Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-03-03


hummed in a manner determinedly
gay. However he might disguise it
from himself, this time Mr.. Tubbs had
overshot his mark. The truth was,
since our arrival on the island Mr..
Tubbs had felt himself the spoiled
child Of fortune. Aunt Jane and Miss
Higglesby- Browne were the joint COM
manders of the expedition, and he COM
manded them. The Scotchman's the
oretical rank as leader had involved
merely the acceptance of all the re-
sponsibility and blame, while authority
rested with the petticoat government
dominated by the bland and willy
Tubbs.
But now, faced with the failure of
his coup d'etat, Mr.. Tubbs' situation
was, to say the least, awkward. He
had rfsked all and lost it. But he
maintained an air Of jaunty self-con-
fdence, slightly tinged with irony. 1t
was all very well, he seemed to inn
ply, for US to try to get along without
II. III. We would discover the impos-
sibiIity of it soon enough.
Aunt Jane, dropping, had been led
away to the cabin by Miss Higglesby-
Browne. You now heard the voice
Of Violet in exhortation, mingled with
Aunt James sobs. / seemed to see
that an ear of Mr.. Tubbs was cooked
attentively in that direction. He had
indeed erred in the very Wantonness
of triumph, for a single glance would
have kept Aunt Jane loyal and prodi-
gal Of excuses for him in the face of
any treachery. Not even Violet could
have clapped the lid on the up-welling
font of sentiment in Aunt James heart.
Only the cold Conforming eye of IL. IL.
himself had CONCEALED that tepid flow.
The morning wore on with ever-in-
creasing heat, and as nothing hap
pened 1 began to find my Watchful
waiting dull Crusoe, worn out per-
haps by some private nocturnal pig
hunt, slept heavily where the drip of
the spring over the brim of old
Heintz's kettle cooled the air. / be-
gan to consider whether it would not
be well to take a walk with Cuthbert
Vane and discover the tombstone all
over again. / knew nothing, of course,
of Mr.. Tubb's drastic measures with
the celebrated landmark. AS to Cuth-
bert's interrupted courtship, | depend
ed on the vast excitement of discOy-
ering the cave to distract his mind
from it. For that was the idea, of
course Cuthbert Vane and | would
explore the cave, and then whenever
l liked I could prick the bubble of Mr..
Tubs ambitions, without relating the
whole strange story of the diary and
the Island Queen.
But meanwhile the cave drew me
like a magnet. jealousy desired to
be the first to see it, to snatch from
Mr.. Tubbs the honor of discovery. And
I wanted to know about poor Peter
and the doubloons that he had gone
back to fetch
But already Captain Magnus had
forsaken the post Of duty and depart
ed on an unknown errand. Could | ask
Cuthbert Vane to do it, too? And
then I smiled a smile that was half
proud / might ask him-but he would
refuse me. In Cuthbert's simple code,
certain things were "done," certain
others not. Among the nots was to
fail in standing by a friend. And just
now Cuthbert was standing by Dugald
Shaw. Therefore mods and becks and
wreathed smiles were vain. In Cuth-
bert's quiet, /easy-mannered, thick
headed way he could turn his back
calmly on the face of love and follow
the harsh call Of duty even to death.
1t would not occur to him not to.
And he never would suspect himself
of being a hero-that would be quite
the incest part Of it.
And yet I knew poor Cuthbert was
an exploded superstition, an anachro-
nism, part of vanishing order Of
things, and that the ideal which was
replacing him was a boiler-plated mon
ster with clockwork heart and brain,
named Efficiency. And that Cuthbert
must go, along with his Jacobean ma
nor, and his family ghost, and the
oaks in the park, and everything else
that couldn't prove its right to live
except by being fine and lovely and
full of garnered sweetness of the
past
At this point in my meditations the
door Of the cabin opened and Miss
Browne came out, looking sternly res
olute. Aunt Jane followed, very pink
about the eyes and nose. With a
commanding gesture Miss Browne sig
nailed the rest to approach. Mr.. Tubbs
bounced up with alacrity. Mr.. Shaw
and Cuthbert obeyed less promptly,
but they obeyed. Meanwhile Violet
waited, looking implacable as fate.
'And where is Captain, Magnus? p
she demanded, glancing about her.
But no one knew what had become
Of Captain Magnus.
AS for myself, I continued to sit in
the shade and tat. But I could hear
with ease all that was said.
''Mr. Tubbs," began Miss Browne,
your recent claims have been matter
of prolonged consideration between
Miss Harding and myself. We feel
we cannot but feeI-that there was q
harshnesS in your announcement of
them, an apparent concentration of
your own interests i'll BETTING mem
Der of this expedition. Also, that in
actual substance, they were excessive.
Not half, Mr.. Tubbs; oh, no, not half !
But quarter, Miss Harding and
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