An Oregon Girl Part 14

"Not wan bit, Miss, though I do belave now he do be lookin' for me.

Indade, Miss, I was not failin' well at all, at all. Sure, wasn't the little darlint missin', and between the sorrow at home and the failin'

in me heart, and the long walk, and the cowld mornin', and the sa.s.sy look the fellow gave me--"

"What were you doing that so offended him?" interrupted Hazel.

"Indade, I was just walkin' around Carbut Strate and Hood Strate for a little divarsion--not wan bit more or less, Miss--an' he axed me what I wanted. Says I to him, says I, respectful-like, 'Maybe yees can tell me did yees see a little girl strayin' about widout a home. A lady sint me to inquire.'

"He immejetly made some raymark, quick an' sharp-like, about the dam desavin' wimmen--"

"Oh!" Hazel exclaimed, interrupting him.

"Shocking!" exclaimed Constance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Smith--"Indade Miss, Oi followed wid wan on the soule ave his plexus."]

"Sure--and I beg yees pardon fir sayin' it, darlints, but that's just what he towld me and niver a wink whint wid it, the blackguard!

"I up and axed him who he'd be refarrin' to, because I had in my moind a sartin lady wid trouble ave her own.

"He says, says he, wid a snarl, 'None ave yees business.'

"Widout thinkin' whether he meant anything by it or not, I tould him he was a gintleman and a liar, too. So I did."

"You insulted him!" exclaimed Hazel, astounded.

"Indade I did, Miss, in foine style, sure"--and he spoke softly to Hazel--"he got it right betwix the two eyes, and I followed it wid wan on the soule ave his plexis."

"You did!" Hazel exclaimed, amazed, yet with an irrepressible smile that flickered about her pretty mouth.

"I did!" he replied gravely.

"Is the soul of one's plexus in his eyes, Smith?" interrogated Hazel.

"Sure, some say it do be the cramps; but I think it do be trouble ave the bowels, Miss," he answered.

"Poor man!" exclaimed Constance, and she looked at Smith reproachfully.

He quickly turned to her with a disgusted look on his face, and slowly exclaimed, "Yis mam!"

During the silence that followed Smith realized that he had spoken hastily and rude, and the disgust so palpably in evidence quickly merged into a look of grave concern.

His native wit, however, came to his aid in a singular apology.

"While the fellow hunted for a soft spot on the pavement, I called up a nearby doctor to help him," he said.

"You shall be repaid," Constance a.s.sured him in an absent manner.

"Plaise G.o.d, it will not be the 'dago' who'll do it!" he solemnly replied, and then he softly asked.

"Be there any more arders, mam?"

"No, Smith, you must be in need of rest. Thank you for all your kindness," and Constance turned from him with grief, unaffected, still on her face. "G.o.d bless yees!" he replied, and then as he turned to leave the room, said to himself, "I shud loike to see the wan--bad luck to him--who brought all this trouble on the poor missus," and he shut his teeth tight in silent rage.

After he had gone Constance pressed her hand down on the top of her head and said distractedly, "Still no word of encouragement; no relief to this strain that seems to be tearing my brain asunder!"

Under the circ.u.mstances, inaction, to one of Hazel's temperament, was anything but pleasant, and the young girl was to be condoned rather than censured for desiring to get away from the distress that pervaded the house. Moreover, she felt that something must be done to relieve the strain that weighed so heavily upon Constance.

"Don't you think I had better see Mrs. Harris, dear?" she said, with a wistful look of sympathy at Constance. "Perhaps she may have something to tell."

"Very well," replied Constance. "Do, dear, if you think some good may come from your visit. Virginia may be home soon and I shall not be alone."

"I shall get my wraps."

After Hazel had left the room, Constance, dispirited and sadly out of harmony with Smith's simple recital of his search for Dorothy, stepped out on the piazza, as though the air of the close room oppressed her.

The sky was cloudy, the air raw and cold.

Dorothy's pet canary, with its bill thrust under its wing, rested on the perch of its cage, glum and inert, immediately before her.

"Poor thing!" she exclaimed tenderly. "Sweet, sweet! Look up, pet!"

The dainty little beauty, with a throat of silky mellowness, looked curiously about, gave a "cheep" of recognition and then again buried its bill under its wing.

"Even my darling's pet will not be comforted." And tears stole into her eyes as she turned away from the bird. "Oh, Sam, I've been so anxious to hear from you! Have you found my darling?"

Sam had approached the steps unseen by her, and when she turned away from the bird he stood directly in front of her, though at a little distance.

Her mind at once recalled his words, which rang in her ears as she sank to the ground on that fateful night of the reception, and it was therefore the first and most natural question uppermost in her mind when she saw him.

He started back in evident surprise and answered confusedly:

"Well--I--I am sure, Mrs. Thorpe, if I had found her, I should only be too glad to--to tell you."

"And you have no tidings of her? But--come in, I am sure something important brought you here."

She entered the house, followed by Sam, who muttered to himself, "She's conjuring tears already, but I'm proof, were they to fall like rain. I guess so!"

Upon entering the room he looked at her steadfastly and quizically.

There was something in his look, too, that bore the imprint of effrontery.

She stared at him and asked timidly with alarm in her voice. "Oh, what do you know of her?"

"I--I--beg your pardon, Mrs. Thorpe, but--well, the truth is, I called to know if you have any information of her."

"How can you ask that question of me?" replied Constance brokenly, while again the tears welled up in her eyes.

"You see, madam--ahem! You won't be offended with me, for G.o.d knows I do not mean any offense to you, but--ahem--you see, madam, you are the unhappy cause of as fine a hearted gentleman as was ever born being a broken-spirited, a--a--blighted man!"