make com- 
 plete her happiness in her new home. She 
 felt now that they were no longer strangers 
 — that she knew them as they knew her. 
 And she realized in the right spirit her value 
 as a member of the household — and so did 
 the Carrolls. For Middy was Chief Execu- 
 tive of Pairhaven. She was housekeeper, 
 cook, chambermaid, waitress and laundress 
 — or at least had been laundress until 
 Hortense insisted on her giving up that 
 branch of service, and had the entire laundry 
 sent away every week. And, in addition to 
 all else, she was buyer and bookkeeper and 
 pure food expert ; for woe to the butcher or 
 grocer or fishman who tried to pass any- 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 127 
 
 thing not up to Middy's standard of abso- 
 lute perfection. In the case of one or two 
 who had failed to reach that standard it was 
 "Good Day — Never Again!" She had ar- 
 ranged with a farm nearby for supplies of 
 butter and eggs, milk and cream, and for 
 chickens and vegetables; had selected with 
 care and judgment the town dealers in other 
 supplies, and had stocked the cellar with 
 wood and coal sufficient for months to come. 
 Rising at seven she had ample time to cook 
 and serve breakfast at half past eight. In 
 the interval between breakfast and lunch- 
 eon, which was served at one, she had abun- 
 dance of time for the other work of the 
 house. At half past three she retired to her 
 room, if she desired, for a two hours' rest. 
 Half past six was the dinner hour, and by 
 eight everything had been cleared away, her 
 kitchen clean as a new pin, all things in 
 order for the following morning and Middy 
 was her own mistress until the next day. 
 
 Yet with all the duties devolving upon her 
 there were at this particular time others 
 that taxed to the utmost her wits and re- 
 sources for she had been elevated to the ex- 
 alted position of confidential advisor to both 
 Mrs. and Mr. Carroll. As a matter of fact 
 she was the arch conspirator in the house- 
 hold. For there was mystery in the air! 
 When Randolph was snugly seated in the 
 library absorbed in his favorite author, 
 Hortense would frequently disappear to be 
 
128 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 found immediately after in the closest and 
 most confidential conference with Middy. 
 And when the talk had ended Hortense, 
 with a significant touch of her finger to the 
 lips, would enjoin silence, and Middy would 
 give an understanding nod that implied 
 ' ' Trust me to keep the secret. ' ' Then when 
 at times Hortense was absent Randolph 
 would summon Middy by mysterious signs 
 and in impressive whispered words, to which 
 Middy listened in rapt attention, would im- 
 part to her the great secret — the great secret 
 of his life which Hortense might not share. 
 And when Middy on tiptoe would return to 
 her domain it was with a nod of assurance 
 that she could be trusted to the limit. And 
 she was by both. 
 
 Beautiful weather had come — bright 
 sunny days with cloudless skies and no 
 winds, and with the air not cold but cool and 
 bracing; with the tang of the sea and the 
 life-giving tingle of the atmosphere of New 
 England. It was one of those ideal climatic 
 changes on the shores of Cape Cod that com- 
 pensate for the more severe and trying 
 spells when the traditional winter storms 
 hold sway, and are all the more cheerful and 
 welcome by contrast with what had gone be- 
 fore and which was bound to come again. 
 Randolph had been walking up and down on 
 the broad piazza deep in thought as if con- 
 fronted by some perplexing problem he 
 found difficult to solve. It was the morning 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 129 
 
 of the day before Christmas Eve. The 
 beauty of ocean and bay and beach and 
 headland had begun to impress him for the 
 first time; and, as the impression deepened, 
 it gave birth to the inspiration he sought. 
 He had found a solution of the perplexing 
 problem. Entering the house he found 
 Hortense deeply engrossed in conversation 
 with Middy, and from the way in which 
 their talk suddenly stopped, it was quite evi- 
 dent that for that particular moment he was 
 de trop. 
 
 Even while Randolph began speaking 
 Hortense felt that unconsciously he had 
 helped to solve the very question that had 
 occupied her mind for several days. So 
 when he suggested that a carriage ride in 
 the country at this time when the weather 
 was so ideally fine would be a pleasure if 
 she would accept, Hortense agreed with an 
 eagerness that delighted him. When the 
 afternoon of the following day was sug- 
 gested by Hortense and when Middy said 
 she knew just where the carriage could be 
 engaged, and that she would attend to that 
 part of the affair, Randolph, pleased and 
 happy, went back to the piazza. But had he 
 seen the smiles that lighted the faces of 
 Hortense and Middy the moment he turned 
 his back it would probably have given him 
 another problem to solve. And when the 
 following afternoon, — the weather being if 
 possible even more perfect than the day be- 
 
130 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 fore, because a little warmer, — Middy an- 
 nounced that the carriage had come, 
 Hortense and Randolph were ready for 
 their first drive along the shores of Pilgrim 
 Land. 
 
 Less than five minutes after they had 
 started on the drive Hortense and Randolph 
 had reason to congratulate themselves on 
 Middy's selection of the driver. W — was 
 a native Plymouthean, intensely proud of 
 his town and his ancestry for he came from 
 Pilgrim stock, and was quite a character in 
 his way. He had just enough of Yankee 
 twang to give local twist to his words, and 
 his dry humor and quaint expressions gave 
 his passengers just the zest required to make 
 their drive perfect. And if there was any- 
 thing he didn't know there was no evidence 
 of his want of knowledge on the journey. 
 He pointed out as they went along the resi- 
 dences of prominent people who had their 
 summer homes on the charming sites with 
 which the long avenue and the branching 
 roads abounded; and many of the notable 
 places — Chilton Downs, The Forges, Rocky 
 Point, The Hotel Pilgrim, The Country Club 
 and others — furnished him, as he mentioned 
 the names of their owners, an endless fund 
 of interesting gosMp. So along the roads of 
 Manomet, through byways and highways, 
 by the shores where glimpses and views of 
 the illimitable expanse of ocean and bay 
 were seen and then back toward their home, 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 131 
 
 the drive was one of absorbing interest and 
 pleasure every foot of the way. As they 
 turned homeward bound Hortense deemed 
 it the opportune time to inform Randolph 
 that Middy would be pleased if they could 
 find a place to dine away from home, as 
 she was making such preparations for the 
 Christmas dinner that every moment of her 
 time was fully occupied. Now Randolph 
 at that very moment could not have been 
 more agreeably surprised, for the same 
 thought at the same time was in his mind — 
 had been, as a matter of fact, suggested to 
 him by Middy herself. Oh, she was cer- 
 tainly an arch conspirator! 
 
 Of course the driver knew just the place 
 to dine — The Samoset in Plymouth. And 
 equally of course when Hortense suggested 
 that, if it were possible to return by another 
 road so as to reach town, it would add to 
 their pleasure, he knew just the way to go 
 so as to give them some views of the coun- 
 try back from the shore drive. In due time 
 they reached the hotel, enjoyed an excellent 
 dinner, and then, satisfied and happy after 
 their altogether delightful afternoon with 
 each other and with a driver who had added 
 so much to their knowledge of the land 
 where they were the latest Pilgrims, started 
 for home. Randolph was rather surprised 
 at the bright, well-lighted streets with their 
 fine places of business, and the driver was in 
 a mood to impart much more information 
 
132 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 about Plymouth. And it so interested both 
 Randolph and Hortense that the carriage 
 was retained for the first fair day the follow- 
 ing week that they might visit the places of 
 interest — provided of course that they could 
 again have the pleasure of being driven by 
 their friend. And when they reached 
 Fairhaven and Randolph paid the bill the 
 amount of the tip he added so opened the 
 eyes of the driver that that delighted and 
 surprised guide mentally swore that no 
 other driver in Plymouth would ever get a 
 chance to strike such a bonanza if he could 
 help it. So, as he departed with the ' ' Merry 
 Christmas" from his generous patrons ring- 
 ing as a pleasant farewell, the Carrolls en- 
 tered their home. Middy was at the door 
 to meet them and asked as a favor that they 
 go right up stairs as she hadn't quite fin- 
 ished arranging the parlor, the door of which 
 was closed. Both willingly consented and 
 in the quiet of their room sat and talked of 
 the happiness they had had that day — and 
 thought of the happiness each had planned 
 for the other on the morrow. And of this 
 thought was born when they fell asleep their 
 pleasant dreams. 
 
