第22章

The next morning, with much the same feeling that a convict must experience when he enters upon a life imprisonment, Albert entered the employ of "Z.Snow and Co., Lumber and Builders' Hardware."The day, he would have sworn it, was at least a year long.The interval between breakfast and dinner was quite six months, yet the dinner hour itself was the shortest sixty minutes he had ever known.Mr.Keeler had not yet returned to his labors, so there was no instruction in bookkeeping; but his grandfather gave him letters to file and long dreary columns of invoice figures to add.Twice Captain Zelotes went out and then, just as Albert settled back for a rest and breathing spell, Issachar Price appeared, warned apparently by some sort of devilish intuition, and invented "checking up stock" and similar menial and tiresome tasks to keep him uncomfortable till the captain returned.The customers who came in asked questions concerning him and he was introduced to at least a dozen citizens of South Harniss, who observed "Sho!" and "I want to know!" when told his identity and, in some instances, addressed him as "Bub," which was of itself a crime deserving capital punishment.

That night, as he lay in bed in the back bedroom, he fell asleep facing the dreary prospect of another monotonous imprisonment the following day, and the next day, and the day after that, and after that--and after that--and so on--and on--and on--forever and ever, as long as life should last.This, then, was to be the end of all his dreams, this drudgery in a country town among these commonplace country people.This was the end of his dreams of some day writing deathless odes and sonnets or thrilling romances; of treading the boards as the hero of romantic drama while star-eyed daughters of multi-millionaires gazed from the boxes in spellbound rapture.

This...The thought of the star-eyed ones reminded him of the girl who had come into the office the afternoon of his first visit to that torture chamber.He had thought of her many times since their meeting and always with humiliation and resentment.It was his own foolish tongue which had brought the humiliation upon him.

When she had suggested that he might be employed by Z.Snow and Co.

he had replied: "Me? Work HERE! Well, I should say NOT!" And all the time she, knowing who he was, must have known he was doomed to work there.He resented that superior knowledge of hers.He had made a fool of himself but she was to blame for it.Well, by George, he would NOT work there! He would run away, he would show her, and his grandfather and all the rest what was what.Night after night he fell asleep vowing to run away, to do all sorts of desperate deeds, and morning after morning he went back to that office.

On the fourth morning the prodigal came home, the stray lamb returned to the fold--Mr.Keeler returned to his desk and his duties.There was a premonition of his return at the Snow breakfast table.For three days Mrs.Ellis had swathed her head in white and her soul in black.For three days her favorite accompaniment to conversation had been a groan or a sigh.Now, on this fourth morning, she appeared without the bandage on her brow or the crape upon her spirit.She was not hilarious but she did not groan once, and twice during the meal she actually smiled.Captain Lote commented upon the change, she being absent from table momentarily.

"Whew!" he observed, in an undertone, addressing his wife."If it ain't a comfort to see the wrinkles on Rachel's face curvin' up instead of down.I'm scared to death that she'll go out some time in a cold spell when she's havin' one of them sympathetics of hers, and her face'll freeze that way.Well, Albert," turning to his grandson, "the colors'll be h'isted to the truck now instead of half-mast and life'll be somethin' besides one everlastin' 'last look at the remains.' Now we can take off the mournin' till the next funeral.""Yes," said Olive, "and Laban'll be back, too.I'm sure you must have missed him awfully, Zelotes.""Missed him! I should say so.For one thing, I miss havin' him between me and Issy.When Labe's there Is talks to him and Labe keeps on thinkin' of somethin' else and so it don't worry him any.

I can't do that, and my eardrums get to wearin' thin and that makes me nervous.Maybe you've noticed that Issy's flow of conversation ain't what you'd call a trickle," he added, turning to Albert.

Albert had noticed it."But," he asked, "what makes Rachel--Mrs.

Ellis--so cheerful this morning? Does she know that Mr.Keeler will be back at work? How does she know? She hasn't seen him, has she?""No," replied the captain."She ain't seen him.Nobody sees him, far's that goes.He generally clears out somewheres and locks himself up in a room, I judge, till his vacation's over.I suppose that's one way to have fun, but it ain't what I'd call hilarious.""Don't, Zelotes," said Mrs.Snow."I do wish you wouldn't call it fun.""I don't, but Laban seems to.If he don't do it for fun I don't know what he does it for.Maybe it's from a sense of duty.It ain't to oblige me, I know that."Albert repeated his question."But how does she know he will be back to-day?" he asked.

His grandmother shook her head."That's the mysterious part about it," she whispered."It makes a person think there may be somethin' in the sympathetic notion she talks so much about.She don't see him at all and yet we can always tell when he's comin'