Jeffrey and Hope failed in their plan to entice Mrs. Hazard to the game that afternoon. When they reached Sunnywood dinner was just over and Mrs. Hazard and Mr. Hanks were coming from the dining-room. “Did you have a nice time, dear?” asked Hope’s mother.
“Oh, just scrumptious!” Hope answered. “And Jeff bought the darlingest, jimmiest canoe you ever saw! And its name is ‘Mi-Ka-Noo.’ And Jeff is going to teach me to paddle, aren’t you, Jeff?”
“If Lady doesn’t mind,” replied Jeff. “Do you like canoeing, sir?” he asked, turning to Mr. Hanks, who, during the conversation had been surreptitiously striving to edge his way past the group and reach the stairway.
“I—I have never tried it, Latham. But isn’t it—er—a bit unsafe? I’ve always[217] understood that canoes were—er—very unstable boats.”
“Well, you have to be careful in them,” Jeffrey allowed. “But they’re not quite as bad as folks try to make out. As long as you can swim there’s no danger, sir.”
“I suppose not; no, not so long as you can—er—swim. I regret to say that swimming is an accomplishment I have never mastered.”
“I don’t know about this canoeing,” said Mrs. Hazard doubtfully. “Hope can swim a little, but—”
“Why, Lady, you know I can swim beautifully! I swam seventy-five strokes last summer!”
“Well, that would be enough to take you ashore anywhere on this river,” laughed Jeffrey. “I don’t think you need be alarmed, Lady. I’ll be very careful of her.”
“But—but can you swim all right yourself, Latham?” asked Mr. Hanks.
“Oh, yes, sir, I get along better in the water than I do on land.”
“Well, I suppose you can go, then, if you want to very much,” said Mrs. Hazard. “But do be careful; and sit very quiet. Are you going this afternoon?”
[218]
“Oh, no, Lady. Jeff hasn’t got it yet; not until next week. He’s having the name painted on it. This afternoon we’re going to the football game. We’re all going, aren’t we?” She turned questioningly to the instructor. “You are coming with us, aren’t you, Mr. Hanks?”
“Er—why, thank you,” he stammered, “but I have so much to attend to, Miss Hope. I—I think I won’t go. Much obliged. I—I must really get back to my work.” He moved toward the stairway, nodded embarrassedly and disappeared up the stairs.
“Well, you’re coming, aren’t you?” Hope demanded of her mother. But Mrs. Hazard shook her head smilingly.
“Not to-day, dear. I’ve too much to do. I’ve told Jane she might go to the village and do some shopping, and—”
“Then I shall stay at home and help you,” declared Hope cheerfully. “You won’t mind, will you, Jeff?”
“Oh, but Jeff will mind!” said Mrs. Hazard laughingly. “He will mind terribly! And, besides, my dear, I don’t need you a bit. So run along and don’t be late.”
“There’s lots of time,” said Hope. “Are[219] you quite, quite sure there’s nothing I can do, Lady?”
“Quite sure. So you go and see the football. Did you have luncheon enough? Don’t you want something now?”
“No, ma’am, we had plenty,” replied Jeffrey. “In fact, we didn’t eat quite all of it.”
“We had a lot of peanuts, too,” laughed Hope. “Poke bought them, and Jim and Gil took them away from him and we all ate them coming home. And, Lady, it’s perfectly beautiful at Riverbend, and we saw thousands and thousands of canoes, and—”
“Isn’t that a great many?” asked her mother smilingly.
“Well, not thousands, but hundreds, Lady. We did see hundreds, didn’t we, Jeff?”
“Well, let’s say dozens, Hope, and be on the safe side,” Jeff replied with a laugh. “Sometime I’d like you and Hope to let me take you up there in the canoe, Lady, and show you how pretty it is. Sometime in the spring would be best, I suppose.”
“I should love to go,” replied Mrs. Hazard, “but I’ll have to learn to swim first. Now run along to your football game. Is Jim going to play to-day, Jeff?”
[220]
“No, ma’am, I think not. At least, I’m afraid he isn’t.”
“Well, I was afraid he was,” Mrs. Hazard laughed. “It’s all in the point of view, isn’t it? Do you think you ought to walk so much, Jeff? You must be careful and not get too tired.”
“Oh, I don’t mind it. It’s just my shoulders that get sort of tired sometimes, but they soon feel all right again. I think I’ll go up and put some decent clothes on, Hope. It won’t take me very long.”
“And I’m going to do the same,” Hope replied. “And it will take me a full half-hour. So you needn’t hurry. We’ve got plenty of time, haven’t we?”
“Over an hour,” Jeffrey replied. “So you can just doll yourself all up, Hope.”
“Doesn’t he use awful language, Lady?” asked Hope. “I’d be ashamed if I were a senator’s son, wouldn’t you? I’ll be all ready in just exactly half an hour, Jeff.”
“All right; I’ll be waiting for you.”
When he reached the head of the stairs he noticed that Mr. Hanks’ door was partly open. It was usually closed tight when the instructor was inside, and Jeffrey wondered. And he[221] wondered more a moment later when the sound of quick, nervous footsteps reached him. He paused a moment and listened. Back and forth paced Mr. Hanks, the length of the room, the tail of his coat appearing at the opening of the door each time as he turned.
“I wonder,” reflected Jeffrey, “what the trouble is with Nancy. He sounds like a caged lion. I guess somebody must have turned in some pretty bad papers. Hope it wasn’t me!”
True to her promise, Hope was ready at the end of the half-hour, lo............