第28章

“Iaminducedtoacceptyourproposaltemporarily，“shesaid，inavoiceofquerulousprecision，“onaccountofpressingpecuniarycircumstanceswhichwouldnothavehappenedhadmyclaimagainsttheshipownersformydearhusband’slossbeenproperlyraised。I hopeyoufullyunderstandthatIamunfittedbothbyillhealthandearlyeducationfromdoinganymenialormanualworkinyourhousehold。Ishallsimplyoverseeanddirect。Ishallexpectthatthestipendyouoffershallbepaidmonthlyinadvance。Andasmymedicalmanprescribesacertainamountofstimulationformysystem，Ishallexpecttobefurnishedwithsuchviands——oreven“—— shecoughedslightly——“suchbeveragesasmaybenecessary。Iamfarfromstrong——yetmywantsarefew。“ “EzfarezIamketchin’onandfollowin’ye，ma’am，“returnedProspertimidly，“ye’llheveverythingyewant——jestlikeitwasyerownhome。Infact，“hewenton，suddenlygrowingdesperateasthedifficultiesofadjustingthisunexpectedlyfastidiousandsuperiorwomantohisplanseemedtoincrease，“ye’lljestconsidermeezyer“——Butherehermurkyeyeswerefixedonhisandhefaltered。Yethehadgonetoofartoretreat。“Yesee，“hestammered，withahystericalgrimnessthatwasintendedtobeplayful——“yesee，thisisjestalittlesecretbetwixtandbetweenyouandme；there’llbeonlyyouandmeinthehouse，anditwouldkinderseemtotheboysmorehomelike——ef——ef——youandmehad——youbein’awidder，youknow——akindof——of“——herehissmilebecameghastly——“closerelationship。“ ThewidowofCaptainPottingerheresatupsosuddenlythatsheseemedtoslipthroughhersombreandpreciseenwrappingswithanexposureoftherealMrs。Pottingerthatwasalmostimproper。Herhighcolordeepened；thepupilsofherblackeyescontractedinthelighttheinnocentProsperhadpouredintothem。Leaningforward，withherfingersclaspedonherbosom，shesaid:“Didyoutellthistothemanager？“ “Ofcoursenot，“saidProsper；“yesee，it’sonlyamatter’twixtyouandme。“ Mrs。PottingerlookedatProsper，drewadeepbreath，andthengazedattheabeloneshellsformoralsupport。Asmile，halfquerulous，halfsuperior，crossedherfaceasshesaid:“Thisisveryabruptandunusual。Thereis，ofcourse，adisparityinourages！Youhaveneverseenmebefore——atleasttomyknowledge—— althoughyoumayhaveheardofme。TheSpraggsofMarbleheadarewellknown——perhapsbetterthanthePottingers。Andyet，Mr。 Griggs“—— “Riggs，“suggestedProsperhurriedly。 “Riggs。Excuseme！IwasthinkingofyoungLieutenantGriggsoftheNavy，whomIknewinthedaysnowpast。Mr。Riggs，Ishouldsay。Thenyouwantmeto“—— “Tobemyoldmother，ma’am，“saidProspertremblingly。“Thatis，topretendandlookezefyouwas！Yousee，Ihaven’tany，butI thoughtitwouldhenicefortheboys，andmakeitmorelikehomeinmynewhouse，efIallowedthatmyoldmotherwouldbecomin’tolivewithme。Theydon’tknowIneverhadamothertospeakof。 They’llneverfinditout！Sayyewill，Mrs。Pottinger！Do！“ Andheretheunexpectedoccurred。Againstallconventionalrulesandallacceptedtraditionsoffiction，IamobligedtostatethatMrs。PottingerdidNOTriseupandorderthetremblingProspertoleavethehouse！Sheonlygrippedthearmofherchairalittletighter，leanedforward，anddisdainingherusualprecisionandrefinementofspeech，saidquietly:“It’sabargain。IfTHAT’S whatyou’rewanting，myson，youcancountuponmeasbecomingyouroldmother，CeciliaJanePottingerRiggs，everytime！“ AfewdayslaterthesentimentalistJoeWynbrookwalkedintotheWildCatsaloon，wherehiscomradesweredrinking，andlaidaletterdownonthebarwitheveryexpressionofastonishmentanddisgust。“Look，“hesaid，“ifthatdon’tbeatall！Yewouldn’tbelieveit，buthere’sProssyRiggswritin’thathecameacrosshismother——hisMOTHER，gentlemen——in’Frisco；shehevin’，unbeknownsttohim，joinedapartyvisitingthecoast！Andwhatdoesthisblamedfooldo？Why，he’sgoin’tobringher——thatoldwoman—— HERE！Here——gentlemen——totakechargeofthatnewhouse——andspoilourfun。AndtheGod-forsakenidiotthinksthatwe’llLIKEit！“ Itwasoneofthoseraremorningsintherainyseasonwhentherewasasuspicionofspringintheair，andafteranightofrainfallthesunbrokethroughfleecycloudswithlittleisletsofbluesky—— whenProsperRiggsandhismotherdroveintoWildCatcamp。Anexpressionofcheerfulnesswasonthefacesofhisoldcomrades。 Forithadbeenrecognizedthat，afterall，“Prossy“hadaperfectrighttobringhisoldmotherthere——hiswell-knownyouthandinexperiencepreventingthisbalefulperformancefrombeingestablishedasaprecedent。Forthesereasonshatswerecheerfullydoffed，andsomejacketsputon，asthebuggysweptupthehilltotheprettynewcottage，withitsgreenblindsandwhiteveranda，onthecrest。 YetIamafraidthatProsperwasnotperfectlyhappy，eveninthetriumphantconsummationofhisplans。