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It was plain enough that her scheme for driving away Ida Mayberry had failed, and, having carefully noted the extraordinary length of time which Mrs. Cristie and Mr. Lodloe spent together under the stars the previous evening, she was convinced that it would not be easy to make that lady dissatisfied with the Squirrel Inn.
"About the first thing I was told," said Lodloe, "was that you were a good-hearted fellow, but the fact that your father was an Irishman had deprived your character of ballast." "Umph," said Lanigan; "there are some people who are all ballast. I don't mind that."
Petter's invitation to spend the night, for if ever she was going to do anything at the Squirrel Inn, this was the time to do it, did not like Mrs. Cristie's politeness, and her conversation did not sparkle. In fact she was quieter than Mr. Lodloe, and paid little heed to the chatter of her neighbor, Lanigan Beam. This young man was dissatisfied.
He did not go away, and it was not long before it was generally understood in the neighborhood that, at last, he and Calthea Rose were to be married. Shortly after this fact had been made public, Lanigan and Walter Lodloe, who had not seen each other for some days, were walking together on the Lethbury road.
As Lodloe walked slowly from the gate of the little garden Mrs. Cristie looked up for a moment, saw him, but instantly resumed her attentive listening. This was enough; he perceived that for the present, at least, he was not wanted. He strolled on towards the field, and just below the edge of the bluff he saw Lanigan Beam sitting under a tree.
Lodloe walking by himself upon the bluff, and she so arranged a little promenade of her own that in passing around some shrubbery she met him near the bench. Miss Calthea was an admirable manager in dialogue, and if she had an object in view it did not take her long to find out what her collocutor liked to talk about. She had unusual success in discovering something which very much interested Mr.
Lodloe has taken the child away, and there is no knowing which way he has gone." "Oh, the youngster's all right," said Lanigan. "Sit down and rest yourself, and we will walk to the inn." "Not a bit of it!" exclaimed Ida. "You go that way, and I will go this, and if you see him, call out as loud as you can." Very reluctantly Mr. Beam obeyed orders, and hurried in the direction of the highroad.
To help Calthea sell off her stock was an important feature of his project. "Mr. Lodloe shall not buy a thing," said Calthea Rose. "If he is ever in want of anything, and stops in here to see if I have it in stock, I shall be glad to sell it to him if it is here, for I am still in business; but I know very well that Mr. Lodloe came in now as an acquaintance and not as a customer."
Cristie looked at Lodloe, and he at her, and both slightly smiled. "She understands that sort of thing," he thought, and "He understands that sort of thing," she thought. At this moment Mrs. Petter glanced at her two guests and saw the smile which passed between them. She understood that sort of thing. "Who is that?" said Miss Calthea Rose, presently. Mrs.
"If I had known," said Lanigan Beam, as late that night he sat smoking with Walter Lodloe in the top room of the tower, "that that old rascal was capable of stealing my ladder in order to make love to my girl, I should have had a higher respect for him. Well, I'm done for, and now I shall lose no time in saying good-by to the Squirrel Inn and Lethbury." "Why so?" asked his companion in surprise.
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