 Very early next morning Middy rose from 
 a night of unrest. Thoughts of what was 
 about to happen crowded upon her. She 
 had paid the price of being in a conspiracy 
 — a double conspiracy in fact — by a feverish 
 anxiety for the dawn to come. Suppressed 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 133 
 
 excitement was evident in her every move- 
 ment. While dressing and moving about 
 her room she was careful not to make the 
 slightest sound. Then softly opening the 
 door she entered the hall. Turning to close 
 her room she started as she touched the 
 handle of the door, for there suspended hung 
 her Christmas present — a pair of the finest 
 silk stockings that money could buy. Over- 
 come for the moment by the thought that 
 Mrs. Carroll, even under the pressure of the 
 great secret, had not forgotten her, Middy 
 re-entered her room to put her present away. 
 As she opened the drawer of her bureau, and 
 began to fold the stockings carefully, some- 
 thing crinkled. In a second that something 
 was before her, for each stocking contained 
 a card, "Merry Christmas for Middy!" and 
 to the card of John Randolph Carroll and to 
 that of Hortense De Puyster Carroll was 
 pinned a fifty dollar bill. Middy looked at 
 the bills for a moment, and then, completely 
 overcome, sank back on the bed with tears 
 of happiness. Her Merry Christmas had 
 been auspiciously begun — she too had found 
 happiness in her new home at Fairhaven. 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 Every year of their married life Hortense 
 and Randolph had enjoyed the celebration 
 of four red-letter days in the calendar — their 
 
134 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 birthdays, the anniversary of their marriage 
 and Christmas : and now Christmas day was 
 here again. A year ago no thought of the 
 impending calamity which had wrecked 
 their fortunes, driven them from their lux- 
 urious home, brought Randolph to the terri- 
 ble illness and compelled them to seek shel- 
 ter in this, to them, faraway land among 
 strangers, — not one thought of all this could 
 by any possibility have entered the mind of 
 Hortense. For although she could not then 
 help noticing with growing apprehension 
 that Randolph was pale and nervous, and 
 that he was undergoing some severe mental 
 strain, she had never in their conversation 
 gleaned the slightest indication that any- 
 thing beyond the ordinary cares of prosper- 
 ous business was the cause of the change. 
 That Christmas had been observed as many 
 others — by a formal and elaborate dinner at 
 their home at which a dozen guests were 
 present. Randolph had given her earlier in 
 the day his present and had received his 
 from her hand. The guests were chosen 
 from among the elite of the society in which 
 they had their life at the time, and the din- 
 ner, prepared by their own chef, — one of the 
 most noted French masters of the art in New 
 York, — was perfect. The elaborate menu, 
 the rare and costly service of mono- 
 grammed silver, the wonderful floral adorn- 
 ments that beautified the table and the great 
 dining room, the liveried servants in atten- 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 135 
 
 dance, the exquisite music by the famous 
 string quartette — all these came back to the 
 mind of Hortense as she opened her eyes by 
 her husband's side this Christmas morning 
 in their home in Fairhaven. 
 
 Despite the contrast between the then and 
 now, it somehow seemed to Hortense that in 
 this little home, here with Randolph now re- 
 stored to health and with her own spirits 
 buoyant and thrilled with joyous anticipa- 
 tion of what the day had in store, that she 
 was happier, far happier, than she had been 
 twelve months ago in her great home in New 
 York. Softly stealing from the side of 
 Randolph, whom she supposed was fast 
 asleep, she was suddenly thrilled by "Merry 
 Christmas, Honey Girl!" For he, too, had 
 been awake; he, too, had been dwelling on 
 the crowning success of all the plans he had 
 made, and now that the moment he had 
 looked forward to so long was at hand, he 
 also was aglow with expectancy of the 
 denouement. Hortense, as he spoke, sprang 
 to his side, and kissing him fondly, gave her 
 heartfelt wishes for the day in her "Merry 
 Christmas, Darling Boy!" For they were 
 now boy and girl to each other. Randolph 
 suggested that Hortense delay going down 
 stairs; it was rather early — he would go 
 down first. But Hortense objected. Ran- 
 dolph needed more rest — he mustn't rise yet 
 — she would go down first — she had to con- 
 sult Middy and so on. But it was now 
 
136 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 Randolph's turn to object. Finally after 
 their arguments had failed to achieve their 
 object a compromise was reached: they 
 would go down stairs together. 
 
 When they had reached the hall 
 Randolph opened the door and Hortense en- 
 tered the parlor. In an instant there rang 
 through the house a cry of delight — a min- 
 gled expression of surprise and joy and hap- 
 piness that thrilled the heart of Randolph 
 as it seemed to him he had never been 
 thrilled before. His plans had been carried 
 ■out to the letter by his faithful coadjutor 
 Middy, and he was now in the glory of his 
 success. For there before the eyes of 
 Hortense was the one thing wanting — the 
 one great happiness she had yearned for 
 ever since the happier days began to dawn 
 in Fairhaven — there was her own Steinway 
 grand piano with all its equipment filling the 
 one place in the room that seemed to have 
 been specially designed for its coming to 
 make the parlor and its furnishings ideally 
 complete! And when in a ver;f ecstasy of 
 appreciation of his loving thoughtfulness, 
 and overcome by an overwhelming sense of 
 the great happiness his Christmas gift had 
 brought to her, she flung her arms around 
 his neck and kissed him again and again, it 
 was hard to say which felt the greater joy 
 of the moment — the giver of the happiness 
 or she that had just received. The "Merry 
 Christmas" had begun for both. 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 137 
 
 It was a few minutes later when Middy 
 entered, holding the money in her hand. A 
 hundred dollars! There must have been 
 some mistake, but if not she never could ac- 
 cept such a sum of money — never ! She had 
 been with them so short a time — and they 
 had been paying her such good wages — and 
 — and — they had been so good to her, and — 
 and — . Then her voice broke and she had 
 to sit down. But after a few kind and ap- 
 preciative words from both, after she had 
 wiped away the tears of happiness, and 
 after she had thanked them again and 
 again. Middy went back to her domain 
 carrying the hundred dollars and from that 
 moment beginning the happiest Christmas 
 she had ever known. Then, after a short 
 absence, she announced that breakfast was 
 ready, and here as they entered the dining 
 room came the second surprise of the day. 
 For Middy had decorated the room with 
 evergreen and ivy, and it had never be- 
 fore presented such a gala appearance. 
 But it was when Hortense and Randolph 
 sat down to table that the great surprise 
 overcame them — there was their own sil- 
 ver and glass and china which had been 
 sent on to Middy from New York by Dr. 
 Jamison with instructions not to place it 
 on the table until Christmas morning. At 
 the side of her plate Hortense found a regis- 
 tered package which had come the day be- 
 fore. Opening the package she was de- 
 
138 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 lighted. For it contained a small gold 
 watch with a card of Dr. Jamison on which 
 was written "To my Friend Middy — Xmas, 
 1914," and Middy's initials were engraved 
 on the back of the present. If ever that 
 watch with the monogrammed initials of 
 Mehitable Potter Brewster Bndicott Sedg- 
 wick engraved thereon shall fall into the 
 hands of some zealous archaeologist anxious 
 to decipher the cabalistic engraving on its 
 case he will certainly have his hands full 
 trying to solve the problem of accurately de- 
 termining just what letters are included in 
 the mystic design. 
 
 For a time it was difficult for Hortense to 
 suppress expression of her great happiness 
 and it was not until breakfast was nearly 
 finished that she was able to gain control of 
 her feelings enough to carry out the plans 
 she had made for the morning. Both she 
 and Randolph were passionately fond of 
 music. For years they had had their box 
 on the first tier of the Metropolitan Opera 
 House; they had heard all of the greatest 
 singers at home or abroad; and there was not 
 one of the operas with which they were not 
 familiar, and which they had not seen and 
 heard with the greatest stars of the operatic 
 world in the principal roles. So it was very 
 easy for Hortense, apropos of the piano on 
 which Randolph had so often heard her in- 
 terpretation of his favorite selections, to 
 give their happy conversation just the turn 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 139 
 
 she desired. Randolph had been talking of 
 La Traviata and of Caruso's wonderful 
 voice. In the midst of his talk Hortense 
 arose, her eyes sparkling with excitement, 
 her cheeks aglow and her bosom heaving 
 with emotion she could not restrain. Then 
 excusing herself for a moment she left the 
 room. As she glanced at Randolph with 
 loving tenderness, passing his chair, it 
 seemed to him that he could never recall her 
 looking more beautiful, more tender, more 
 loving, more ideally his Hortense than at 
 that moment ; and a wave of happiness swept 
 over him with the thought that all his plans 
 for this great joy he had given her had suc- 
 ceeded so well. 
 
