"Edwards," said Miss Warren, "this gentleman," indicating the captain, "is to be our guest, for the present. You may show him to his room--the blue room, I think. If it is not ready, see that it is made so."
"Yes, Miss Caroline," replied Edwards. Retiring to the hall, he returned with the suit-case.
"Will you wish to go to your room at once, sir?" he asked.
"Why, I guess I might as well, Commodore," answered Captain Elisha, smiling. "Little soap and water won't do no harm. Fact is, I feel's if 'twas a prescription to be recommended. You needn't tote that valise, though," he added. "'Tain't heavy, and I've lugged it so fur already sence I got off the car that I feel kind of lonesome without it."
The butler, not knowing exactly how to answer, grinned sheepishly. Captain Elisha turned to Mrs. Dunn and her son.
"Well, good afternoon, ma'am," he said. "I'm real glad to have made your acquaintance. Yours, too, sir," with a nod toward Malcolm. "Your mother told me what a friend of the young folks you was, and, as I'm sort of actin' pilot for 'em just now, in a way of speakin', any friend of theirs ought to be a friend of mine. Hope to see you often, Mr. Dunn."
The young man addressed smiled, with amusement not at all concealed, and languidly admitted that he was "charmed."
"Your first visit to the city?" he inquired, in a tone which caused Stephen to writhe inwardly.
"No-o. No, not exactly. I used to come here pretty frequent, back in my sea-goin' days, when my ship was in port. I sailed for Osgood and Colton, down on South Street, for a spell. They were my owners. You don't remember the firm, I s'pose?"
"No. The privilege has been denied me. You find some changes in New York, don't you--er--Captain? You are a captain, or a bos'n, or admiral--something of that sort, I presume?"
"Malcolm!" said his mother, sharply.
"Oh, no offense intended. My sea terms are rather mixed. The captain will excuse me."
"Sartin! Cap'n's what they all call me, mostly. Your son ain't ever been to sea, except as passenger, I cal'late, ma'am?"
"Certainly not," snapped Mrs. Dunn.
"Of course, of course. Well, 'tain't a life I'd want a boy of mine to take up, nowadays. But it did have some advantages. I don't know anything better than a v'yage afore the mast to learn a young feller what's healthy for him to unlearn. Good day, ma'am. Good day, Mr. Dunn. I mustn't keep the Commodore waitin' here with that valise. I'll be out pretty soon, Caroline; just as soon as I've got the upper layer of railroad dust off my face and hands. You'll be surprised to see how light-complected I really am when that's over. All right! Heave ahead, Commodore!"
He departed, preceded by Edwards and the suit-case. Stephen Warren threw himself violently into a chair by the window. Young Dunn laughed aloud. His mother flashed an indignant glance at him, and then hurried to Caroline.
"You poor dear!" she exclaimed, putting an arm about the girl's shoulder. "Don't mind us, please don't! Malcolm and I understand. That is, we know how you feel and--"
"Oh, but you _don't_ know, Mrs. Dunn," cried Caroline, almost in tears. "You don't understand! It's so much worse than you think. I--I--Oh, why did father do it? How could he be so inconsiderate?"
"There! there!" purred the friend of the family. "You mustn't, you know. You really mustn't. Who is this man? This uncle? Where does he come from? Why does he force himself upon you in this way? I didn't know your poor father had a brother."
"Neither did we," growled Stephen, savagely. Malcolm laughed again.
"What does it all mean, dear?" begged Mrs. Dunn. "You are in trouble, I'm sure. Don't you think we--Malcolm and I--might be able to help you? We should so love to do it. If you feel that you _can_ confide in us; if it isn't a secret--"
She paused expectantly, patting the girl's shoulder. But Caroline had heard young Dunn's laugh, and was offended and hurt. Her eyes flashed as she answered.
"It's nothing," she said. "He has come to see us on a matter of business, I believe. I am nervous and--foolish, I suppose. Mr. Graves will see us soon, and then everything will be arranged. Thank you for calling, Mrs. Dunn, and for the ride."
It was a very plain hint, but Mrs. Dunn did not choose to understand it as such.
"You're sure you hadn't better tell me the whole story, dear?" she urged. "I am old enough, almost, to be your mother, and perhaps my advice might.... No? Very well. You know best but--You understand that it is something other than mere curiosity which leads me to ask."
"Of course, I understand," said the girl hastily. "Thank you very much. Perhaps, by and by, I can tell you everything. But we must see Mr. Graves first. I--oh, _don't_ ask me more now, Mrs. Dunn."
The widow of so astute a politician as Mike Dunn had been in his day could have scarcely failed to profit by his teachings. Moreover, she possessed talent of her own. With a final pat and a kiss, she prepared for departure.
"Good-by, then," she said, "or rather, _au revoir_. We shall look in to-morrow. Come, Malcolm."
"I say, Mal!" cried Stephen, rising hurriedly. "You won't tell anyone about--"
"Steve!" interrupted his sister.
Malcolm, about to utter a languid sarcasm, caught his mother's look, and remained silent. Another meaning glance, and his manner changed.
"All right, Steve, old man," he said. "Good-by and good luck. Caroline, awfully glad we had the spin this afternoon. We must have more. Just what you and Steve need. At your service any time. If there is anything I can do in any way to--er--you understand--call on me, won't you? Ready, Mater?"
The pair were shown out by Edwards. On the way home in the car Mrs. Corcoran Dunn lectured her son severely.
"Have you no common sense?" she demanded. "Couldn't you see that the girl would have told me everything if you hadn't laughed, like an idiot?"
The young man laughed again.
"By Jove!" he exclaimed, "it was enough to make a wooden Indian laugh. The old jay with the barnacles telling us about the advantages of a sailor's life. And Steve's face! Ho! ho!"
His mother snorted disgust. "If you had brains," she declared, "you would have understood what he meant by saying that the sea was the place to learn what to unlearn. He was hitting at you. Was it necessary to insult him the first time you and he exchanged a word?"
"Insult him? _Him?_ Ha, ha! Why, Mater, what's the matter with you? Do you imagine that a hayseed like that would recognize an insult without an introduction? And, besides, what difference does it make? You don't intend putting him on your calling list, do you?"
"I intend cultivating him for the present."
"_Cultivating_ him?"
"Yes--for the present. He is Rodgers Warren's brother. That lawyer, Graves, traveled miles to see him. What does that mean? That, in some important way, he is connected with the estate and those two children. If the estate is worth anything, and we have reason to believe it is, you and I must know it. If it isn't, it is even more important that we should know, before we waste more time. If Caroline is an heiress, if she inherits even a moderate fortune--"
She shrugged her shoulders by way of finish to the sentence.
Malcolm whistled.
"But to think of that old Down-Easter being related to the Warren family!" he mused. "It seems impossible."
"Nothing is impossible," observed his mother. Then, with a shudder, "You never met your father's relatives. I have."
*