Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-24
CHAPTER VII-Continued.

Now, that was a funny thing fur
Maggie L do" meditated Mrs. Arms
aloud. and she echoed my thoughts. 1T
is no as Z she were fond o. takin' the
'orses. as now an again she as to-
And she added in her odd mixture of
cockney and Lancashire dialects, as size
regarded me with twinkling eyes:
Appen she 8 a-thinkin' We re such a
fine young man Jim d be a-wantin' 10
tidy hup q bit afore e come in 4 We"
But II was hardly probable that such
was the girls intention in meeting her
brother. for he did not visit the pump or
any other remote spot before he appeared
before us.
I'VE wan Z see me?" he asked. alb
eyes beneath pair of sinister brows.
"Wot is IL We d ave o. me. sir?"
l handed to him Mr.. Milbrath's note,
which Horsford had returned. He read
it through without a change of express
sion and gave it back to me.
1T is fur my cousin, Joseph 'Orsford,
he said.
80 / discovered upon my arrival last
evening. but as you were SO long part
of Overlook / have taken the first OPP
portunity to make your acquaintance.
This remark elected no response from
Arms. and his manner implied that ar
acquaintance with me was neither So
licited nor desired. l perceived that had
made q mistake in hurrying the matter
and regretted that I had not waited until
later, then to approach him in the atti-
tude Of master toward servant. an atti-
tude more nearly within the limits of his
comprehension. probably.
1 stared at him in grim silence. deter
mined that he should respond in some
way to my remark. We stood there fac.
ing each other with suppressed alertness
Mrs. Arms was grave and anxious, long
ing for concession on the part Of her son
not daring to suggest IL and, withal. II
seemed to me, somewhat puzzled by Ans
attitude.
After an awkward silence he spoke:
when l said goodbye to Hoverlook
did MT expect to ave to ave anything
more to do with it," he said. ungra
ciously.
(Which means that you would prefer tt
rogated. with q smile. In that case
will bid you good day. Mr.. Arms
The man threw me a swift glance, hal
suspicion, half question. 1t seemed as 1
with it he also half relented.
Good day. SIR" he answered. civilly
Perhaps hif you come again another
week. when work is light, I'll ave bi
o. time to talk with you"
Mrs. Arms followed me to the door.
"You must mt mind JIM" she said. II
distressed voice which harbored a puz
zled note. Il don't see what's the matter
sir. 1t his not like this that e his usu
ally. Come again. sir. Do come. K I
be all right another time. I'll make sure
Next week the gooseberry wine II b'
good. Come and try q bit. will you. sir
/ treasured her with a promise and
looking back at the turn in the road
where the land lay higher, / saw tina
she still watched me.
A little farther on paused in the shad'
Of some trees. A breeze touched the lant
at that point. and / threw myself upoi
the ground. which was still cool. III
Arms cottage was hidden from my view
but / could see the stable with its opeI
door, before which Arms was lazily un
hitching. AS watched him. ponderinf
on the meaning OF his manner toward
me. / saw Maggie come from the dfrec
ton OF the house. In her hand was q
large straw hat. such as men wear who
work in the field. She paused for an In.
slant, as IL in conversation with hel
brother. and then moved on. but slowly
as IL unwillingly. toward q small but
dense grove beyond the place..
She was lost to my view for. perhaps
five minutes, and when she returned there
was a man with her. / was too far away
to get much idea Of his appearance. blu,
his carriage gave me the impression thai
he was q, man near middle life, and one
who would be well dressed. He wore
the hat which Maggie had taken out and
1t completely hid his face from me.