 Entering the library Hortense was met by 
 Middy, who was also greatly excited and 
 who had evidently been waiting in the room 
 according to a prearranged plan. Quickly 
 Hortense closed the door and then in mys- 
 terious whisperings the conspirators per- 
 fected their plans. Hortense gave Middy 
 full directions and Middy grasped the de- 
 tails with intelligent interest. It lacked but 
 five minutes of ten and when the chimes had 
 finished sounding the hour Middy was to 
 act without a moment's delay. Hortense 
 returned to the dining room, and kissing 
 Randolph, sat down in her chair. Randolph 
 again took up the topic of opera where he 
 had left off when Hortense arose to leave 
 the room, and was in the midst of a glowinp 
 
140 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 tribute to his favorite tenor, Caruso, when 
 the clock began to strike. Then came the 
 grand finale! For even as he had spoken 
 the name the voice of Caruso burst forth in 
 all its beauty and thrilling power filling the 
 house with exquisite melody and filling the 
 heart of Randolph with an overpowering 
 realization of the wondrous sweetness and 
 love and devotion of the wife who had this 
 day by her gift to him brought to their home 
 this crowning triumph of her will to make 
 him happy. And if tears of happiness came 
 to his eyes who shall think he was any less 
 of a man because down deep in his heart he 
 felt an emotion the evidence of which he 
 was unable to restrain.. 
 
 Every detail of the great conspiracy had 
 worked out to perfection, and for the next 
 hour nothing was talked of but the way the 
 several plots had been carried on to such 
 a successful ending. Randolph told how, 
 when he had first entered the parlor he had 
 thought of the piano, of Hortense and her 
 wonderful musical gifts, and of what hap- 
 piness he knew the piano would bring to 
 her. Then when Dr. Jamison had come at 
 Thanksgiving he had unfolded his plans and 
 had found a willing coadjutor in carrying 
 them out. The Doctor had taken the piano 
 from the storage warehouse in New York 
 and had had it sent to Plymouth. Then 
 Randolph had taken Middy into his confi- 
 dence and on one of her visits to town Middy 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 141 
 
 had arranged to have the piano brought out 
 by the piano movers and delivered exactly 
 at half past four o 'clock on the afternoon of 
 Christmas Eve. So to keep the secret the 
 drive had been arranged as part of the plot, 
 and all worked well. Middy had carried 
 out her part of the work in every detail and 
 — well there was the Steinway Grand as 
 tangible evidence that, as fellow-conspira- 
 tors, Eandolph and Middy had made for the 
 lady of the house a Merry and a Happy 
 Christmas. Hortense was equally proud 
 and happy over her success as a conspirator. 
 She had sent to Boston and ordered the 
 finest Victrola that was to be had, and had 
 given directions that it was to be sent to 
 Fairhaven in charge of a trustworthy man 
 who was to arrive with it exactly at five 
 o'clock on Christmas Eve. So that was 
 why, in fear that they would return from 
 their drive before the delivery was made, 
 she had arranged with Middy to have it 
 taken in the back way if necessary to conceal 
 its arrival. But the idea of lengthening the 
 drive came to her and then as she had 
 planned it with Middy that dinner in town 
 lengthened the time so that there was no 
 danger of a contretemps. And on their re- 
 turn from the drive the intelligent look that 
 had been given by Middy was assurance 
 that none of the details planned had failed, 
 and that the surprise and pleasure they had 
 each planned for the other would be perfect. 
 
142 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 Love and Music and Happiness reigned 
 in Fairhaven that never-to-be-forgotten 
 Christmas Day of 1914. Never, it seemed 
 to them, had Hortense and Randolph real- 
 ized so much the happiness that one enjoys 
 planning and giving happiness to another — 
 especially when that other is the one of all 
 the world most loved and loving. And 
 when Hortense at the piano began playing 
 with all her old-time technique and inspired 
 by the feelings that animated her; and when 
 her voice rang out clear and vibrant with 
 the joy that filled her heart, Randolph, in 
 harmony with her feelings, felt that nothing 
 was wanting to make his happiness as com- 
 plete as was that of the wife he adored. 
 And Middy shared the joys of the day. She 
 had been called into the parlor and, after an 
 appropriate prelude to add the zest of com- 
 plete surprise, the watch was given her. 
 Then Hortense fastened it to the elaborate 
 waist that Middy had donned in honor of 
 the day. To give anything like an adequate 
 idea of Middy's pride and pleasure would 
 be a hopeless task — as Middy gave it up 
 then it may as well be given up now. She 
 had made a few friends in the neighborhood 
 — a retired schoolmistress who also came 
 from Vermont, the unmarried sister of a 
 neighboring farmer and one or two others; 
 and these often called on her in the even- 
 ings of the long winter days. Hortense had 
 known of this and encouraged the intimacy, 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 143 
 
 and when she suggested that Middy invite 
 her friends to a Christmas dinner the kind- 
 ness was received with delight and the in- 
 vitations sent and accepted. The dinner 
 that Middy served to the Carrolls that day 
 was a triumph; and then she was free for 
 the rest of the day. She had made her 
 kitchen a dining room for the time being 
 and had decorated it to suit her own ideas. 
 Her dinner was a great social event in 
 Middy's life and was a success in every way; 
 one of her friends called it a perfect ban- 
 quet; and not the least of all that made it 
 such a success was the finest music they had 
 ever heard and which Hortense took care 
 that open doors would enable them to enjoy. 
 
 CHAPTER XVHI. 
 
 Long as were the evenings that closed 
 those wintry days of January, February and 
 March they were altogether too short for 
 Hortense and Randolph. What with their 
 books and music and delightful chats by 
 their cosy fireside ; with their parlor so ar- 
 tistic and beautiful and complete, now that 
 the piano was in place; with Middy happy 
 and contented and day by day becoming 
 more and more interested and efficient (and 
 sufficient) for all their service; with the 
 health of Randolph completely restored and 
 with the glow and radiance of happiness in 
 
144 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 the eyes of Hortense; and, added to all this, 
 the certainty from letters recently received 
 from Kossmore that Randolph would in the 
 early summer once more become a person- 
 age in the great financial world, there was 
 nothing wanting to make their lives ideally 
 happy. Randolph was now in the habit of 
 taking long daily walks and when on his re- 
 turn he was met with the invariable wel- 
 come-back kiss from Hortense — for the 
 parting as well as the coming kiss had now 
 become an established rule — he was full of 
 his plans for the future — plans that were the 
 result of thoughts in his solitude when he 
 walked abroad. These plans required dis- 
 cussion with Hortense for they were, one 
 and all, made with one end — to contribute 
 to her happiness : that was the first and last 
 consideration, for no plan, however much it 
 might mean to bim that did not conduce to 
 the happiness of Hortense, could ever find a 
 moment's favor in his mind again. So 
 Hortense was naturally to be taken into his 
 confidence as to every phase of their 
 probable future. 
 
 Eventually, he confided to Hortense, they 
 would again have their home in New York. 
 But for the summer they would rent some 
 fine place down on Long Island or up the 
 Hudson — the Berkshires were too far. 
 Didn't Hortense think so? She did. Then 
 when Fall came, instead of opening a house 
 with the care and fatigue that selection of 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 145 
 
 furniture would entail, they would take a 
 large suite — large enough to entertain and 
 to provide rooms for such guests as they 
 might have — in one of the more select and 
 fashionable hotels up near Central Park. 
 Would that meet with the approval of 
 Hortense? It would. And then in a few 
 years, when he had accumulated the mil- 
 lions of dollars so essential to happiness in 
 this world, couldn't she see that their win- 
 ters in New York in the large and elaborate 
 establishment they would maintain, and 
 their summers on the new yacht he con- 
 templated building, with an occasional visit 
 to Europe, would be the perfect life for both 
 for years to come? She could. Didn't he 
 know, Dear Boy, that whatever life held that 
 would make him happy, that would satisfy 
 his longings, that would crown his life with 
 success, meant perfect happiness for her? 
 Why, oh, his Honey Heart, didn't he know! 
 But didn't she know that he would plan 
 nothing, that he would do nothing, that he 
 could think of nothing in the world except 
 to make the dearest, sweetest and best wife 
 that ever lived the happiest woman on earth ! 
 And then would come the kiss and embrace 
 and words of fond affection and loving ap- 
 preciation and the glorious realization that 
 they lived for the happiness of each other 
 as long as life would last. 
 
