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Dinneford went with her up stairs to a chamber in the rear part of the building. "We shall be out of earshot here," said Mrs. Hoyt as she closed the door, locking it at the same time. "And now tell me what's up, and what about Pinky Swett." "You know her?" "Yes, slightly." "More than slightly, I guess." Mrs. Hoyt's eyes flashed impatiently. Mrs. Dinneford saw it, and took warning.
"Not only that," my cousin continued, "but I believe that her coming was on your account." "Tell me exactly what you mean," I demanded. Gilbert leaned a little towards me. "Jim," he said, "has there been anything between you and Miss Van Hoyt?" "This much," I answered, "that but for these confounded happenings, she would have been my wife. If ever I do marry anybody, it will be she."
"I wish it were less clear to me," said Chester, gloomily. "The worst is that the story is spreading like a pestilence all over the post. The women have got hold of it, and there is all manner of talk. I shouldn't be surprised if Mrs. Hoyt had to be taken violently ill. She has written to invite Miss Renwick to visit her, as it is certain that Colonel and Mrs.
"So there is a division in the camp," he murmured softly. "I imagined as much. As usual, it is the woman who plays the whole game." "I wonder," I said, "whether you would mind telling me what you know of Miss Van Hoyt?" He moved on the couch a little uneasily. The request, for some reason or other, seemed to disquiet him. Nevertheless, he answered me.
"We put the matter entirely in your hands, sir," said Uncle John. "Act as you think best." "I thank you," replied Dr. Hoyt, bowing. Then he turned to the girls. "Which of you young ladies has won the friendship of Lucy Rogers?" he asked. Louise answered that she and Eliza Parsons had become good friends. "Will you assist me?" asked the physician. "Willingly, sir."
There was Canby, the adjutant-general, who was to take my place; Charley Hoyt, my cousin; General Persifer F. Smith and wife; Gibbs, his aide-de-camp; Major Ogden, of the Engineers, and wife; and, indeed, many old Californians, among them Alfred Robinson, and Frank Ward with his pretty bride. As for coal, there was not a pound in Monterey, or anywhere else in California.
Rogers followed the tale with intelligent understanding, and her joy at the discovery of her wandering child was only tempered by the fear that Lucy would never know her mother again or be content to remain in her humble home. Then Dr. Hoyt took up the conversation and related the many instances of complete recovery that had come under his observation.
Who can tell how dreary were the days and nights that followed? Mrs. Hoyt took the fever, and mother and children moaned together. On the morning of the fourth day the eldest child, a girl of eight years, died, with Beulah's hand grasped in hers. Happily, the mother was unconscious, and the little corpse was borne into an adjoining room.
Hoyt, since his retirement from the legal profession, has devoted much time to those liberal studies which are too apt to be neglected amid the engrossing engagements of the Bar. He is a ripe scholar in English history, and especially in the period between the Revolution of 1688 and the accession of the House of Hanover.
"Well," said the young woman, stammering a little and coloring, "mother was a good woman, but she always wanted her own way, and she always had it, too." "Yes." "And she never would have her picture taken. She didn't admire her own appearance. She said no one should ever see a picture of her." "So?" said Hoyt, meditatively. "Well, she's kept her word, hasn't she?"
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