Mrs。Pottinger’ssuddenandbusiness-likeacquiescenceinit，andhersingularlapsefromhergenteelprecision，weregratifyingbutstartlingtohisingenuousness。Andalthoughfromthemomentsheacceptedthesituationshewasfertileinresourcesandfullofprecautionagainstanypossibilityofdetection，hesaw，withsomeuneasiness，thatitscontrolhadpassedoutofhishands。 “Yousayyourcomradesknownothingofyourfamilyhistory？“shehadsaidtohimonthejourneythither。“Whatareyougoingtotellthem？“ “Nothin’，’ceptyourbein’myoldmother，“saidProsperhopelessly。 “That’snotenough，myson。“(AnotherembarrassmenttoProsperwashereasygraspofthematernalepithets。)“Nowlisten！Youwerebornjustsixmonthsafteryourfather，CaptainRiggs(formerlyPottinger)sailedonhisfirstvoyage。Yourememberverylittleofhim，ofcourse，ashewasawaysomuch。“ “Hadn’tIbetterknowsuthinabouthislooks？“saidProspersubmissively。 “Atalldarkman，that’senough，“respondedMrs。Pottingersharply。 “Hadn’thebetterfavorme？“saidProsper，withhissmallcunningrecognizingthefactthathehimselfwasadecidedblond。 “Ain’tatallnecessary，“saidthewidowfirmly。“Youwerealwayswildandungovernable，“shecontinued，“andranawayfromschooltojoinsomeWesternemigration。Thataccountsforthedifferenceofourstyles。“ “But，“continuedProsper，“Ioughterremembersuthinaboutouroldtimes——runnin’arrantsforyou，andbringin’inthewoodo’frostymornin’s，andyougivin’mehotdoughnuts，“suggestedProsperdubiously。 “Nothingofthesort，“saidMrs。Pottingerpromptly。“Welivedinthecity，withplentyofservants。Justremember，Prosperdear，yourmotherwasn’tTHATlow-downcountrystyle。“ Gladtoberelievedfromfurtherinvention，Prosperwas，nevertheless，somewhatconcernedatthisshatteringoftheidealmotherintheverycampthathadsungherpraises。Buthecouldonlytrusttoherrecognizingthesituationwithherusualsagacity，ofwhichhestoodinrespectfulawe。 JoeWynbrookandCyrusBrewsterhad，asoldermembersofthecamp，purposelylingerednearthenewhousetoofferanyassistanceto“Prossyandhismother，“andhadreceivedabriefandpassingintroductiontothelatter。Sodeepandunexpectedwastheimpressionshemadeuponthemthatthesetwooraclesofthecampretireddownthehillinawkwardsilenceforsometime，neitherdaringtoriskhisreputationbycommentoroversurprise。 Butwhentheyapproachedthecuriouscrowdbelowawaitingthem，CyrusBrewsterventuredtosay，“Struckmeezefthatoldgalwasratherhigh-tonedforProssy’smother。“ JoeWynbrookinstantlyseizedthefataladmissiontoshowtheadvantageofsuperiorinsight:—— “StruckYOU！Why，itwasnomorethanIexpectedallalong！WhatdidweknowofProssy？Nothin’！Whatdidheevertellus’？ Nothin’！Andwhy’？’Cositwashissecret。Lord！ablindmulecouldseethat。Allthisfoolishnessandsimplicityo’hiscomeo’ hisbein’cuddledandpamperedasababy。Then，likeeznot，hewaseitherkidnappedorledawaybysomefeller——andnearlybrokehismother’sheart。I’llbetmybottomdollarhehasbeenadvertisedforaforethis——onlywedidn’tseethepaper。Likeasnottheyhadagentsoutseekin’him，andhejestranintotheirhandsin’Frisco！Ihadakindo’presentimento’thiswhenheleft，thoughIneverletonanything。“ “Ireckon，too，thatshe’skinderafraidhe’llboltagin。Didyenoticehowshekeptwatchin’himallthetime，andhowshedidthebossin’o’everything？Andthere’sONEthingsure！He’schanged—— yes！Hedon’tlookaskeerlessandfreeandfoolishezheuster。“ Heretherewasanunmistakablechorusofassentfromthecrowdthathadjoinedthem。Everyone——eventhosewhohadnotbeenintroducedtothemother——hadnoticedhisstrangerestraintandreticence。Intheimpulsivelogicofthecamp，conductsuchasthis，inthefaceofthatsuperiorwoman——hismother——couldonlyimplythatherpresencewasdistastefultohim；thathewaseitherashamedoftheirnoticinghisinferioritytoher，orashamedofTHEM！Wildandhastyaswastheirdeduction，itwas，nevertheless，voicedbyJoeWynbrookinatoneofimpartialandevenreluctantconviction。 “Well，gentlemen，someofyemayrememberthatwhenIheardthatProssywasbringin’hismotherhereIkicked——kickedbecauseitonlystoodtoreasonthat，beingHISmother，she’dbethatfoolishshe’dupsetthecamp。Therewasn’troomenoughfortwosuchchuckle-heads——andoneof’embeingawoman，shecouldn’tbeshutuporsatuponezwedidtoHIM。Butnow，gentlemen，ezweseesheain’tthatkind，buthigh-tonedandlevel-headed，andthatshe’sgotthegriponProssy——whetherhelikesitornot——weain’tgoin’ tolethimgobackonher！No，sir！weain’tgoin’tolethimbreakherheartthesecondtime！Hemaythinkweain’tgoodenoughforher，butezlongezshe’sciviltous，we’llstandbyher。“