 Nowhere in the world does Nature seem 
 to have more trouble in making up its mind 
 
146 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 as to the proper seasonable distribution of 
 weather than in New England. This is con- 
 clusively shown by the varying moods it 
 displays, especially in what used to be 
 called Spring which exhibits such vagaries 
 as to indicate that Nature is still in an un- 
 settled state of mind as to just what va- 
 riety to allot to this part of the country. 
 Rain and sunshine, varied by an occasional 
 flurry of snow and winds that ranged from 
 balmy breezes to howling gales, were pre- 
 vailing conditions in April; but with the 
 coming of May it looked as if Nature in a 
 particularly amiable mood had decided that 
 it was about time that some compensation 
 was due for the erratic outbursts of weeks 
 before, and that Spring should begin. The 
 grass grew greener, the swelling buds on the 
 great elms in front of Pairhaven gave way 
 to tender leaves, birds began looking for de- 
 sirable sites for summer homes, the air was 
 laden with sweet odors, the skies were clear- 
 er for longer times, the coal driver's wagons 
 began to disappear from the roads, and the 
 iceman's smile, as he glanced right and left 
 for his particular signs of the times, was 
 suggestive of the happiness he anticipated 
 in the days of his prosperity at hand. 
 Hortense and Randolph felt the spell of the 
 season. They were both buoyantly happy, 
 and now that the warmer days had come 
 both spent much of their time out of doors. 
 The broad piazza was now equipped with its 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 147 
 
 summer furnishings — rugs, rattan easy 
 chairs, a hammock, small tables — every- 
 thing needed to make it, what in fact it was, 
 the open air sitting room of the house. 
 
 Just at this time came in quick succession 
 the two events which were to determine the 
 future life of the Carrolls — events but for 
 which this story of their lives could never 
 have been written. The first was the re- 
 ceipt of the final report of the receivers ap- 
 pointed to wind up the affairs of the once 
 great banking house of John Randolph 
 Carroll & Son. The report showed that 
 after the liabilities of the house had been 
 paid to the last dollar there remained of the 
 assets the sum of $52,200 to the credit of 
 John Randolph Carroll. The blow was 
 cruel and crushing. Fifty thousand dollars ! 
 And Randolph had hoped for — had indeed 
 confidently expected — not less than ten 
 times that sum. Fortunately for Hortense 
 she had not been present when he opened 
 the letter containing the report, for had she 
 witnessed the effect it would have caused 
 her untold agony. He had hurried from the 
 house for the first time in months without 
 the parting kiss. A long walk had enabled 
 him in some degree to overcome the shock, 
 and his determination to conceal for the 
 present the disastrous news made him, when 
 he met Hortense at the door, assume a light- 
 hearted tone in his pitiful effort to prevent 
 any suspicion of the truth. Hortense 
 
148 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 divined that something had happened, but 
 with loving judgment and tact decided not 
 to seek the reason until of his own accord 
 Randolph should see fit to reveal it. 
 
 Even while he was suffering the cruel tor- 
 tures the blow had inflicted because he must 
 bear them alone (for he had determined 
 never to tell Hortense until disclosure was 
 inevitable) came the first ray of light that 
 was to drive away the darkness of despair; 
 this, too, within a day of the knowledge that 
 he was virtually a ruined man. For twenty- 
 four hours later came a dispatch from Philip 
 Rossmore notifying Randolph to expect him 
 on the following day, and stating that he 
 would arrive in Plymouth on the eight 
 o'clock train from Boston to which his pri- 
 vate car would be attached. The reaction 
 caused by this news, which, of course, was 
 instantly told to Hortense, was wonderful. 
 But more wonderful still was the change in 
 his appearance when, after an hour's ab- 
 sence, ne entered the parlor. For his beard 
 was gone, and there he stood attired in the 
 stylish well-fitting clothes he had worn the 
 day he last entered his' bank in New York. 
 Hortense was for the moment completely 
 overcome. He looked not a day more than 
 fifty, for singularly enough while the beard 
 had been gray his moustache had retained 
 its dark brown color. And now, with the 
 flush of pleasure glowing on his cheeks, his 
 eyes sparkling with delight at the surprise 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 149 
 
 he had given Hortense and Ms feelings 
 keyed up to the utmost tension by anticipa- 
 tion of what he felt was the good news 
 Rossmore was coming to bring, Randolph 
 looked the same fine and dignified and alto- 
 gether ideal man and gentleman he had 
 looked twenty years before. That happi- 
 ness and pride and an absolute faith in their 
 future reigned in the heart of Hortense need 
 hardly be said. 
 
 A private car on a train arriving in Ply- 
 mouth was a very rare event; and when the 
 finest car ever seen in town came in attached 
 to the Boston train early next morning all 
 sorts of rumors began to circulate. Public 
 curiosity was aroused, and the car as it 
 stood on the siding later on was surrounded 
 by interested groups exchanging views as 
 to the why and the wherefore. Randolph 
 was, of course, unknown to the people in 
 town, but certainly none could have recog- 
 nized in the man of distinguished poise and 
 presence the helpless, emaciated invalid who 
 had been assisted to the carriage when he 
 first arrived in Plymouth a few months be- 
 fore. Rossmore was evidently amazed at 
 Randolph's appearance. He had expected 
 some change as a result of Randolph's ill- 
 ness such as he himself had suffered; but 
 to find Randolph aglow with health and in 
 such fine spirits; to find that he looked years 
 younger than when they had parted in New 
 York some fifteen months ago, was a revela- 
 
150 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 tion. Entering the carriage Randolph had 
 engaged they were soon at Fairhaven to be 
 welcomed by Hortense with a warmth and 
 cordiality and heartiness that gave Ross- 
 more undoubted pleasure and that five min- 
 utes later made him feel as if*he had been at 
 home there for weeks. 
 
 Nothing touching the object of his visit 
 was spoken until an hour or so later when 
 with Randolph he sat down in the easy 
 chairs Hortense had placed for them on the 
 southern side of the piazza. Here, their 
 cigars lighted, and their experience of the 
 time that had elapsed since they parted hav- 
 ing been related, Rossmore disclosed the 
 purpose for which he had come from New 
 York to Fairhaven. A gigantic corporation 
 was in process of formation by leading 
 bankers and capitalists, not only of New 
 York but of all the money centres of the 
 country. It was to be known as the Uni- 
 verse Trust Company, and its object was the 
 development and extension of American 
 trade and commerce in every country in the 
 world. Branches were to be established at 
 once in Argentine, Brazil, Peru and other 
 South American nations to control the trade 
 and commerce of the Southern continent be- 
 fore the warring nations of Europe could re- 
 establish their former dominant power — this 
 was the primary object for which the cor- 
 poration had been formed. But as the plans 
 progressed the scope enlarged. For the 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 151 
 
 trade of the Orient was to be sought as never 
 before. China, Japan, India were to be 
 tributory to American enterprise and en- 
 ergy more than had seemed possible years 
 ago; great steamship lines were to be estab- 
 lished to all the leading countries of Europe 
 to restore American commerce to its once 
 proudest place on the high seas (an idea that 
 had occurred to Randolph months before) 
 and new markets were to be sought for our 
 products — agricultural, manufactured and 
 mineral — in all parts of the world: in a word 
 America was to seize this time when every- 
 thing was in her favor to become the 
 greatest and the controlling power in the 
 commerce of the globe. And the capital of 
 the Universe Trust Company, which was al- 
 ready guaranteed, was to be five hundred 
 million dollars ! 
 
 Even as Rossmore spoke Randolph 
 divined what was in store for him in connec- 
 tion with this vast undertaking. He knew 
 Rossmore 's power in the financial world; his 
 influence with the greatest bankers in New 
 York. And he knew that his friendship 
 meant everything that friendship in its 
 deepest sense could mean. But when 
 Rossmore, having ended his eloquent state- 
 ment, grasped him by the hand and told him 
 that he had been unanimously chosen to be 
 first president of the Universe Trust Com- 
 pany and that his salary would be a quarter 
 of a million dollars a year, then Randolph 
 
152 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 could stand it no longer. A minute later 
 he was indoors vainly trying to find words to 
 tell Hortense of the great news, and finding 
 her in his arms as much overcome as he 
 was himself at that moment when all their 
 future was a golden glow! 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The train to which Rossmore's car was at- 
 tached pulled out for Boston early next 
 morning. Randolph accompanied his friend 
 to the station and throughout the drive was 
 delighted hy the expressions of the pleasure 
 his guest had enjoyed at Pairhaven. 
 Rossmore declared with evident sincerity 
 that he had never enjoyed a dinner with 
 keener zest; that his sleep in the guest room 
 where through the open windows he had 
 breathed the life-giving air of the sea had 
 been the soundest and most refreshing he 
 could recall in months ; and his admiration of 
 the scenery which the house commanded was 
 so enthusiastic as to surprise Randolph and 
 to make him wonder why he too had not 
 realized its beauty. And then his expres- 
 sions of delight over Hortense 's fine health 
 and spirits and of Randolph's splendid 
 future were all uttered with such evident 
 sincerity as could only be felt by one to 
 whom the happiness of his friend was the 
 source of his own. Just before stepping in- 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 153 
 
 to his car, and before grasping both 
 Randolph's hands, he handed him a large 
 envelope which Randolph was to examine at 
 his leisure. Then with a final "Good bye 
 till we meet again next month — Good bye — 
 old lad, God bless you!" Rossmore entered 
 his car. As the train pulled out Randolph 
 a moment later saw Rossmore on the obser- 
 vation platform of his car at the rear of the 
 train, and so with parting wavings of the 
 hand the friends kept each other in sight 
 until the train was lost to view. 
 
