Prev | Current Page 409 | Next

Lincoln, Joseph Crosby, 1870-1944

"Cap'n Warren's Wards"

It don't need cultivatin' any."
The novel being out of the way, and its successor not yet far enough
advanced in plot or general plan for much discussion, the "literary
clinics" were no longer as frequent. But Pearson's visits to the Warren
house were not discontinued. All summer long he had been coming out,
once, and usually twice, a week. Captain Elisha had told him not to
stand on formality, to come any time, and he did. On most of these
occasions he found the captain at home; but, if only Caroline was there,
he seemed quite contented. She did not remark on the frequency of his
visits. In fact, she mentioned him less and less in conversation with
her uncle. But, as the autumn came and moved towards its prime she
seemed, to the captain's noticing eye, a trifle more grave, a little
more desirous of being by herself. Sometimes he found her sitting by
the open fire--pleasant in the cool October evenings--and gazing very
soberly at the blaze. She had been in good spirits, more merry and
light-hearted than he had ever seen her, during the latter part of
the summer; now her old sadness seemed to be returning. It would have
troubled him, this change in her mood, if he had not believed he knew
the cause.
He was planning a glorious Thanksgiving.


Pages:
397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421