again, foggy stations obscured by nebulous light and blurred and moving
figures, and the black relief of a tunnel. Only once the captain,
catching sight of Randolph's awed face under the lamp of the smoking
carriage, gave way to his long, low laugh. "Jolly place, England--so
very 'Merrie.'" And then they came to a comparatively lighter, broader,
and more brilliantly signaled tunnel filled with people, and as they
remained in it, Randolph was told it was London. With the sensation
of being only half awake, he was guided and put into a cab by his
companion, and seemed to be completely roused only at the hotel.
It had been arranged that Randolph should first go down to Chillingworth
rectory and call on Miss Eversleigh, and, without disclosing his
secret, gather the latest news from Dornton Hall, only a few miles from
Chillingworth. For this purpose he had telegraphed to her that evening,
and had received a cordial response. The next morning he arose early,
and, in spite of the gloom, in the glow of his youthful optimism entered
the bedroom of the sleeping Captain Dornton, and shook him by the
shoulder in lieu of the accolade, saying: "Rise, Sir John Dornton!"
The captain, a light sleeper, awoke quickly. "Thank you, my lad, all the
same, though I don't know that I'm quite ready yet to tumble up to that
kind of piping. There's a rotten old saying in the family that only
once in a hundred years the eldest son succeeds. That's why Bill was so
cocksure, I reckon. Well?"
"In an hour I'm off to Chillingworth to begin the campaign," said
Randolph cheerily.
"Luck to you, my boy, whatever happens. Clap a stopper on your jaws,
though, now and then. I'm glad you like Sybby, but I don't want you to
like her so much as to forget yourself and give me away."
Half an hour out of London the fog grew thinner, breaking into lace-like
shreds in the woods as the train sped by, or expanding into lustrous
tenuity above him. Although the trees were leafless, there was some
recompense in the glimpses their bare boughs afforded of clustering
|