 There yet remained the culmination of 
 the wonderful series of surprises that began 
 with the receipt of Rossmore 's telegram; 
 and this was to be shared by Hortense, who 
 happily was by his side when Randolph 
 opened the envelope that was handed him 
 by Rossmore. For that envelope contained 
 four letters from leading bankers of New 
 York — men who had known Randolph inti- 
 mately in the days of his power and pros- 
 perity: and these letters were of the same 
 purport — to assure Randolph that he could 
 count on their friendship and support, and 
 to urge his acceptance of the presidency of 
 the Universe Trust Company. These four 
 men with Rossmore were the dominating 
 factors in the corporation, and the men who 
 had decided that John Randolph Carroll, 
 with unblemished reputation (for he owed 
 no man a dollar) with the experience of 
 forty years in Wall Street, with his intimate 
 
154 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 knowledge of the financial world at home 
 and abroad, was the one man for the head of 
 the company. But this was not all — this 
 was not the supreme surprise. For the last 
 paper that Randolph drew from the enve- 
 lope was a certificate of stock in the corpor- 
 ation for three millions of dollars; and this 
 in his own name! It was Rossmore's final 
 tribute — the evidence of what his friendship 
 meant to and for John Randolph Carroll. A 
 note explained that he had bought it for 
 Randolph and that the stock could be paid 
 for when the future results would allow; 
 but for all time the dividends from that 
 stock were to go to Randolph. Back of all 
 this was a secret — a secret that neither 
 Hortense nor Randolph had ever heard of; 
 and the secret was this: At one time in his 
 life Rossmore's father had been on the verge 
 of financial ruin. Randolph's father had 
 come to his assistance at the critical mo- 
 ment, had saved him from bankruptcy and 
 had started him anew on the road to fortune 
 — on the road that had enabled him to ac- 
 cumulate the millions of which he had died 
 possessed. He had confided all this to his 
 son, Philip, and had asked as a last request 
 on his dying bed that if ever Randolph 
 Carroll was in trouble of any kind his son 
 should be the one man to go to his help to 
 the last dollar if need be. And Philip 
 Rossmore had given that promise, and it 
 was his greatest happiness that he had kept 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 155 
 
 it, and in keeping it had aided the one friend 
 dearest to him in all the world. For 
 Rossmore was alone and a lonely man. 
 
 Extravagant as had been the hopes of 
 Randolph in his most optimistic moments, 
 when he dreamed day dreams of his future 
 when the turn of the tide should come, he 
 had never thought of the possibility of such 
 an income as that which was now assured. 
 It staggered him for a moment. Why, with 
 his salary as president of the Universe 
 Trust Company and his dividends — assum- 
 ing that five per cent would be earned — and 
 that was a minimum, for it was likely to be 
 ten per cent or even more — his income 
 would be over four hundred thousand 
 dollars a year! And less than three days 
 ago he was face to face with the problem of 
 a future with an annual income of less than 
 two thousand five hundred dollars! Had 
 ever a greater miracle been wrought in the 
 fortunes of man! And then — and then — 
 Hortense! Ah therein, after all, lay the 
 great happiness that was now at hand for 
 both. She would once more have her pala- 
 tial home in the most exclusive residential 
 section ; she would again be seen in her box 
 at the opera; she would resume her place in 
 the most exclusive society in New York; she 
 would again — Mrs. John Randolph Carroll 
 — be recognized as a prominent leader in all 
 the great functions the coming season in 
 New York would bring; she — she — 
 
156 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 Suddenly the current of Ms thoughts 
 changed by some mysterious influence that 
 came over him as he sat that eventful even- 
 ing contemplating from his chair on the 
 northern piazza of Fairhaven the scene that 
 lay before him in all its wondrous beauty. 
 The day had been ideally perfect — a day in 
 harmony with its clear skies, its warm air 
 and its pure atmosphere, with the happiness 
 and great good fortune that had come to 
 him — and to Hortense. He had passed the 
 hours since morning in a state of exaltation, 
 his face aglow, his heart beating fast, his 
 mind filled with thoughts of the future. 
 And Hortense had been scarcely less agi- 
 tated. It was in this state that he had come 
 out of the house and seated himself to enjoy 
 his after-dinner cigar. He was looking at 
 what Hortense had called the village street 
 — that part of the thoroughfare on which 
 Fairhaven fronted and which led to Ply- 
 mouth town. The quaint and picturesque 
 homes, the lawns now green and beautiful, 
 and the fine old elms that lined both sides of 
 the road and which were now in their most 
 glorious early summer foliage, impressed 
 him as a splendid study for an artist. In his 
 college days he had devoted much of his 
 spare time to drawing and painting, and 
 with an inborn love of nature, with a poetic 
 and artistic temperament and with a fine 
 appreciation of the picturesque, he had won 
 quite a reputation by some of the paintings 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 157 
 
 he had presented to friends of his youth. 
 So it was not surprising that one of the most 
 charming and delightful views which his 
 house commanded should have impressed 
 Tn'm as a picture full of possibilities for the 
 painter who should first discover it, and by 
 transferring it to canvas make himself 
 famous. If he only had the time — if — But 
 then came the whirlwind of thoughts of the 
 future and the kaleidoscopic pictures of life 
 in New York swept away the view of the 
 village street and the momentary dream it 
 had inspired. 
 
 The heart beat again quickened, and he 
 rose and once or twice walked up and down 
 the piazza. He was waiting for Hortense 
 and now dropped into another chair, this 
 time in front of the house. And there and 
 then, at the moment Hortense came out and 
 sat down by his side, was revealed to them 
 one of the most beautiful, most inspiring and 
 most enchanting pictures in the world — 
 Duxbury Bay as seen from Fairhaven. A 
 little cottage home, surrounded by trees 
 and shrubbery, with its white front and 
 green blinds and the rich tints of the pink 
 and white blossoms with the deep yellow 
 of the Forsythia gave color to the fore- 
 ground and supplied the frame for the right 
 side of the picture, while the left of the 
 frame was the vine-covered trellis of their 
 home that reached from the floor of the piaz- 
 za to the roof. Green lawns stretched to the 
 
158 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 water's edge, and by the shore an irregular 
 and broken line of small trees in all the 
 beauty of their varied foliage gave contrast 
 to the surface of the bay. Earth and sea 
 and sky were bathed in the glorious radiance 
 of the setting sun. Birds were singing their 
 evening song — the only sound that broke the 
 silence. The tide had now reached its low- 
 est ebb with the result that every flat in the 
 harbor from Plymouth shore to the distant 
 base of Duxbury Hills was in view. And 
 it was these flats and that state of the tide 
 and the time of day and the rays of the set- 
 ting sun that combined to make the scene 
 one of the most wonderful revelations that 
 had come to Hortense and Randolph since 
 they had made their home in Fairhaven. 
 
