第47章

"Oh, 'cause he probably remembered, same as I did, what folks used to call 'em in the old days.""You HAVE been drinking! What did they use to call them?""Love apples," replied Captain Obed, and strode away chuckling.

John watched him go.He, too, laughed at first, but his laugh broke off in the middle and when he went into the house his expression was troubled and serious.

One remark of the captain's was true enough; John Kendrick's popularity with his professional rival was growing daily less.The pair were scrupulously polite to each other, but they seldom spoke except when others were present, and Mr.Daniels made it a point apparently to be present whenever Miss Howes was in the room.He continued to bring his little offerings of fruit and flowers and his invitations for drives and picnics and entertainments at the town hall were more frequent.Sometimes Emily accepted these invitations; more often she refused them.John also occasionally invited her to drive with him or to play tennis on his cousin's courts, and these invitations she treated as she did Heman's, refusing some and accepting others.She treated the pair with impartiality and yet Thankful was growing to believe there was a difference.Imogene, outspoken, expressed her own feelings in the matter when she said,"Miss Emily likes Mr.Kendrick pretty well, don't she, ma'am?"Thankful regarded her maidservant with disapproval.

"What makes you say that, Imogene?" she demanded."Of course she likes him.Why shouldn't she?""She should, ma'am.And she does, too.And he likes her; that's plain enough.""Imogene, what are you hintin' at? Do you mean that my cousin is in--in love with Mr.John Kendrick?""No'm.I don't say that, not yet.But there's signs that--""Signs! If you don't get those ridiculous story-book notions out of your head I don't know what I'll do to you.What do you know about folks bein' in love? You ain't in love, I hope; are you?"Imogene hesitated."No, ma'am," she replied."I ain't.But--but maybe I might be, if I wanted to.""For mercy sakes! The girl's crazy.You MIGHT be--if you wanted to! Who with? If you're thinkin' of marryin' anybody seems to me I ought to know it.Why, you ain't met more'n a dozen young fellers in this town, and I've taken good care to know who they were.If you're thinkin' of fallin' in love--or marryin'--"Imogene interrupted."I ain't," she declared."And, anyhow, ma'am, gettin' married don't necessarily mean you're in love.""It don't! Well, this beats all I ever--""No, ma'am, it don't.Sometimes it's a person's duty to get married."Thankful gasped."Duty!" she repeated."You HAVE been readin'

more of those books, in spite of your promisin' me you wouldn't.""No, ma'am, I ain't.Honest, I ain't."

"Then what do you mean? Imogene, what man do you care enough for to make you feel it's your--your duty to marry him?""No man at all," declared Imogene, promptly and decisively.And that is all she would say on the subject.

Thankful repeated this astonishing conversation, or part of it, to Emily.The latter considered it a good joke."That girl is a strange creature," she said, "and great fun.You never can tell what she will say or think.She is very romantic and that nonsense about duty and the rest of it undoubtedly is taken from some story she has read.You needn't worry, Auntie.Imogene worships you, and she will never leave you--to be married, or for any other reason."So Thankful did not worry about Imogene.She had other worries, those connected with a houseful of boarders, and these were quite sufficient.And now came another.Kenelm Parker was threatening to leave her employ.

The statement is not strictly true.Kenelm, himself, never threatened to do anything.But another person did the threatening for him and that person was his sister.Hannah Parker, for some unaccountable reason, seemed to be developing a marked prejudice against the High Cliff House.Her visits to the premises were not less frequent than formerly, but they were confined to the yard and stable; she no longer called at the house.Her manner toward Emily and Thankful was cordial enough perhaps, but there was constraint in it and she asked a good many questions concerning her brother's hours of labor, what he did during the day, and the like.

"She acts awful queer, seems to me," said Thankful."Not the way she did at first at all.In the beginnin' I had to plan pretty well to keep her from runnin' in and sp'ilin' my whole mornin' with her talk.Now she seems to be keepin' out of my way.What we've done to make her act so I can't see, and neither can Emily."Captain Bangs, to whom this remark was addressed, laughed.

"You ain't done anything, I guess," he said."It ain't you she's down on; it's your hired girl, the Imogene one.She seems to be more down on that Imogene than a bow anchor on a mud flat.They don't hitch horses, those two.You see she tries to boss and condescend and Imogene gives her as good as she sends.It's got so that Hannah is actually scared of that girl; don't pretend to be, of course; calls her 'the inmate' and all sorts of names.But she is scared of her and don't like her."Thankful was troubled."I'm sorry," she said."Imogene is independent, but she's an awful kind-hearted girl.I do hate trouble amongst neighbors.""Oh, there won't be any trouble.Hannah's jealous, that's all the trouble--jealous about Kenelm.You see, she wanted him to come here to work so's she could have him under her thumb and run over and give him orders every few minutes.Imogene gives him orders, too, and he minds; she makes him.Hannah don't like that; 'cordin'

to her notion Kenelm hadn't ought to have any skipper but her.

It's all right, though, Mrs.Barnes.It's good for Kenelm and it's good for Hannah.Do 'em both good, I cal'late."But when Kenelm announced that he wasn't sure but that he should "heave up his job" in a fortnight or so, the situation became more serious.