 Owing to the fact that they were seated 
 at such an elevation the effect of the view 
 was one of illimitable expanse. It was as if, 
 from the summit of a mountain, one looked 
 down on bill and valley, on river and plain 
 for a range of fifty miles. This was due to 
 the marvelous color effects on the flats which 
 produced the illusion and which gave the 
 picture its wonderful perfection. Beyond 
 the silver tinted waters which bordered the 
 shore a long stretch of flat was of a deep, 
 rich brown. Then came a streak of water 
 with a faint tint of pink. Beyond this an- 
 other flat of deepest, richest green was re- 
 vealed. Then the channel through which 
 shipping reached Plymouth Harbor glis- 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 169 
 
 tened like a broad belt of silver and brought 
 out more vividly the glorious coloring of the 
 flats beyond. For, as the distance lent en- 
 chantment, the shades began to vary on 
 land and water from a rich golden brown, a 
 silvery green and a deep purple to a fainter 
 and still fainter coloring until the yellow 
 sands of the distant beach came in view. 
 Then the deep, rich green of the Duxbury 
 Hills framed the marine view, and above 
 was the evening sky in all its glowing ra- 
 diance of the splendid sunset of this perfect 
 day. And to complete the picture, to crown 
 it with the most artistic effect, there, from 
 the wooded crest of Captain's Hill, rose the 
 great column surmounted by the statue of 
 Myles Standish silhouetted against the glo- 
 rious background of the evening sky. But 
 this was not all. For every moment it 
 seemed the scene changed. The colors 
 deepened or lessened as the sun sank in the 
 west. Silvery and golden, and with ex- 
 quisite blendings of crimson and brown and 
 blue, land and waters changed their color 
 with the decline of the setting sun and the 
 rise of the coming tide until the soft haze 
 of twilight blended all in marvelous har- 
 mony of subdued tone that gave the finish- 
 ing touch of quiet and peace to the perfect 
 close of the enchanted scene. 
 
 During the evening Hortense and 
 Eandolpn, still under the spell of the won- 
 drous revelation they had just witnessed, 
 
160 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 found in it a theme for conversation that for 
 a time banished all thoughts of their coming 
 life in New York. Randolph told Hortense 
 of sunsets he had seen from the top of the 
 Sierra Madre mountains in Southern Cali- 
 fornia; in the Catalina Islands off Santa 
 Barbara; at the Colden Gate near San Fran- 
 cisco and at the mouth of the Columbia 
 River on his way to Portland, Oregon. Then, 
 too, of sunsets he had witnessed on the 
 Atlantic Coast on his yachting cruises from 
 New Brunswick to Florida; of one wonder- 
 ful effect he had seen at Bermuda, and of 
 others in the Orient and in Europe when, as 
 a young man, he had made his world tour 
 with Philip Rossmore. And Hortense re- 
 called sunsets she had seen on Long Island 
 Sound, on the Hudson, in the Adirondacks; 
 then her thoughts traveled abroad and she 
 spoke of sunsets on the Scottish lakes in The 
 Trossachs; on the Scheldt near Flushing, 
 at Lake Como, on the Mediterranean while 
 at the Riviera — but none, they agreed with 
 enthusiastic appreciation, had ever equalled 
 the radiant glory and exquisite beauty of 
 that perfect sunset on Duxbury Bay. It 
 was in this state of happiness they entered 
 the Land of Dreams. It was just before 
 dawn that Randolph was awakened by what 
 seemed to him the most wonderful burst of 
 music he had ever heard — the combined 
 morning chorus of hundreds, perhaps 
 thousands, of birds on the grounds back and 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 161 
 
 front, north and south of Fairhaven. There 
 were robins and sparrows and catbirds and 
 finches and phoebes and blackbirds and 
 others, of which he was to learn more later, 
 all joining in one grand song to welcome 
 the coming dawn. It was marvelous: but 
 this neighborhood was a sanctuary for 
 birds and at this season they made it a rest- 
 ing place either to remain for the summer 
 or on their way farther north. And while 
 the music was at its fullest melody 
 Randolph arose with a thrill of delight for 
 there, to bring back memories of his youth, 
 sat on the branch of the great elm the oriole 
 from his native soil joining in the grand 
 chorus that filled the air. As he sat by the 
 open window, spellbound under the in- 
 fluence of the music, Randolph suddenly be- 
 came aware of another scene of beauty 
 about to unfold. The eastern sky began 
 to show a faint radiance that tinted the light, 
 fleecy clouds; the bird chorus rose to its 
 fullest burst of melody, the horizon began to 
 assume a lighter glow and a palish tint crept 
 over the face of the waters. Randolph 
 called Hortense and she rose and came to 
 his side. The glow deepened and spread 
 until the whole line of the horizon was a 
 golden tinge; then in a burst of glory the 
 sun rose in all its splendor, flooding the 
 waters with such a radiance of purple and 
 gold and crimson that never had sunrise 
 been a more magnificent spectacle than that 
 
162 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 of which Randolph and Hortense were the 
 entranced spectators on Cape Cod Bay! 
 
 Dr. Jamison arrived that day on a hur- 
 ried visit. He had been called to Boston as 
 consulting physician in the case of an emi- 
 nent professor whose life he had helped to 
 save at the critical moment, and he had come 
 to Fairhaven en route to New York. 
 Randolph and Hortense confided to him the 
 marvelous change in their fortunes that 
 had been wrought by the visit of Rossmore, 
 and after extending to them his warmest 
 congratulations the Doctor pronounced 
 Randolph "fit as a fiddle," to use his own 
 words, for anything. After luncheon 
 Randolph invited the Doctor to walk to the 
 top of the hill back of the house, a distance 
 of some fifty yards. He had asked the 
 Doctor not to turn until he gave the word. 
 In a minute or two the summit was reached 
 and the word was spoken. The Doctor 
 turned and with an expression of amaze- 
 ment and delight stood spellbound as he 
 gazed on the superb view before him — one 
 of the finest views not only on the shores of 
 New England but in the world! Prom the 
 western point on Duxbury Hills where 
 Randolph and Hortense had watched the 
 sun disappear the evening before ; along the 
 shores of the bay with the sparkling waters 
 unbroken by flat or shoal, for it was now 
 high tide ; past the fine white summer homes 
 that lined the long shore front showing 
 
A STORY OP PILGRIM LAND 163 
 
 clearly against the dark green background 
 of the woods; then Clark's Island where the 
 Pilgrims first landed on their way from the 
 end of the Cape to find their home where 
 now stands Plymouth town; Saquish, the 
 wooded eminence rising from the blue 
 waters of the bay; the yellow lines of the 
 seven-miles-long Duxbury Beach terminat- 
 ing at The Gurnet with the white twin light- 
 house towers showing so clearly against the 
 deep blue of the sky; then the illimitable ex- 
 panse of ocean and bay with the white sails 
 of passing craft and here and there a large 
 steamer; and far away a faint, misty line on 
 the horizon — the shores of Cape Cod with 
 one fine, clear and distinct tower showing 
 against the sky — that tower the great Pil- 
 grim monument at Provincetown. Then on 
 the south the long stretch of the beautifully 
 wooded Manomet Hills, with here and there 
 the white walls of magnificent summer 
 homes gleaming against the green of the 
 woods: this completed the picture. And 
 this view, for it was on the two-acre plot of 
 land of the estate, was one of the assets of 
 Pairhaven. What wonder when the Doctor 
 learned this that he turned to Randolph and 
 exclaimed "And this is yours — all yours! 
 Oh I'm glad of this — glad for you, for in 
 all my life I cannot recall ever having seen 
 such a magnificent view!" 
 
164 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 As Hortense sat on the southern side of 
 the piazza that afternoon while waiting the 
 return of Randolph who had accompanied 
 the Doctor to his train, she found herself 
 becoming more and more awake to the 
 charm and beauty of the scene, and more 
 under the soothing influence of Fairhaven. 
 Directly in front of where she sat were the 
 beautifully kept open grounds between two 
 of the finest summer residences on the 
 avenue which gave an air of dignity and ex- 
 clusiveness to the neighborhood. The house 
 nearer the shore was of a modified style of 
 Spanish architecture, imposing and pic- 
 turesque with its wealth of vines, while that 
 nearer the avenue was beautiful and attrac- 
 tive in its colonial lines of simple dignity: 
 they were the homes in season of people of 
 wealth and culture and refinement. As she 
 gazed over the open space between the 
 houses Hortense became aware that here 
 was another exquisite view. The tide was 
 high and a slight breeze had ruffled the sur- 
 face of the inner bay between the shore and 
 Plymouth Beach with white crested wave- 
 lets that sparkled and glistened in the sun. 
 White clouds floated lazily overhead. Be- 
 yond the beach Clark's Island, Saquish and 
 The Gurnet were in full view, and then to 
 perfect the picture, the long line of deep 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 165 
 
 blue of the ocean beyond the white sands 
 of Duxbury Beach. Here and there the 
 snow-white sails of passing sloops or 
 schooners shone against the blue sky, and at 
 the moment she was so charmed came into 
 view a large ocean steamer bound from 
 Yucatan with its cargo of sisal for the great 
 cordage works which are the pride of 
 Plymouth and the products of which are 
 known throughout the world. 
 
 Randolph returned just as the steamer 
 came in sight, and sitting down by the side 
 of Hortense instantly became absorbed in 
 contemplation of the wonderful kaleidos- 
 copic picture that had now for the first time 
 revealed itself to both. The drooping 
 branches of the tall elm on their left and the 
 row of stately poplars that lined the drive- 
 way of the fine colonial house made a per- 
 fect frame for the scene. The grounds that 
 sloped to the shore were in all shades of 
 green, and then beyond were the silvery 
 waters of the inner bay. It was the varied 
 and varying coloring of the surface that now 
 presented such a wonderfully beautiful 
 scene. Light gray near the shore, then a 
 deeper tinge, then purple and pink and a 
 deep, dark brown — the colors all the time 
 changing as the fleeting clouds that caused 
 this splendid effect floated overhead. Be- 
 yond this the deep blue of the bay and the 
 softening tints of the sky made a picture 
 that wanted nothing to make it ideally per- 
 
166 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 feet. Surely the changing colors and the 
 rippling waves and the fleecy clouds were in 
 harmony with the wavering thoughts of 
 Hortense and Randolph, for neither could 
 for the time think of the future — of the great 
 happenings that were to take place when 
 they were once more in the maelstrom of life 
 in New York. Then like a flash came once 
 more to Randolph the thought of what a 
 subject this wonderful scene would be for a 
 painting; and miraculously, as if showing 
 the perfect harmony of their thoughts and 
 their now so beautifully blended lives, 
 Hortense exclaimed "Oh Randolph, Darl- 
 ing Heart, why can't you paint that 
 picture?" 
 
 Delighted with the vision that the words 
 of Hortense had for a moment brought be- 
 fore him, Randolph in another moment real- 
 ized that owing to the short time they could 
 remain in Fairhaven it would be impossible. 
 And with something like a sigh of regret he 
 was about to say as much when he felt that 
 it would be, in a way, a disappointment to 
 Hortense ; and to cause her even momentary 
 distraction from happy hopes was some- 
 thing he could not do. There was still a 
 full month ahead before he would have to 
 report in New York, and he might begin the 
 picture in that time and finish it when — 
 when — aye when? So it was to divert her 
 mind from the idea that he spoke of a sub- 
 ject which, while often in his mind of late, 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 167 
 
 he had never mentioned to Hortense : what 
 was to be done with Fairhaven — and with 
 Middy? The latter problem was instantly- 
 solved by Hortense — Middy was to go with 
 them to New York and to be their house- 
 keeper. But Fairhaven — there was the 
 rub! Obviously to keep it as the summer 
 home of John Randolph Carroll, one of the 
 greatest and wealthiest financiers in New 
 York would be out of the question. It would 
 be too small a house in which to entertain, 
 and entirely too insignificant and unpreten- 
 tious for people in the exclusive and fash- 
 ionable circle of society in which they were 
 to live as they had lived before. To keep it 
 closed the year round would be one alterna- 
 tive or to sell — As he spoke the word 
 Hortense gave a gasp that startled him. 
 Sell Fairhaven! An expression of pain 
 clouded her face, and for a moment she 
 turned away. Randolph now realized more 
 than ever what Fairhaven meant to 
 Hortense. The word had come uncon- 
 sciously for had he not been too much ab- 
 sorbed by thoughts of other things he would, 
 as he had intended to have done, have told 
 Hortense of an incident that had occurred 
 that very morning which would have pre- 
 vented the momentary pang at the thought 
 of losing Fairhaven and set her mind at 
 ease. Just as he and Dr. Jamison, he told 
 her, had descended the hill an auto stopped 
 in front of the house and a quick, alert man 
 
168 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 got out of the car and approached them. 
 Introducing himself as a real estate agent he 
 offered Randolph ten thousand dollars for 
 Fairhaven. Randolph replied that he did 
 not want to sell. But, the agent urged, the 
 price he offered was nearly double the 
 assessed valuation: if it was not enough 
 would Mr. Carroll name his price? And 
 Randolph's reply — and he meant it to the 
 limi t, — was that Pairhaven was not for sale 
 on any terms. 
 
 Directly south the landscape was one of 
 rare beauty. The grounds of the adjoining 
 estates had been laid out with good taste and 
 ornamented with an infinite variety of small 
 trees and flowers and shrubs which gave an 
 air of perfection to the spacious lawns. Be- 
 yond was a valley; and then the ground rose 
 in diminutive bluffs and terraces until the 
 faraway hills of Manomet, now in the fullest 
 luxuriance of their f oliage, stood out against 
 the sunlit sky. Many homes of diversified 
 architecture covered the uplands, and their 
 white outlines were in striking contrast to 
 the varied shades of green which gave the 
 background to the picture. Two objects in 
 the distance gave the pronounced color con- 
 trast to the green and white which predomi- 
 nated — the red cupola surmounted by a 
 weather vane on one building, and the 
 deeper red roof of another. Near there were 
 small groves of poplars. As Hortense, 
 now happy in the thought that Fairhaven 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 169 
 
 was not for sale, rose with Randolph she 
 stood for a moment, her eyes resting on the 
 scene just described. Then, with an ex- 
 clamation of delight, she asked Randolph if 
 the view recalled anything he could think 
 of in the past. For a moment he hesitated 
 — and then like a flash it came to him: it 
 was a perfect replica of a bit of Normandy 
 they both remembered on their wedding 
 tour and that was just what Hortense said 
 she had in mind. So that started memories 
 of their happiest days of youth and when 
 they went indoors it was to recall scenes and 
 memories of bygone days, and to rejoice that 
 in looking at the beautiful view they had 
 just seen from their own piazza they could 
 live these days over again and again. 
 
 On that never-to-be-forgotten afternoon 
 came the turning point in the lives of 
 Randolph and Hortense Carroll. After 
 luncheon Randolph had returned to the 
 piazza to enjoy his cigar, and as he walked 
 up and down the words of Hortense at table 
 gave him food for thought. The delicious 
 repast they had just enjoyed brought forth 
 words of praise for Middy; and when she en- 
 tered both expressed their warm apprecia- 
 tion to Middy's evident pleasure. She, too, 
 had become impressed with the delights of 
 Pairhaven as a home and had, as she ex- 
 pressed it, found it "just a perfect Heaven 
 on earth." When Middy had left the room 
 Hortense asked Randolph with a smile what 
 
170 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 he thought of Middy's verdict, adding that 
 for her part she had found more of Heaven 
 in Fairhaven than she had ever found in 
 New York even in the happiest days she 
 could recall. Randolph replied that where 
 she was meant Heaven to him — and then 
 with the parting kiss began the thoughts of 
 both from which were to come the great de- 
 cision of their lives. What did Hortense 
 mean 1 ? Could it be possible that — but no! 
 The idea was absurd. Voluntarily to re- 
 linquish her position in the great world — 
 the place to which she was entitled by birth, 
 by her life in the most aristocratic circles of 
 Europe, by the princely income that would 
 now give her the means to vie with the 
 richest families in New York in all that was 
 essential to pre-eminence in the exclusive 
 social circles in which she had always held 
 such an exalted place — to give up all this 
 and for what % 
 
 Not all his efforts, however, could banish 
 the problem from his mind — the words of 
 Hortense still haunted him. Her saying 
 that she had found more of heaven here than 
 in New York somehow tended to dim the 
 radiance of the visions he had framed of the 
 future. "Was it to be all the sunshine and 
 glory and happiness his mind had pictured 
 when he first felt the rapture of the great 
 news of his good fortune 1 And now he be- 
 gan to anticipate life as it was bound to be 
 under the conditions which were inevitable. 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 171 
 
 He would be compelled to enter his office 
 at ten, there to be confronted by the tre- 
 mendous responsibilities devolving upon 
 the head of the great concern. These would 
 imply a mental stress and strain, a feeling 
 of continuous and sometimes feverish 
 anxiety as to results: and from ten until 
 three he would never for a moment be able 
 to throw off the great burthen that would 
 rest upon him as executive head of all the 
 varied lines of enterprise for the develop- 
 ment of which the Universe Trust had been 
 formed. Then social affairs at home and 
 abroad would occupy his evenings when im- 
 portant conferences did not render it im- 
 perative that he be present elsewhere. He 
 knew what this meant — there would be no 
 time for home life — no time for such hours 
 of absolute happiness as he had now with 
 Hortense. Then came another thought: He 
 was now sixty-four — could he stand the 
 strain? Of course if he were ten — even five 
 years younger he — Now came the flash that 
 lighted up the whole picture he had formed: 
 Was the game worth the candle — was the 
 prize worth the price? And now again 
 came with greater intensity than ever before 
 thoughts of the life of happiness that had 
 come to him since the restoration of his 
 health at Fairhaven. Could — would it be 
 possible that Hortense — Hortense — 
 
 Now at this very moment Hortense was 
 thinking of Randolph's words — that where- 
 
172 FAIRHAVBN 
 
 ever she was meant heaven to him. She, 
 too, had been thinking of their coming life 
 in New York now so near at hand. It 
 meant, how well she knew, an end of the 
 constant, ideal companionship that had been 
 the result of their ever-growing love and 
 devotion here in Fairhaven. It meant sep- 
 aration for the greater part of the days to 
 come, and it meant the restless, exciting and' 
 exacting life of society that had left them 
 so little time for each other in days gone by. 
 And she could recall the feelings of utter 
 loneliness that came to her in times past 
 in her great home, and her growing fears as 
 she noticed the effects of care and worry on 
 Randolph. Then came thoughts by con- 
 trast of these days in the beauty and sweet- 
 ness of their lives together in this delightful 
 little home; of the boundless happiness that 
 had come to both, of the contrast of the quiet 
 and repose from the roar and turmoil of the 
 great city. If only Randolph — ah, but there 
 lay the great, overwhelming obstacle! His 
 future! His restoration to his place in the 
 world, his return to the proud position he 
 had held as one of the great factors in finan- 
 cial affairs, his future of prominence in 
 society — could he forego all this? And if 
 so, was her love and devotion worthy of the 
 name if by any word or act she should in- 
 fluence him in any way that would mar the 
 happiness his great good fortune held in 
 store for him'? She moved to the window 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 173 
 
 and seating herself looked out on the bay 
 and to the white towers of The Gurnet 
 standing out in bold relief against the 
 bight blue sky. Then she sighed — for 
 now had come to her the great truth that 
 here with Randolph she would willingly, 
 gladly live for all the rest of their lives of 
 love, of peace and of the greatest happiness 
 she had ever known. 
 
 Ever since Middy had assumed control of 
 the department of the interior at Fairhaven 
 she had kept an accurate account of the 
 household expenses. Her neat and sys- 
 tematic records showed every item of ex- 
 penditure for wood and coal, for butter and 
 eggs, groceries and vegetables, and for all 
 incidentals. It had been her rule to submit 
 a monthly statement to Mrs. Carroll, and on 
 this day she had balanced her books, so to 
 speak, and Hortense had the figures for the 
 last six months before her. The result was 
 certainly a surprise. For the accounts 
 showed that the total expenditure for the 
 time averaged a trifle less than two hundred 
 dollars a month for everything! She could 
 hardly believe her eyes. Was it possible! 
 And they had had the best — the very best — 
 and an abundance of everything in season 
 the market could offer. In another moment 
 she was by the side of Randolph asking him 
 to guess "what it had cost them to live. He 
 had never given thought to the subject, but 
 after a moment's mental calculation he 
 
174 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 gave his estimate — about four thousand dol- 
 lars a year — perhaps more. It was with in- 
 credulity that he heard the statement — oh, 
 there must be some mistake! But when he 
 found that the amount named was correct 
 he was simply astounded. That they could 
 have had all the finest food — essentials and 
 luxuries — and that all the other expenses of 
 the house could be covered by such a sum 
 was to him astonishing. Then came the 
 thought that the income from what re- 
 mained of his fortune would be ample to live 
 on at Fairhaven, and that this assured free- 
 dom from anxiety for all time to come. And 
 it was at this psychological moment that 
 came to both the wonderful miracle that 
 gave impulse to the thought that found ex- 
 pression in words of both — words that set- 
 tled the question of their future there and 
 then. 
 
 Looking eastward over the broad expanse 
 of Cape Cod Bay Hortense and Randolph 
 suddenly became conscious of a singular and 
 wonderfully beautiful effect on the surface 
 of the water. As far as the eye could reach 
 there were great streaks of color — miles 
 long — purple and green and pink and silvery 
 gray, and in the far distance, a gleam of 
 golden brown. Then as if by magic the 
 colors alternated and changed position. In 
 another moment a pale silvery mist ap- 
 peared on the horizon and then — mirabile 
 dictu! — came the mirage — the view of the 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 175 
 
 whole inner coast line of Northern Cape 
 Cod; a panorama twenty miles long! And 
 such a view! As clear and as perfect in 
 every detail as if it were four or five instead 
 of twenty miles away! They could see 
 bright and distinct the yellow beach, the 
 woods, the white houses on the shore, the 
 buildings of Provincetown, the great Pil- 
 grim monument apparently as near as that 
 on Captain's Hill, the white sails of the ships 
 and the outlines of steamers sailing out into 
 the harbor — the whole coast line by this 
 most wonderful and phenomenal effect be- 
 ing clear to the very tip of Cape Cod. Then 
 it was that Hortense, grasping Randolph's 
 hand, cried "Oh Boy, Boy! isn't this 
 Heaven! Why — why — why can't we stay 
 in Pairhaven!" And that turned the tide! 
 Taking her in his arms Randolph, in a voice 
 of deep emotion, gave his answer: "Thank 
 Cod you've spoken, Hortense darling — 
 that's my own desire, and here we're going 
 to stay for life!" And when they again 
 looked the mirage had vanished. It had fin- 
 ished its work; the view had disappeared 
 but the surface of the sea and the sky was all 
 a golden glow. Who shall say that mirage 
 had not wrought the miracle ! 
 
 Love had won the victory!- Wealth, 
 Power, Society had marshalled their forces 
 in vain, and the attempt to storm the Citadel 
 of Pairhaven had failed. Love reigned, and 
 Happiness and Content were by the sides 
 
176 FAIRHAVEN 
 
 of the throne. A month has elapsed since 
 Randolph and Hortense, animated by the af- 
 fection and devotion that has blended their 
 lives into one of ideal unity and companion- 
 ship, reached the grand decision that made 
 Fairhaven an earthly paradise. Now 
 Randolph is realizing the dreams of his 
 youth for he has discovered after the long 
 lapse of years that his artistic temperament 
 still lives and that his hand has not lost its 
 cunning nor his eye the gift of value and 
 effect of color. He is painting one of the 
 six splendid scenes that are exclusively sub- 
 jects of his own, for nowhere can the same 
 exquisite views be had in all their beauty 
 as from the broad piazzas of Fairhaven. So 
 he has for subjects — and they present il- 
 limitable variations with every passing 
 cloud and stage of tide and change of sun- 
 light — The Village Street and Duxbury 
 Bay and Plymouth Harbor and The Gurnet 
 and Cape Cod Bay framed by the wooded 
 bights of the Manomet Hills, and then that 
 beautiful landscape which recalls to him and 
 to Hortense those happy days of long ago 
 in France. And Hortense 1 ? Her life is 
 radiant with joy and the beauty and glory 
 and sweetness of companionship with "the 
 dearest and best man in all this world — the 
 man who has made my life a blessing and my 
 home a heaven to me." These were the 
 words she used in a letter to a friend. And 
 Middy? "Well, there is no happier girl any- 
 
A STORY OF PILGRIM LAND 177 
 
 where. And if you who have read this story 
 should sometimes think it possible that 
 Middy might be induced to make a change — 
 Forget it! You couldn't separate Middy 
 from the Carrolls for ten thousand a year. 
 
 Yet one last glimpse of the stage before 
 the curtain falls. A year has elapsed, and 
 Hortense and Randolph in all that time have 
 never once had the slightest shadow of re- 
 gret that they have chosen to make their 
 home for life in Fairhaven. Randolph has 
 sent his first two paintings — Duxbury Bay 
 by Twilight and Morning on Cape Cod Bay 
 as presents to his friends, Dr. Jamison and 
 Philip Rossmore. It is a calm, glorious 
 starlit night in June. They are talking of 
 the great happiness that is theirs. The 
 moon is rising above the Manomet Hills, and 
 the waters of Warren Cove are a flood of 
 sparkling silver. Silence reigns. They 
 both now realize in the very depth of their 
 souls their supreme joy in each other. They 
 have health and happiness, peace and 
 plenty; they have books and music and such 
 a gallery of paintings at their door as no 
 one on earth possesses, — for they are paint- 
 ings by the hand of The Master, and they 
 belong to Fairhaven. And as Randolph 
 turns in the excess of his happiness to 
 Hortense and as she in womanly pride and 
 joy kisses "her boy" they are both con- 
 scious of the fulness of the joy and glory of 
 life and living in their Land of Heart's 
 Desire.